- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 1 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8271 by John Swinney on 18 January 2008, how many staff are employed by the Scottish Government’s Video Production Unit.
Answer
Within the Scottish Government’s multimedia unit, two members of staff run the video and televisionproduction unit. One is full- time and the other has 50% of their time allocatedto these duties.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 1 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8271 by John Swinney on 18 January 2008, what the total budget allocation is for the Scottish Government’s Video Production Unit.
Answer
The video and televisionproduction unit does not have a specific budget allocation. It forms part of the Scottish Government's multimedia unit, which covers the production ofe-learning material, material for the Scottish Government website and the Scottish Government Intranet, and material for external use. The budget for themultimedia unit is £207,201.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 31 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings ministers have had with Stagecoach representatives since May 2007 and what issues were discussed on each occasion.
Answer
Meetings thatministers have had with Stagecoach representatives since May 2007 and what was discussedare outlined in the following table.
| Date | Minister | Issue Discussed |
| 13July 2007 | Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change | Launch of Hovercraft Trial, Kirkcaldy to Portobello. |
| 31October 2007 | Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change | Opening of Stagecoach’s new Insch Bus Depot and presentation by the company on their work. |
| 8 January 2008 | Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change | Bus Route Development Grant, Bus Service Operators Grant, Hovercraft project, Organic Passenger Growth and Success with Bus Networks. |
| 21 January 2008 | Minister for Community Safety | Souter Charitable Trust. |
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 31 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to support physics in Scottish universities.
Answer
The Scottish Executivefunds Scottish universities through the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), and fundingdecisions in relation to particular subject areas are a matter for the SFC. TheSFC will continue to provide support to physics in Scottish universities througha variety of funding streams, both for research and teaching, in accordance withits main annual grant letter which is published on the SFC website.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Maureen Watt on 31 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the reported comments by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice to Portobello High School Parents Council on 14 January 2008 that City of Edinburgh Council does not need to present a business case or apply to the Scottish Government for funding for a new Portobello High School and that, once it has decided to commit to a new school, the council must determine how to fund the project from its own resources.
Answer
The ScottishGovernment, like the Scottish Executive before it, does not provide specificfunding for the rebuilding of individual schools. Under the local governmentsettlement the government makes capital resources available to authorities. Itis then for the authority to decide what proportion of their allocation,together with any other resources they wish so to deploy, will be used to fundcapital investment in schools and in which particular schools.
The ScottishBudget and the concordat signed by the Scottish Government and the Conventionof Scottish Local Authorities provide for significant growth in the capitalresources being made available to local authorities. There is almost £3 billionover the three year period 2008-09 to 2010-11 to secure investment in schoolsand other local government infrastructure, including an extra £115 million in2008-09 which can be invested in schools if authorities so choose. The localgovernment capital budget represents an average increase of 15% in each year of the settlement compared to 2007-08 figures.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Maureen Watt on 31 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the reported comments by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice to Portobello High School Parents Council on 14 January 2008 that, as a result of the local government settlement, councils no longer apply to the Scottish Government for additional capital funding as they have been allocated additional budget to use as they see fit.
Answer
The Scottish Government, like the Scottish Executive before it, does not provide specific funding for the rebuilding of individual schools. Under the local government settlement the government makes capital resources available to authorities. It is then for the authority to decide what proportion of their allocation, together with any other resources they wish so to deploy, will be used to fund capital investment in schools, and in which particular schools.
The Scottish Budget and the concordat signed by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities provide for significant growth in the capital resources being made available to local authorities. There is almost £3 billion over the three year period 2008-09 to 2010-11 to secure investment in schools and other local government infrastructure, including an extra £115 million in 2008-09 which can be invested in schools if authorities so choose. The local government capital budget represents an average increase of 15% in each year of the settlement compared to 2007-08 figures.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 30 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the revenue generated by a reduced council tax discount on second homes remains ring-fenced for the purpose of affordable housing.
Answer
Yes. Localauthorities have the discretion to reduce or retain the council tax discount onsecond homes and long-term empty properties to between 10% and 50%. Theadditional income is retained locally and routed through registered sociallandlords for the provision of new-build affordable social housing to meetlocally determined priorities.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 28 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the notes of discussions between representatives of Stagecoach and the South East Scotland Transport Partnership regarding the possibility of a permanent hovercraft service between Fife and Edinburgh.
Answer
No, this is a matter forStagecoach and SESTRAN. The Scottish Government do not hold copies of notes ofdiscussions between Stagecoach and SESTRAN.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 28 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions the South East Scotland Transport Partnership has had with companies other than Stagecoach which have a track record of providing hovercraft services.
Answer
This is a matter for the SouthEast of Scotland Transport Partnership (SEStran). However, I am advised by SEStranthat they have had no direct discussions with other possible hovercraft operatorsin relation to cross-Forth services.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 28 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a hovercraft service between Fife and Edinburgh should be put out to a commercial tender process if the service is considered to be commercially viable.
Answer
Procurement of any hovercraftservice between Edinburgh and Fife by a public authority would require to comply with allrelevant EU legislation. Whether any tender process was required would depend onthe specific circumstances of any case.
If a service is commerciallyviable without public subsidy, then it would be up to the commercial operator totake forward the project.
