Scottish Executive

Air Services

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the significance of regional air services between London Heathrow and Scotland for (a) economic development and (b) tourism.

Stewart Stevenson: From our on-going engagement with the Scottish business and tourism sectors, it is clear that no other UK or continental airport is as important in connectivity terms as London Heathrow, or an adequate substitute to it.

Alcohol Misuse

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the discharge rate from general hospitals was for alcohol-related conditions in each year from 2003-04 to 2007-08, broken down by community health partnership, and when it expects new statistics to be published.

Shona Robison: The information requested is given in two tables, copies of which are available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 47841).

In addition, the information requested for Community Health Partnerships (alcohol discharge rates) is not routinely published by Information Services Division (ISD).

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) male and (b) female mortality rate was where alcohol was the underlying cause in each of the last five years, broken down by community health partnership area, and when it expects new statistics to be available.

Shona Robison: The information requested is available in two tables, from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 47842).

In addition, the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) do not routinely publish data on alcohol mortality rates by Community Health Partnerships (CPHs).

Apprenticeships

Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many modern apprenticeships have been funded by it or by predecessor bodies either directly or indirectly in each year for which figures are available.

Fiona Hyslop: The table below shows all modern apprenticeships starts entered to Skills Development Scotland’s Management Information system between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2008.

For more detailed breakdowns of these numbers, I refer the member to the answers to questions S3W-21436 through to S3W-21443 on 9 March 2009. 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.

Cancer

Angela Constance (Livingston) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many women have received smear tests for the detection of cervical cancer in the last three months and how this figure compares with that for the same period in 2008.

Shona Robison: There is no published data for the last three months. The latest cervical screening published data is complete up to 31 March 2008. Data on the number of smear tests processed are available, on the Information Services Division website at http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/1673.html.

Child Protection

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the law of limitation to allow survivors of historic child abuse who were abused before 1964 to seek redress through the courts.

Fergus Ewing: Following references from the previous administration, the Scottish Law Commission thoroughly reviewed the law on prescription and limitation as it relates to all personal injury cases. The Commission’s final report, Personal Injury Actions: Limitation and Prescribed Claims, was published on 5 December 2007 and is available on its website, http://www.scotlawcom.gov.uk.

The report recommended that claims which had in law been extinguished by negative prescription before 1984 (i.e. claims relating to times prior to 26 September 1964) should not now be revived. In a statement to Parliament on 7 February 2008, the Minister for Children and Early Years announced that the Scottish Government is persuaded by the commission’s reasoning and recommendations on this issue. He also confirmed a commitment to identifying appropriate approaches for assisting and supporting survivors of historic child abuse. The Scottish Government proceeded to issue, and is now reviewing responses to, the discussion paper Developing an Acknowledgement and Accountability Forum for Adult Survivors of Childhood Abuse.

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the House of Lords’ ruling on 21 May 2008 (UKHL 32) that prevents some survivors of historic child abuse who were abused after 1964 from seeking redress through the courts, whether it will review the law of limitation.

Fergus Ewing: Following references from the previous administration, the Scottish Law Commission thoroughly reviewed the law on prescription and limitation as it relates to all personal injury cases. The commission’s final report, Personal Injury Actions: Limitation and Prescribed Claims, was published on 5 December 2007 and is available on its website, http://www.scotlawcom.gov.uk.

As regards the law of limitation for claims which relate to times after 26 September 1964, the report’s recommendations are under review, as confirmed in the answer to question S3W-20478, answered on 25 February 2009. The Scottish Government has also proceeded to issue, and is now reviewing responses to, the discussion paper Developing an Acknowledgement and Accountability Forum for Adult Survivors of Childhood Abuse.

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.

Children

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of children walked to primary school in (a) 1987, (b) 1997 and (c) 2007.

Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Household Survey collects information on the percentage of children walking to school from 1999 onwards. Results for pupils aged 4-11 are shown in the following table:

There is no comparable data available pre 1999.

Children Act 1975

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the purpose is of Section 50 of the Children Act 1975.

Adam Ingram: In addition to other relevant statutory powers and duties of local authorities, Section 50 of the Children Act 1975 provides a discretionary power to a local authority to make financial payments for the maintenance of a child to a person caring for the child. This person cannot be a parent or a foster carer.

