Parliamentary questions

David Stewart

1,651 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

4 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the costs of rolling out road equivalent tariff over the next four years.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: As part of thestudy the consultants have been asked to quantify both the costs and benefitswhich would arise should road equivalent tariff be applied on a permanent basisand rolled out to other ferry routes in the Clyde and Hebrides and Northern Isles network…

4 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff are involved, either directly or indirectly, in the road equivalent tariff study in the Western Isles and what timescale is envisaged for completion of the study.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Within the Scottish Government there are three staff for whom the road equivalent tariffstudy forms a significant part of their workload. Other Scottish Governmentstaff will be involved in an advisory or line management capacity. Theconsultants Halcrow have a…

4 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the cost of the road equivalent tariff study in the Western Isles.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The ScottishGovernment has commissioned specialist transport consultants Halcrow to carryout a study of Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) as a mechanism for setting ferryfares in Scotland. This includes monitoring and evaluatinga pilot exercise in the Western Isle…

4 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it would seek to use any aspect of the Parliament’s tax varying powers in connection with funding the new Forth crossing.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer themember to the answer to question S3W-5192 on 25 October 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa…

4 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the new Forth crossing will be subject to toll charges.

4 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place, or advice sought from any source, about the use of European Regional Development Fund structural funding as part of the package for financing the new Forth crossing.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: None.

4 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there will be any element of private funding in the financing of the new Forth crossing.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: No decision hasbeen made regarding the financing of the replacement Forth Crossing.

4 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) ministerial and (b) official-led meetings have been held with HM Treasury about any aspect of financing the new Forth crossing.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: None.

4 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with HM Treasury about the use of bond financing of the new Forth crossing.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: None.

4 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make a statement on the timing and financing of the new Forth crossing.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: An announcementis expected to be made before the end of the year on the replacement Forth crossing.

4 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether an environmental assessment under the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 will take place prior to building a new Forth crossing.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: An environmental impactassessment will take place prior to the construction of a replacement Forth crossing.

4 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the new Forth crossing will have multi-modal elements for rail, bicycle or bus.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Both bridge and tunneloptions are being considered in light of their ability to serve multi-modal trips.However, heavy railhas not been included as an option for any replacement crossing as the existingrail infrastructure can be improved to meet forese…

4 Oct 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest estimates are of the cost of building a new bridge or tunnel crossing for the Forth.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The cost estimatesare set out in Report 4, Volume 1 of the Forth Replacement Crossing Study whichis published online at <a href="http://www.forthreplacementcrossing.org/">www.forthreplacementcrossing.org</a>.