Kenny MacAskill

17 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in relation to its proposals for the Integrated Transport Bill, any additional costs will be incurred by local authorities and operators with regard to joint ticketing arrangements and, if so, what additional resources will be provided or additional fares levied.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive expects bus operators to recognise the potential commercial benefits of the introduction of joint ticketing initiatives in terms of increased patronage and revenue generation. We would anticipate that such arrangements will lead to the …

17 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in relation to its proposals for the Integrated Transport Bill and specifically the proposals to enforce the provision of bus information, it will specify any costs to be incurred by local authorities and operators, whether any additional resources will be provided to local autho…

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive will legislate to place a duty on local authorities (or in the Strathclyde Passenger Transport area, the Passenger Transport Authority) to determine what bus information should reasonably be provided locally. Where agreement cannot be r…

17 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to extend the Rural Petrol Station Scheme to cover liquid petroleum gas.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Executive is currently considering information received from Highlands and Islands Enterprise about the possibility of extending the scope of the Rural Petrol Stations Grant Scheme to include as an eligible item of expenditure the cost of installing tanks…

15 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the number of reports, consultations and studies commissioned by it on transport and environment issues and the estimated costs of each.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The information requested is set out in the following two tables.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">TRANSPORT<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="87%" VALIGN="TOP"><B><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Title</B></TD><TD WIDTH="13%" VALIGN="TOP"><B><P ALIGN="RIG…

11 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what input it made to the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions document Thin Routes Study; whether it will detail this input, and whether it will make copies of any correspondence available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The results of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions sponsored Study - Inverness-London Air Service: Economic Impact Assessment has not yet been submitted to Ministers and publishing arrangements have not been finalised. Scottish Execut…

3 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it would cost to extend Fuel Duty Rebate to school buses and whether it proposes to do so.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Bus services provided or secured by a local education authority are eligible for fuel duty rebate if they are registered with the Traffic Commissioner as a local service, and if they are normally available to, and regularly used by, members of the general pub…

3 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-1221 by Sarah Boyack on 27 September 1999, whether it has or is aware of any evidence, past or present, of abuse of monopoly position or anti-competitive practice in relation to Scottish flight supplements and, if so, whether it will refer such evide…

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has no evidence that flight supplements on Scottish flights are in breach of competition legislation. If it received such evidence the Scottish Executive would refer it to the competition authorities.

28 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Lord Advocate was aware of or conveyed to the Fatal Accident Inquiry into the Chinook helicopter crash on Mull of Kintyre in 1994 the fact that the HC2 helicopter was allowed into operational service without all the defects in FADEC being resolved.

Answer · Andrew Hardie: I have already explained that the Crown Office was not aware of allegations about the FADEC system until <I>after</I> the conclusion of the Fatal Accident Inquiry.

28 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Lord Advocate has seen the Boscombe Down report on FADEC and, if so, whether it was disclosed to the Fatal Accident Inquiry into the Chinook helicopter crash on Mull of Kintyre in 1994 and, if not, whether he will request a copy.

Answer · Colin Boyd: As has already been explained, allegations about the FADEC software were not made until after the Fatal Accident Inquiry had taken place. The Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence explained to the House of Lords on 1 November 1999 (HL Debs, Col 656), t…

28 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has for the licensing of taxi radio dispatch services.

Answer · Frank McAveety: The possibility of providing licensing authorities with a power to licence taxi and private hire car booking offices is under consideration and consultation will take place in due course.

28 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has to encourage the conversion of taxis to liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and to encourage local authorities to make their LPG supply outlets available to taxis.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive's Energy Efficiency Office works with the Energy Saving Trust in Scotland to promote the UK Powershift programme, which supports the introduction and use of vehicles using clean fuels. These include natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas …

28 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide detailed information drawn from the National Transport Survey or elsewhere on the use of taxis in respect of (i) the average distance of taxi hire; (ii) a break down of taxi trips into distance bands; (iii) a break down of taxi trips by purpose; (iv) a break down o…

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Information about taxi trips made by Scottish residents is available from the National Travel Survey (NTS). The figures given below relate to the years 1992 to 1998 inclusive.<P>(i) the average length of a taxi trip was 3.1 miles<P>(ii) a breakdown of taxi tr…

28 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide detailed information drawn from the National Transport Survey or elsewhere on the use of taxis, broken down for each council area, in respect of (i) the number of registered taxis; (ii) the number of registered drivers; (iii) increases in costs of fares from 1990 t…

Answer · Frank McAveety: This information is not held centrally

28 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive to provide details of any research relating to rural transport which it is currently funding or has funded in the last year and of any future plans to fund such research.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The research relating to rural transport which, the Executive is currently funding or has funded in the last year is as follows:<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Monitoring and Evaluation of the Rural Transport Funding Package will gather information on the number and type …

28 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what additional human resources will be required and what additional costs will be incurred by Lothian and Borders Police in respect of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development conference being held in Edinburgh in February 2000 and whether it will provide Lothian and Bo…

Answer · Jim Wallace: The deployment of resources in policing this conference is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. Funding for the police is provided annually through the GAE process and not on an ad hoc basis for specific events.