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that section 50 of the Children Act 1975 has been successfully implemented.

Adam Ingram: It is a matter for each local authority to ensure that the discretionary powers available to it under section 50 of the Children Act 1975 are used effectively and in accordance with both its statutory duties and also its local policies and priorities.

Council Tax

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the real-terms reduction is in the budget of each local authority as a result of two years’ freeze in council tax.

John Swinney: The Scottish Government provided local government with baselined funding of £70 million in 2008-09 and will be providing a further baselined allocation of £70 million in 2009-10. Over the two year period 2008-10 this equates to a cumulative total of £210 million to enable local authorities to freeze their council tax at 2007-08 levels. This represents a comparative real terms increase of 1.5 per cent in local authorities’ council tax income over the two year period 2008-10.

Development

Mr Frank McAveety (Glasgow Shettleston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many greenfield and brownfield sites have been built in each of the last five years in the 10 most deprived council wards.

Alex Neil: Scottish Planning Policy 3 (SPP3) defines brownfield land as land which has previously been developed and greenfield land as land which has never been previously developed or used for an urban use, or land that has been brought into active or beneficial use for agriculture or forestry, i.e. fully restored derelict land.

The Scottish Government does not hold information centrally on the quantity of greenfield and brownfield land within local authority areas.

However, a significant proportion of brownfield land comprises land designated as vacant or derelict. Information regarding vacant and derelict land is collected by the Scottish Government and published annually in the Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey (SVDLS) and can be seen as an indicator of the approximate amount of brownfield land in local authority areas. This survey contains information only on sites that are vacant or derelict as surveyed by local authorities on a voluntary basis, it does not therefore provide a comprehensive listing of all brownfield sites in Scotland.

The question asks for data on the most deprived wards. This information is not available. The standard measure of deprivation is at datazone level. The answer has been provided considering the 10 most deprived datazones. These datazones fall in the following five Local Authorities: Glasgow City, City of Edinburgh, Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire and East Renfrewshire.

Consideration of the SVDLS over the last five years (2004-08) allows identification of sites which had been removed from the survey as the result of a change in use in the 10 most deprived datazones in Scotland.

The following tables contain details:

Year Brought into Use

Note that sites covering less than 0.1 hectares are excluded from the SVDLS. The information presented includes only that vacant land which is located within an urban settlement with a population of 2,000 or more.

Drug Misuse

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the current campaign by the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency highlighting the ethical impact of cocaine abuse that targets university students to change attitudes and reduce demand for cocaine will be rolled out to all higher education institutions.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the current campaign by the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency highlighting the ethical impact of cocaine abuse that targets university students to change attitudes and reduce demand for cocaine will also be rolled out to all further education institutions.

Fergus Ewing: This campaign was piloted at Strathclyde University and it has already been rolled out to all other universities. Following evaluation it may be rolled out to all further education establishments.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the current campaign by the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA) highlighting the ethical impact of cocaine abuse that targets university students to change attitudes and reduce demand for cocaine, whether similar campaigns are planned for other groups in society.

Fergus Ewing: The SCDEA has a number of campaigns in operation aimed at reducing demand for drugs. These include campaigns that highlight the ethical impact of cocaine abuse and are aimed at various groups in society.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is offering student associations with the dissemination to students of information on drug misuse.

Fergus Ewing: Student Associations do not receive support to disseminate information on drug misuse. Information is available to all members of the public, including students, through Know the Score, the national drugs information campaign.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has provided student associations with funding to assist with the dissemination of information to students on drug misuse and, if so, how much, broken down by institution.

Fergus Ewing: No funding has been provided to student associations to assist with the dissemination of information to students on drug misuse. Information is available to all members of the public, including students, through Know the Score, the national drugs information campaign.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it estimates to be the proportion of the student population that abuses cocaine on a regular basis.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it estimates to be the proportion of the student population that experiments with cocaine at some point during their time at university.

Fergus Ewing: We do not hold the necessary data to estimate cocaine abuse in the student population.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that university students are more likely to abuse (a) cocaine and (b) other illegal drugs than other groups in society.

