Chamber and committees

Glasgow is the official host city of the 2014 Commonwealth Games supported fully by the Scottish Government.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-35595 on 12 August 2010. All answers 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The operation and maintenance of the subway is a matter for Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT). SPT''s current estimate of the capital cost of their preferred option for the subway modernisation is £283.9 million in nominal terms.

The Scottish Government has received a copy of SPT''s outline business case and is working with them to develop their proposals further, including funding options and timescales.

As of June 2010, consultant costs for the Borders railway project were approximately £2.7 million with a breakdown of costs as follows:

Consultancy	£
Dundas and Wilson	548,638
Environmental	457,594
Turner and Townsend	59,577
Ernst and Young	1,344,932
Partnerships UK	145,278
Mott MacDonald	14,981
Weber Shandwick	206,041
Total	2,777,041

 

The following table shows which programmes/projects were funded via the regulated asset base in each of the last three years:

2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Nil	Airdrie to Bathgate Rail Line	Airdrie to Bathgate Rail Line
		Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme
	Paisley Corridor Improvements	Paisley Corridor Improvements
	Glasgow Barrhead Kilmarnock	Glasgow Barrhead Kilmarnock
		Ayrshire/Inverclyde Infrastructure Enhancements
		Stabling Enhancements

 

£52 million has already been invested in developing the project to this stage, demonstrating the Government''s commitment to the project. This consists of approximately £45 million from Scottish Government, with the remainder from local council contributions and parliamentary phase grant awards.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-34984 on 30 July 2010. All answers 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Using the public sector investment of £50 million as cornerstone funding, work to secure substantial additional private sector investment is well underway. Discussions with a number of potential investors are progressing satisfactorily.

Alex Bell''s responsibilities include advice on renewable energy issues, the relationship between constitutional progress for Scotland and economic success, and general preparation for questions and speeches.

The Government Car Service in Scotland provides transport for members of the Scottish Cabinet and ministers, ministers of other UK administrations when in Scotland, the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General, a limited number of senior officials in the Scottish Government, dignitaries and advisers, with the approval of ministers and, where necessary, the transportation of official documents.

The following table sets out the information requested. Costs quoted include staff costs, fuel costs, vehicle service/repairs costs and travel and subsistence costs.

Year	Number of cars	Cost (£)
2007-08	25	871,504
2008-09	25	908,507
2009-10	25	929,899

We do not hold records on the number of cars used by private hire companies. The following table gives details of the cost of journeys carried out by private hire companies for the last three years.

Year	Cost (£)
2007-08	90,638
2008-09	72,478
2009-10	65,759

 

There is extensive engagement between national and local government on the impact of budget changes, in line with the principles in the concordat. Supporting that engagement, a range of information is published on the budgets set by local authorities over time and on the services they deliver. This includes, for example, the annual publication of local government financial statistics, annual reports on single outcome agreements as signed by community planning partnerships (which include both councils and the NHS in each area), and formal inspection and audit reports.

NHS boards submit local delivery plans (LDP) to the Scottish Government Health Directorate (SGHD) annually which are subsequently signed off by SGHD to ensure that appropriate service delivery and financial plans are in place each year. Monitoring of the plans takes place locally within each board at public board meetings and in addition SGHD carries out annual reviews, also in public, to assess against LDP progress. When boards have major service change proposals a robust process of consultation and independent scrutiny is undertaken.