28 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the division of responsibilities and of rights and powers regarding attendance, voting and speaking between the Minister For Transport and the Environment and representatives of Her Majesty's Government at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development conference being he…

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer to the answer to question S1W-4021

28 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Transport and the Environment will be attending the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development conference being held in Edinburgh in February 2000; whether any other Scottish Ministers or Deputy Ministers will be attending the conference and whether it…

Answer · Susan Deacon: The OECD Conference on the scientific and health aspects of genetically modified foods is being hosted by the UK Government. Scottish Ministers are pleased to welcome this landmark event to Scotland as an important contribution to furthering the international…

27 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether fuel duty rebate will be extended to mobile shops.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Fuel duty rebate may only be paid on services which are registered with the Traffic Commissioner as local bus services. We have no plans to extend the scheme to include mobile shops.

27 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it would cost to extend the fuel duty rebate to taxis.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Fuel duty rebate is a mechanism to reimburse bus operators for the duty paid on fuel consumed in operating local registered services, subject to specific regulated operating conditions e.g. that the services are available to the public in general and have a p…

26 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when an announcement will be made about Rural Community Transport Grant funding for 2000-01; whether such funding will continue beyond 2000-01, and by what mechanism any such funding will be made available.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: I expect to make an announcement in the near future about the level of funding for rural transport in 2000-01, including the Rural Community Transport Grant Scheme. The current scheme is proving very successful with over 70 projects around Scotland currently …

25 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-2666 by Mr Jim Wallace on 3 December 1999, whether it has any plans to provide air support services for other emergency services and, if so, to detail them.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Ambulance Service already receives funding of some £4 million for the Patient Air Transport Service which it provides. There are no plans to provide air support for the fire service.

24 Jan 2000 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer, further to the answer to question S1W-3620 by Sir David Steel on 20 January 2000, whether the materials removed from the Holyrood site were sent to landfill or for land reclamation use and, if so, what percentage was sent for each purpose.

Answer · David Steel: The material removed from the Holyrood site following the demolition of the old Scottish &amp; Newcastle buildings became the property of the demolition contractor. Amounts and percentages of how much of that material went to landfill, land reclamation or oth…

24 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which air quality monitoring sites failed to meet the targets of four days and 35 days for particulate levels in each of the last three years and on how many days in each year each site failed to meet either of these targets.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Air quality statistics for particulates are not available for all Scottish monitoring sites for each of the last three years. The information available is as follows:-<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Air Quality Statistics for Particulates (PM10)<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1…

19 Jan 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will comment on its proposed changes to trunk road management and maintenance.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: New arrangements are required once the existing contracts for the trunk road premium units expire on 31 March 2001. I explained my proposals in the answer I gave to Karen Gillon on 24 December 1999 (S1W-3538).

17 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for new investment in rural bus routes; whether any such investment would be on a par with the #17 million pledged for this purpose by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and whether Executive investment in any such initiatives would be subject t…

Answer · Sarah Boyack: As part of the additional funding for rural transport announced in the 1998 and 1999 Budgets the Executive is investing a total of more than £14 million in rural transport measures in Scotland between the financial years 1998-99 and 2000-01. In the first two …

17 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what effects its proposals on trunk road management and maintenance will have on local authorities and whether it has made any estimate of the number of direct labour organisation jobs which may be lost as a result of these proposals.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive cannot prejudge whether jobs may be lost in advance of the outcome of the tender competition and what views existing and future employers subsequently take on any transfer of staff should the existing operators be unsuccessful in the co…

17 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its proposals for trunk road management and maintenance comply with European procurement legislation.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive is fully complying with European Community legislative procedures for public procurement.

17 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the Cross-Forth Passenger Ferry Study and what plans it has to implement the recommendations of the study.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The study, produced by Napier University, was co-funded by the Forth Transport Infrastructure Partnership, Forth Ports PLC and Stagecoach PLC. A decision on publication has not yet been made by the funding partners.<FONT FACE="Arial, Helvetica" SIZE=2><P>Deci…

17 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it would cost to make the Water of Leith tidal once again; whether it has any plans to do so and, if so, what is the timescale involved.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: These issues are primarily within the responsibility of Forth Ports Authority as port authority for the area involved.

14 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-2857 by Sarah Boyack on 12 January 2000, what plans it has to extend the Central Edinburgh Rapid Transit scheme to provide a link to Holyrood.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive (and previously the Scottish Office) has participated, jointly with the City of Edinburgh Council and Lothian and Edinburgh Enterprise Ltd, in a study into options for improving public transport access to the new Parliament at Holyrood,…