Fergus Ewing: We do not hold the necessary data to compare cocaine or other drug abuse in the student population with that of other groups in society.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any group in society that on average is more likely to abuse (a) cocaine and (b) other illegal drugs and, if so, what action it is taking.

Fergus Ewing: Our national drugs strategy, The Road to Recovery, states that there are associations between deprivation, health inequalities and problematic drug use. Studies have shown that there is a clear link between problem use of heroin and crack cocaine and deprivation.

In addition to the programme of action set out in the drugs strategy, the Government is implementing a range of reforms that will directly address the underlying causes of drug misuse. This includes the Ministerial Task Force On Health Inequalities ‘Equally Well’ report; the government’s poverty framework Achieving Our Potential: a Framework to tackle poverty and income inequality in Scotland, and the Government’s Economic Strategy. These are available on the Scottish Government website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/Recent.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of a report in the Evening News on 12 February 2009 of increased quantities of cocaine being seized by the police, what action it intends to take to curb the supply of cocaine.

Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) works with and in support of the Scottish Police Service and other law enforcement agencies to tackle, disrupt and dismantle serious organised crime groups with an emphasis on the trafficking of Class A drugs and money laundering through targeted intelligence, interventions and enforcement activity. It has done this very successfully. In 2006-07 the SCDEA and police in Scotland recovered over 93.5kg of cocaine, an increase of more than 16kg from the previous year.

Collaboration with UK and international partners is also providing the opportunity to tackle the "upstream" trade in cocaine.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of a report in the Evening News on 12 February 2009 that some £2.1 million in Class A drugs were seized in Edinburgh by Lothian and Borders Police between April and December 2009, what the corresponding figure was for other police forces in the same period.

Fergus Ewing: The information requested is currently being collected and is not yet available centrally. Information on drugs seizures in Scotland will be published in June 2009 in the statistical bulletin Drug Seizures by Scottish Police Forces, 2007-08 and 2008-09.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it estimates cocaine misuse to cost the NHS on an annual basis.

Fergus Ewing: Robust estimates of the cost of cocaine misuse to the NHS are not currently available. We have commissioned a research project, currently underway, which will produce an initial estimate of the size/value of illicit drug markets in Scotland, and of the economic and social costs associated with illicit drug use. This research is due to be published in late spring 2009.

Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in the 60th year of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, whether it recognises the value of an independent voice for parents.

Keith Brown: We do recognise the importance of parents having such a voice. Adam Ingram acknowledged the good work of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council when he addressed their 60th anniversary conference last November.

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Schools of Ambition conference has taken place.

Keith Brown: Two conferences were held on 4 and 12 June 2008 for local authority representatives and school staff to share emerging lessons from the Schools of Ambition Programme.

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has published a report on the Schools of Ambition conference.

Keith Brown: A report on emerging learning and lessons from the first year of the Schools of Ambition programme, Research to Support Schools of Ambition, Annual Report 2007 was published in December 2007. It was presented at the two conferences for local authority and school staff held in June 2008. A second report was published in October 2008. Both reports are available on the Schools of Ambition website at:

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/schoolsofambition/about/schoolsofambitionresearch.asp.

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there has been a final evaluation of the Schools of Ambition programme.

Keith Brown: No, because the Schools of Ambition programme has another year to run.

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Schools of Ambition are continuing with their programmes.

Keith Brown: The first tranche of 21 schools are already reflecting on their experiences and considering how they will sustain ambition and change beyond their three years on the programme. They will also be involved in future events designed to share learning from the programme with the wider school sector and as mentors for the remaining 37 schools on the programme.

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many publicly funded schools offered (a) higher and (b) advanced higher courses in each of the last four years, broken down by local authority.

Keith Brown: The available information is given in the following table.

Energy Efficiency

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has undertaken, is undertaking, or plans to undertake a survey into the availability across Scotland of schemes for the provision of free home insulation and whether it will outline the results of any such survey undertaken.

Alex Neil: The Scottish Government has not undertaken, nor does it currently plan to undertake any survey into the availability of free home insulation schemes across Scotland.

