Chamber and committees

The decision to move to full incorporation of MACS and the PTUC was taken following a wide-ranging consultation carried out between December 2005 and March 2006. The requirement to undertake an equality impact assessment in relation to disability came into effect in December 2006.

An equality impact assessment is currently being undertaken. This is examining the effect of the amalgamation of the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS) with the Public Transport Users'' Committee for Scotland (PTUC), taking on board evidence from stakeholders as gathered in the recent consultation. This will be published once it has been completed.

There has been no formal assessment made of the school travel co-ordinator grant scheme. Since 2003, the Scottish Government has provided ring-fenced funding to local authorities for school travel co-ordinator posts. This funding has now been rolled up into the block grant as part of the concordat agreement with COSLA and it is up to local authorities to prioritise local needs.

In 2008, over 61% of Scottish schools are working on or implementing a travel plan to encourage more children to walk and cycle to school and to reduce the numbers of vehicles on the road during the school run periods. In East Dunbartonshire every primary school has implemented a travel plan and in Inverclyde 100% of its schools, primary and secondary, are working on a travel plan. This is evidence of the success of the school travel coordinators'' work.

Cycling Scotland has been allocated funding in each of the last three years as follows:

2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
£350,000	£1,550,000	£962,000

 

In 2006-07 Cycling Scotland was awarded project funding for the first time. Funding of £1.150 million was used to provide cycle training resources for every primary school in Scotland.

I do expect that Sustrans shall receive some capital funding beyond 2008-09. As I have previously stated in the answer to question S3W-11802 on 30 April 2008, further years'' allocations will be based on the outcomes of this year''s projects.

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/webapp/wa.search.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

Full details of the proposed prison development programme and sources of funding are available in the Scottish Government''s Infrastructure Investment Plan 2008.

Work is underway to prepare for the commencement of the procurement process for HM Prison Grampian, to replace HM Prison Aberdeen and HM Prison Peterhead, which will require planning permission and possibly the acquisition of a suitable site.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

HM Prison Grampian, which will replace HM Prison Aberdeen and HM Prison Peterhead, will be located in the Peterhead area. Planning permission will be sought following identification of a site for this development and public consultation will be carried out as required by the planning process in due course.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

Options for the development of a new prison to serve north east Scotland are under consideration. The Scottish Government has announced that this prison will be built in the Peterhead area and there are no plans for prison facilities within the city of Aberdeen.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

Full details of the proposed prison development programme and sources of funding are available in the Scottish Government''s Infrastructure Investment Plan 2008.

Work is underway to prepare for the commencement of the procurement process for HM Prison Grampian, to replace HM Prison Aberdeen and HM Prison Peterhead, which will require planning permission and possibly the acquisition of a suitable site. The site for HM Prison Grampian will be in the Peterhead area.

Although the school-based immunisation programme for tuberculosis (TB) was discontinued in 2005 a targeted risk-based vaccination programme for TB does still operate in Scotland. This change was introduced on the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in response to the changing nature of the epidemiology of TB in the UK.

The targeted vaccination programme operating offering vaccination to those at the highest risk of tuberculosis (TB) was instituted on the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in response to the changing nature of the epidemiology of TB in the UK. In Scotland the delivery of this programme has relied on individual NHS boards developing a mechanism for the best local delivery of their vaccination programme based on the existing vaccination infrastructure and the target population. In Glasgow for example the NHS board have opted for a system in which children born to mothers/families at higher risk of TB are offered BCG vaccination at, or shortly after, birth while they are still an in-patient in maternity units. Additionally they use the routine contacts made with children, for example at screening assessments or routine immunisations or once at school at the child''s contact with the school medical and nursing service, to continue the task of offering and administering BCG vaccine.