Chamber and committees

The ScottishGovernment has commissioned specialist transport consultants Halcrow to carryout a study of Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) as a mechanism for setting ferryfares in Scotland. This includes monitoring and evaluatinga pilot exercise in the Western Isles. The total estimated cost of the study isapproximately £375,000 covering the three stages of the study namely Stage 1:desk-based study, Stage 2: monitoring of the pilot and Stage 3: evaluation of the pilot and consideration of wider roll-out of RET. These figures do notinclude provision for any increase in subsidy required to compensate forreduced fares revenue arising from lower RET fares. The costs for Stages 2 and3 will be reconsidered in the light of the conclusions of Stage 1.

To date£22,393.37 has been paid to Halcrow for the RET study.

The cost estimatesare set out in Report 4, Volume 1 of the Forth Replacement Crossing Study whichis published online at www.forthreplacementcrossing.org.

The announcementmade by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth on 13 Augustmade it clear that the first stage of the Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) studywould make recommendations on the design and implementation of a pilot study onone or more of the three routes connecting the Western Isles with the mainlandnamely Stornoway to Ullapool; Tarbert/Lochmaddy to Uig (Skye) and Castlebay/Lochboisdaleto Oban. On the basis of the evidence gathered from the pilot, the consultantswill, as far as is possible,quantify both the costs and benefits which would arise should RET be applied ona permanent basis and rolled out to other ferry routes in the Clyde andHebrides and Northern Isles networks and the likely longer term impacts of sucha roll-out. This analysis will inform decisions on the future application ofRET.

The Scottish Governmentis aware of research carried out in England and Wales following the implementation of bad character provisionsin the Criminal Justice Act 2003. This research is currently undergoing a peer reviewprocess prior to publication.

However, it is notexpected that the report will include any specific focus on those accused of sexualcrimes.

The member may wishto note the answer given in the UK Parliament on 24 May 2007 by the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, to a questionon this topic which can be found at:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070524/text/70524w0016.htm#0705258000065.

The Scottish Law Commissionis expected to issue its final report on its Review of Rape and Sexual Offencessoon. In this review the commission has considered, among other issues, the lawof evidence and whether juries should be allowed to hear about previous convictionsof accused persons charged with sexual crimes.

The commission’sdiscussion paper, issued for consultation in January 2006, made the following preliminaryproposal in relation to these issues: “Any consideration of the law relating toevidence of the character of a person accused of a sexual offence should be conductedas part of a wider review of the law of evidence.”

The Scottish Governmentis now looking at this issue in a wider context, and I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-4752 on 22 October 2007. All answers towritten parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the searchfacility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

This is a very complexmatter and so the Scottish Government intends to examine carefully whether and inwhat circumstances the previous convictions of accused persons could be made knownto juries. We are currently considering how such an examination could best be carriedout. In the light of that we will reach decisions on any further action.

Discussions areon-going with local government on how best to deliver a council tax freeze. Throughoutthese discussions, we have made clear that we are working towards a strategic agreementon a range of measures that will enable local authorities to deliver a council taxfreeze while maintaining and improving frontline services. Specific decisions oninvestment in any individual school building are always a matter for the local authority.

The ScottishGovernment has had no discussions with Scottish and Southern Energy PLC orScottish Power Transmission Limited regarding the use of cross-linkedpolyethylene insulation technology for underground cabling.

The on-goingpublic local inquiry into the proposed Beauly to Denny power line has heard asignificant amount of evidence from the applicants and other parties regardingthe technical aspects of undergrounding high voltage cable. This has includedreference to the use of cross-linked polyethylene cables.

The FirstMinister met the Chair and Chief Executive of Ofgem on 20 September 2007. He made the case for a fundamental reform of thetransmission charging regime. The Scottish Government is seeking an end tounfair barriers to Scottish generators, including the renewables sector.

The ScottishGovernment is opposed to the development of new nuclear power stations in Scotland. Therefore we will not be pressing for measures thanwould specifically favour the nuclear power sector.

We have no plans todo so.