We are however aware through the development of our fuel poverty programmes, and the work we are doing with the energy supply companies through the Scottish Carbon Emission Reduction Target (CERT) Strategy Steering Group that the availability of free home insulation to priority group customers through CERT varies across Scotland.

We have raised this issue with the UK Government on a number of occasions during the development of the CERT programme. The UK Government is currently consulting on increasing the target under the Carbon Emission Reduction Target by 20%. Scottish minister recognise that the design of the CERT programme can disadvantage households in rural areas of Scotland and intend to raise this in our formal response to this consultation.

Scottish households are paying for CERT through their fuel bills, and we must ensure that Scottish communities reap the benefits from CERT and other similar funding programmes, and we need a cast iron guarantee that new energy investment includes Scotland’s rural and island communities.

We have also raised the issue of equal access across Scotland for priority group customers with the energy suppliers through the Scottish CERT Strategy Steering Group, and in the development of the new Energy Assistance Package.

Information on a number of installed energy efficiency measures through a number of Scottish and UK Government programmes is in included in the Home Energy Efficiency Database (HEED).

The Scottish Government funds the Energy Saving Scotland advice network to provide households with information on the most suitable sustainable energy measures for their particular circumstances. This includes advice on the availability of free or subsidised measure, including home insulation.

The Energy Saving Scotland advice network uses the information from the HEED to better target their advice to those areas where energy efficiency measure have not already been undertaken.

The Scottish Climate Change Bill includes a mandatory provision for Scottish ministers to produce an Energy Efficiency Action Plan for Scotland within one year of the bill becoming an act. The availability and cost of a number of energy efficiency measures, including home insulation will be considered during the development and implementation of this action plan.

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has undertaken, is undertaking, or plans to undertake a survey into the variation across Scotland of the cost of installing home insulation and whether it will outline the results of any survey undertaken.

Alex Neil: The Scottish Government has not undertaken, nor does it currently plan to undertake any survey into the variation across Scotland of the cost of installing home insulation.

We are however aware through the development of our fuel poverty programmes, and the work we are doing with the energy supply companies through the Scottish Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) Strategy Steering Group that these costs vary across Scotland.

We have raised the issue of the cost to the energy suppliers of installing home insulation in more remote areas, and the impact that this has on the availability of these measures under CERT in Scotland with the UK Government on a number of occasions during the development of the CERT programme.

The UK Government is currently consulting on increasing the target under the Carbon Emission Reduction Target by 20%. Scottish minister recognise that the design of the CERT programme can disadvantage households in rural areas of Scotland and intend to raise this in our formal response to this consultation.

Scottish households are paying for this CERT through their fuel bills, and we must ensure that Scottish communities reap the benefits from CERT and other similar funding programmes, and we need a cast iron guarantee that new energy investment includes Scotland’s rural and island communities.

We have also raised the issue of equal access across Scotland with the energy suppliers through the Scottish CERT Strategy Steering Group, and in the development of the new Energy Assistance Package.

The Scottish Climate Change Bill includes a mandatory provision for Scottish ministers to produce an Energy Efficiency Action Plan for Scotland within one year of the bill becoming an act. The availability and cost of a number of energy efficiency measures, including home insulation, will be considered during the development and implementation of this action plan.

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made representations to Her Majesty’s Government or to utility companies to ensure that schemes for the provision of free home insulation are available to households across the whole of Scotland and, where schemes offer free insulation, that households in areas with higher installation costs are not penalised by being excluded or offered only partial grants.

Alex Neil: We have raised the issue of the availability in Scotland of Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) funded home insulation, both free and subsidised with the UK Government on a number of occasions during the development of the CERT programme.

The UK Government is currently consulting on increasing the target under the Carbon Emission Reduction Target by 20%. Scottish minister recognise that the design of the CERT programme can disadvantage households in rural areas of Scotland and intend to raise this in our formal response to this consultation. Scottish households are paying for this CERT through their fuel bills, and we must ensure that Scottish communities reap the benefits from CERT and other similar funding programmes, and we need a cast iron guarantee that new energy investment includes Scotland’s rural and island communities.

