Chamber and committees

The Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine rail project will divert coal traffic away from the Forth Bridge improving reliability of passenger services and providing the opportunity to expand passenger services between Fife and Edinburgh. In addition, the Franchise Agreement contains robust performance regimes under which First ScotRail incur substantial financial penalties where performance targets fail to be met as well as a programme of works and improvements to rail journey quality.

The recent expansion of the Ferrytoll Park and Ride and current work to provide bus priority on the approach to the bridge are positive steps to encourage more people to choose the bus. In addition, the Traffic Commissioner has powers to investigate and impose sanctions where bus operators fail to run their registered services to the required standard.

The South-East of Scotland Transport Partnership will be producing a regional transport strategy for transport within its region. The transport strategy should include provision for meeting the need for efficient transport links between heavily populated places.

Additional funding will be provided to three councils to meet the full cost of agreed additional expenditure incurred in connection with measures put in place in connection with the G8 summit. The councils and the amounts involved are shown in the following table.

	Amount (£000)
City of Edinburgh Council	3,059
Perth and Kinross Council	261
Stirling Council	15

 

Other councils – including Highland, Inverness, Angus, Dundee and Aberdeen – are also receiving funding of around £7,000 for promotional activities and events associated with the summit, including particularly the installation of G8 welcome banners.

Health boards involved in G8 emergency planning have also received the full cost of agreed additional expenditure. The authorities and the amounts involved are shown in the following table.

	Amount (£000)
Tayside	500
Lothian	400
Forth Valley	200
Scottish Ambulance Service	1,260

 

The Scottish Executive commissioned an independent study to estimate the summit’s economic impact, including benefits and costs. I am publishing the study today. Copies of the study have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 38309).

The G8 summit offered an unprecedented opportunity to promote Scotland on the international stage. The first-class policing and security operation underlined once again that Scotland is a great location for hosting major events. The Executive ensured we made the most of the opportunity G8 offered to promote Scotland.

The G8 summit also delivered economic benefits for Scotland.             There were clearly costs to the Executive associated with hosting a high-profile event of this magnitude. But the summit also delivered immediate and longer term economic benefits.

The study includes a detailed assessment of the economic impact of the summit. The key findings were:

additional spending directly associated with the G8 summit was worth almost £65 million to the Scottish economy, while the net cost to the Scottish Executive was £60 million;

the value of the worldwide media coverage immediately around the time of the summit has been calculated at over £66 million;

using this figure, the report estimated the longer term pattern of coverage to be £618 million over the six months up to and including the summit despite the inevitable impact of the London terror attacks on the first full day of the summit, and

the most important impacts will occur over the next few years as the increased profile that Scotland generated takes effect and is used to create new economic opportunities.

In the answer to question S1W-24583 on 28 March 2002, I undertook to continue to report quarterly on the numbers of letters received by ministers and our performance in answering them.

In the quarter April to June 2005, 3,116 letters were received for ministerial reply of which 79% received a reply within our target of 20 working days.

The Transport (Scotland) Act 2005 requires the South-East of Scotland Transport Partnership to draw up a strategy for transport within its region. That transport strategy should include provision for meeting the needs of all inhabited places and meeting the need for efficient transport links between heavily populated places. The Scottish Executive has committed £35 million of funding for 2006-07 and 2007-08 to the new statutory regional transport partnerships towards implementation of their strategies.

Annual investment in the further education sector is due to rise to around £620 million by 2007-08. This represents an increase of 45% since 2003-04 – the biggest cash increase in further education funding ever seen in Scotland.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

This information is not available from the Scottish House Condition Survey.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

The Scottish House Condition Survey 2002 (SHCS2002) estimated that the number of households with children and in fuel poverty, as defined in the SHCS 2002, that had no central heating system was approximately 5,000.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

The Scottish House Condition Survey 2002 (SHCS2002) estimated that the number of children that live in fuel poverty is approximately 46,000.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

The Scottish House Condition Survey 2002 (SHCS2002) estimated the building’s NHER rating for households that were in fuel poverty and also contained children. A table containing the SHCS2002 estimates is given in the following table.

NHER Rating	No of Fuel Poor Households with Children	% of Fuel Poor Households with Children
poor	10,000	36
moderate	14,000	50
good	4,000	14
Total	28,000	100