- Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 25 October 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a STAG appraisal has been undertaken of the Scottish Government’s proposed Edinburgh Airport rail link.
Answer
A STAG report canbe found on the Transport Scotland website at
www.transportscotland.gov.uk.This report, Strategic Transport Projects Review – Edinburgh to GlasgowImprovements, can also be found on the Transport Scotland website. Thereport details the range of options considered for improving rail connectionsto Edinburgh Airport and, more broadly, connections between Edinburgh and Glasgow.
- Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 25 October 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the net monetised transport economic efficiency benefits are of the Scottish Government’s proposed Edinburgh Airport rail link.
Answer
The package of improvementsto Edinburgh Glasgow connectivity, including a airport link station at Gogar knownas package C3, generated net monetisedtransport economic efficiency benefits to Government of £600 to £800 million.
- Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 25 October 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis has been undertaken of the plans for the Scottish Government’s proposed Edinburgh Airport rail link in terms of (a) environmental benefits, (b) disruption to the existing rail network, (c) congestion levels, (d) patronage figures, (e) levels of connectivity to the rest of Scotland, (f) efficiency and user-friendliness and (g) modal shift.
Answer
Details of eachof the projects announced in the ministerial statement on 27 September 2007 are included in a full report detailing the optionsconsidered, the process of analysis and appraisal used to select which optionsto take forward. This report,
Strategic Transport Projects Review –Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvements, can be found on the Transport Scotlandwebsite at:
www.transportscotland.gov.uk. Further designand development work will now be undertaken to define the work structuresnecessary to deliver the programme.
- Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 2 October 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-3001 by Stewart Stevenson on 3 September 2007, whether, as a condition of it meeting the cost of developing a new road layout at the Forth Road Bridge toll plaza, it will act to ensure that bus priority measures from the A90 on to the bridge are introduced.
Answer
The Forth EstuaryTransport Authority (FETA) and the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) are the roadauthorities with responsibility for the toll plaza and the A90 route south of theBridge. Decisions on bus priority measures in this area are a matter for these authorities.
We are aware thata bus priority project for the northbound approach to the bridge is currently underconsideration. Both FETA and CEC are working together to discuss options and planfor redesigning the approach to the Forth Road Bridge following the removal of tolls,and Scottish Government officials are assisting with these discussions where appropriate.
- Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 1 October 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will act to ensure that mainline Edinburgh to Glasgow train services stop at Edinburgh Park station.
Answer
I refer the memberto my statement of 27 September 2007, where I set out our intentions to make a numberof improvements over the next few years to Edinburgh and Glasgow services, includingintroducing additional services that could allow stops at Edinburgh Park withoutcompromising the end-to-end journey times for other passengers.
- Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Linda Fabiani on 25 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to amend the National Heritage (Scotland) Act 1985 to enable ministers to fund local as well as national collections.
Answer
Section 23 of theNational (Heritage) Scotland Act 1985 empowers Scottish ministers to fund any bodywhose activities appear to them to be likely to promote the development or understandingof cultural or scientific matters. The Scottish Government funds the Scottish MuseumsCouncil under these powers with £3.374 million in 2007-08, as well as a number oflocal museum collections including the Scottish Maritime Museum, Scottish Mining Museum, and the Scottish Fisheries Museum.
The Museums SignificanceRecognition Scheme was launched in June 2007 with £500,000 per year of new funding.Funding awards will be made by the Scottish Museums Council.
- Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 21 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will contribute to the funding of the University of Dundee Botanic Garden.
Answer
In 2007-08 the University of Dundee will receive grant in aid of £68,315,828 fromthe Scottish Government through the Scottish Funding Council.
The Scottish Governmenthas no plans to provide additional funding to the University of Dundee Botanic Garden.
It is a matter forthe university’s management board to make decisions on financial priorities.
- Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 20 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to improve road safety on the A96.
Answer
During 2006 a studywas carried out to examine a range of potential alterations to improve road safetyalong the length of the A96 within the A96 Route Accident Reduction Plan (RARP).This study examined accident records within all communities on the A96, consideringtraffic speeds, levels and movements and also considering potential measures whichmay be implemented to improve effectiveness of traffic control and pedestrian facilitieswithin urban areas, including Nairn.
The RARP report wassubmitted in February 2007 to Transport Scotland by the Operating Company for the North East Unit, BEAR Scotland Ltd. Followingconsideration, approval has now been given for BEAR to progress a number of measuresduring the current financial year.
Transport Scotland has operational responsibility for this matter and canbe contacted for more information.
- Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 19 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its plans to increase flexi-working and homeworking in the Scottish Government and all other public bodies.
Answer
I refer themember to the answer to question S3W-3523 on 4 September 2007. All answers towritten parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, thesearch facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 7 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will use the forthcoming spending review to examine the distribution of GAE to local authorities, particularly in respect of proportional funding for Grampian Police.
Answer
This will be consideredas part of the overall Spending Review 2007 process.