Thousands of homes across Scotland have benefitted from free insulation through our Warm Deal and central heating programmes and our new Energy Assistance Package which commences 6 April will help thousands more through; continuing funding for social sector insulation works; working with CERT providers to provide insulation for thousands of private sector homes, and delivering bespoke energy efficiency measures at stage 4 for Scotland’s most vulnerable fuel poor families and pensioners. We have raised the issue of equal access across Scotland with the energy suppliers through the Scottish CERT Strategy Steering Group, and in the development of the new Energy Assistance Package.

We have also held initial discussion with the energy companies on the recent budget announcement for the first phase of an ambitious area-base home insulation scheme supported by £15 million of new Scottish Government funding plus £15 million from other sources. This scheme is currently being developed and is expected to launch in the autumn.

Exports

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it estimates the value of international exports from Scotland to be, broken down by local authority area.

John Swinney: This information is not available in the format requested.

Estimates of the value of international exports from Scotland are calculated from data collected via the Global Connections Survey. This survey does not collect data relating to the local authority area of the source of exports.

The most recent published statistics relating to international exports are taken from the Global Connections Survey for the year 2007. The value of international exports from Scotland in the year 2007 was estimated to be £20,630 million.

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it estimates the value of intra-UK exports from Scotland to be, broken down by local authority area.

John Swinney: This information is not available in the format requested.

Estimates of the value of intra-UK exports from Scotland are calculated from data collected via the Global Connections Survey. This survey does not collect data relating to the local authority area of the source of exports.

The most recent published statistics relating to intra-UK exports are taken from the Global Connections Survey for the year 2005. The value of intra-UK exports from Scotland in the year 2005 was estimated to be £41,515 million.

Ferry Services

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s decision not to open sports facilities in Lewis and Harris on Sundays has adequate public support.

Shona Robison: It is for Comhairle nan Eilean Siar to determine policy on opening its own sports facilities in Lewis and Harris on Sundays.

Fire (Scotland) Act 2005

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29591 by Johann Lamont on 21 November 2006, whether actual costings are now available and, if so, what these are.

Fergus Ewing: There was no initial set up costs with the introduction of Fire (Scotland) Act 2005. The Financial Memorandum that accompanied the bill is available on the Scottish Parliament’s website. Much of the work relating to the projected annual costs are longer term and are still in progress. Actual costs are not therefore available at this time.

Forestry

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria have been identified for the awarding of leases to the national forest estate.

Roseanna Cunningham: No decisions have been taken about whether or not to lease significant parts of the national forest estate. This decision, and any decisions relating to criteria for such leases, will be taken following our consideration of responses to the recent consultation on the forestry provisions in the Climate Change (Scotland) Bill. For the purposes of its options review, Forestry Commission Scotland used relatively low levels of social and environmental benefit as criteria for identifying potential areas for leasing.

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what national forest estate sites have been identified for leasing.

Roseanna Cunningham: No decisions have been taken about whether or not to lease significant parts of the national forest estate. This decision, and any decisions relating to the location of such leases, will be taken following our consideration of responses to the recent consultation on the forestry provisions in the Climate Change (Scotland) Bill. For the purposes of its options review, Forestry Commission Scotland identified around 25% of the productive forest area on the national forest estate as potential areas for leasing; these sites are located in Argyllshire and south Scotland.

Fuel Poverty

Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are in place to enable disabled peoples’ organisations to be involved in formulating policies to tackle fuel poverty.

Alex Neil: The Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum’s remit includes monitoring the implementation of the new Energy Assistance Package; the Forum plans to set up an Equalities Working Group to ensure its work is inclusive. An equalities impact assessment has been carried out on the new package. Publication of this is imminent.

Further and Higher Education

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of any reallocations of discretionary funds that it has made for colleges or universities in 2008-09.

Fiona Hyslop: The in-year re-allocation of Higher Education Discretionary Funds for 2008-09 was as follows:

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much discretionary funding has been provided to higher education and further education institutions in the 2008-09 academic year, broken down by type and institution.

Fiona Hyslop: The full list of allocations for the Higher Education Discretionary Funds, provided to colleges and universities, is available on the Student Award Agency for Scotland (SAAS) website at http://www.saas.gov.uk/student_support/other_funding.htm#discretionary.

In addition to this, information on which institutions have received further funds as part of the in-year re-distribution process can be found in the answer to question S3W-21493 on 6 March 2009. 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.

