Chamber and committees

Transport Scotland has no plans to consider a reduction in the number ofpeak time trains calling at North Berwick.

The Scottish Executivedoes not set a minimum benefit to cost ratio for rail projects. Since 2001 it hasbeen a requirement that all transport projects, for which Scottish Executive supportor approval is required, be appraised in accordance with the Scottish TransportAppraisal Guidance (STAG). STAG ensures that the contribution of transport improvementsto the economy is fully assessed alongside contributions and impacts on the environment,accessibility and social inclusion, safety, and integration. The successful completionof the STAG process allows the rationale behind a potential transport interventionto be presented in a clear, evidence-led manner and provides the information requiredby a decision maker to make an informed and appropriate choice.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-1650 on 17 July 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The Scotland’sRailways document sets out the vision for the short, medium and long term planfor railways in Scotland. The implementation plan contained in thedocument includes a short term aspiration to enhance services to North Berwick.

In addition NetworkRail’s East Coast Main Line (ECML) Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) is currentlyout to consultation and includes consideration of a half hourly off peak serviceon the North Berwick route.

From December 2006timetable, an additional service was introduced at 2037 from Edinburgh to North Berwick, operating Monday toSaturday to provide a more consistent level of service in the evening.

Options emerging fromthe STPR will be assessed against the Government’s strategic objectives and willbe formally appraised in accordance with the STAG (Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance) process.

Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, andcan be contacted for further detail if required.

Projects that do notmeet the objectives and assessment criteria for the STPR will require further considerationbefore any funding by the Scottish Executive can be considered.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-1288 on 17 July 2007. Allanswers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website,the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

No plans have beeninherited by the Scottish Executive from the previous administration for furtherextensions to the Borders railway.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S2W-29652 on 21 November 2006. The Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary area is coterminous with theDumfries and Galloway local authority area.All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The Claimant Countgives the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits and is producedby the Office for National Statistics.

The following tableshows the number of long-term unemployed people claiming unemployment related benefitsin Scotland and also the long-term unemployed as a proportionof the resident working-age population and as a proportion of total unemploymentin Scotland.

Long-term unemployedare defined as those claiming unemployment related benefits for over 12 months.The latest data available are for May 2007.

Table 1: ClaimantCount Unemployment, Scotland, May 2007

	Number of Long-Term Unemployed	% of Resident Working Age Population who are Long-Term Unemployed	Long-Term Unemployed as  % of Total Unemployment
Scotland	12,490	0.4%	15.7%

Source: Office forNational Statistics.

Notes:

1. Long-term unemployeddefined as those claiming for over 12 months.

2. Data on numberof long-term unemployed rounded to the nearest five.