Information on discretionary fund allocations to colleges for further education students is not held by the Scottish Government and can be obtained from the Scottish Funding Council.

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-14475 by Fiona Hyslop on 26 June 2008, how many staff were employed in (a) colleges and (b) universities in 2007-08, broken down into academic and non-academic staff, and when new statistics will be available.

Fiona Hyslop: The number of staff at Scottish higher education institutions and colleges during the past four academic years broken down by employment function is shown in the following table.

Number of Staff at Scottish Institutions

Sources: HESA – excluding "atypical" staff; Scottish Funding Council.

Notes:

Figures in this table have been rounded to the nearest five.

Zero, one and two have been rounded to zero.

Data for 2008-09 will become available in January 2010.

Health

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on what drugs and health care treatments are available to NHS patients in England or Wales but not available to NHS patients in Scotland.

Nicola Sturgeon: As health is a devolved issue, decisions regarding the introduction of new medicines and treatments are taken by each of the UK countries through their own appraisal and assessment arrangements in line with established national priorities.

Accordingly, information regarding the introduction of new medicines and treatments in Scotland are available from www.scottishmedicines.org.uk; for England from www.dh.gov.uk and for Wales www.wales.gov.uk.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-18600 by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 December 2008, when the review of NHS board compliance with the Protocol for the Scottish Surveillance Programme for Clostridium Difficile Associated Disease by the HAI National Taskforce will be (a) completed and (b) published.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS board practice in the area of surveillance is monitored through the National HAI Action Plan and progress is reviewed by the HAI National Task Force, as confirmed in the answer provided to question to S3W-18600 on 15 December 2008.

There is no review of NHS board compliance with the protocol for the Scottish Surveillance Programme for Clostridium difficile Associated Disease (CDAD) planned.

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the emergence of the 078 strain of Clostridium difficile and its potentially higher level of toxicity, whether it has issued new guidelines to replace those requiring samples to be submitted where (a) a patient has developed a severe disease, including (i) admission to hospital or an intensive care unit with, (ii) surgery for or (iii) death following a diagnosis of Clostridium difficile associated disease (CDAD), (b) an outbreak of CDAD is suspected or (c) infections or outbreaks of ribotype 027 are suspected.

Nicola Sturgeon: Health Protection Scotland (HPS) confirm that their current guidance on Prevention and Control of Clostridium difficile Associated Disease (CDAD) in Healthcare Settings in Scotland provides for the possibility of more virulent strains being identified. HPS also advise that irrespective of strain, early and appropriate treatment, effective infection control procedures, and prudent antimicrobial prescribing are the key interventions needed to minimise the risk of Clostridium difficile Associated Disease (CDAD).

Homecoming Scotland

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) male and (b) female mortality rate was where alcohol was a contributory factor in each of the last five years, broken down by community health partnership area, and when it expects new statistics to be available.

Shona Robison: The information requested is available in two tables, which are available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 47843).

In addition, the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) does not routinely publish data on alcohol mortality by Community Health Partnerships (CHPs).

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the countries in which there is expenditure on some aspect of the Year of Homecoming 2009, also showing the expenditure in each case.

Jim Mather: From the Homecoming budget, £3 million has been allocated to programme expenditure, to create and enhance a programme of events in Scotland. This forms the key element of the marketing "offer". In addition to this, £1,915,000 has been spent on marketing and communications and this can be broken down as follows:

In addition to the expenditure from the core Homecoming budget, VisitScotland has supplemented marketing activity, using its core marketing budget, with Homecoming Scotland 2009 running as a theme through all its marketing campaigns. This expenditure is as follows:

It is not possible to break down expenditure to an individual country level as many of VisitScotland’s campaigns are developed on a pan-market basis. The pan-market approach ensures significant economies of scale in terms of production and development. It also ensures consistency of messages.

VisitBritain has lent its support to Homecoming to a value of £418,991 across 40 countries.

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what relative contribution (a) VisitScotland and (b) the Year of Homecoming 2009 are expected to make in relation to encouraging people from overseas to visit Scotland and what arrangements there are for ensuring that the necessary accommodation is available.

Jim Mather: For the duration of the Year of Homecoming, the promotion of Homecoming runs through VisitScotland’s entire marketing campaign and is integral to the drive to promote Scotland domestically and internationally as a quality, must see, must return destination. It is not possible to distinguish between the contribution of VisitScotland and the Year of Homecoming in encouraging people from overseas to visit Scotland but we are confident that the aim of generating an additional £40 million in tourism revenue in the Year of Homecoming will be achieved.

Across Scotland there is seldom 100% occupancy at any time. The highest annual average rate of occupancy (hotels) is 63%. There is therefore existing capacity within the accommodation sector. An initiative such as Homecoming, with a programme of events running throughout the whole year, is ideal to help fill that capacity.

VisitScotland has a full programme of communication with stakeholders and tourism businesses promoting Homecoming, providing information and advice about how businesses can benefit from Homecoming and providing marketing opportunities for businesses to buy into.

Housing

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the housing allocations for (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10, broken down by local authority.

Alex Neil: The Affordable Housing Investment Programme allocations for 2009-10 were announced at the Chartered Institute of Housing Conference on 10 March in Aberdeen and are available on the Scottish Government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/investment/ahip/ahip-2009-10/.

They are shown here for ease of reference and include comparisons with 2007-08 and 2008-09 allocations.

Affordable Housing Investment Programme 2009-10

Planned Expenditure by Local Authority 2009-10

Note: *2008-09 planned programme excludes the accelerated £40 million, 2009-10 planned programme includes £80 million accelerated funding.

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made towards its target of building 21,500 affordable homes by 2011.

Alex Neil: The government has a target of approving 21,500 affordable homes over the three year period 2008-11. We plan to approve over 6,000 homes by the end of financial year 2008-09. Our recently announced programme for 2009-10 has a target of at least 6,500 unit approvals.

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the operational period is of each of the 64 remodelled management agreements created during 2006 under section 68 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 through the direction of Scottish ministers.

Alex Neil: The operational period of each of the 62 remodelled management agreements is three years. They end at various times between April and September 2009 (see following list).

In accordance with the original direction, a review is being carried out. The Minister for Communities and Sport asked the Scottish Housing Regulator (the Regulator) to carry out the review and, in January 2009, the regulator issued a consultation paper setting out the proposed terms of its review of directions under Section 68A of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001.

Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), the local housing associations (LHOs) and other interested parties were asked to provide feedback on the Regulator’s proposals by 27 February 2009. Feedback is currently being considered by the Regulator and a finalised paper will be issued by the end of March.

Management-Only LHOs

CCHA LHOs

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the comprehensive improvement plan submitted by Glasgow Housing Association to the Scottish Housing Regulator and the new grant conditions are resulting in satisfactory progress with local management and community ownership.

Alex Neil: The improvement plan submitted to the Scottish Housing Regulator does not set out detailed timescales for Second Stage Transfer (SST). Progress with each SST is a matter for Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) and the respective Local Housing Organisations. The timescales need to be realistic and reflect a pace of activity which both parties can meet.

The Scottish Executive welcomes the first five transfers which are due to take place later this month and is keen to see this momentum maintained.

The Scottish Housing Regulator required GHA to undertake a fundamental review of its purpose and direction as part of the improvement planning process, and to consider the future of SST as part of this. GHA’s proposals for future tenant empowerment are set out in its draft business plan.

The Review of Grants is not yet concluded and has a clear objective in relation to SST, that the outcomes of the Review will "not compromise the delivery of the GHA Second Stage Transfer programme".

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20076 by John Swinney on 5 February 2009, (a) how many and (b) what percentage of community councils had registered for the Directorate for the Built Environment’s e-alert system as at 1 February 2009, broken down by local authority.

John Swinney: As at 1 February 2009, there were 70 community councils registered as subscribers to the Directorate for the Built Environment’s e-alert system, representing 6.1% of the total number of community councils across Scotland. See the following table for local authority breakdown.

Notes:

A further letter to Community Councils was issued on 2 March 2009 reminding them of the importance of registering for electronic alerts, and providing them with further information about the principal changes affecting community councils in the modernised planning system.

Between 1 February 2009 and 1 March 2009, a further 100 Community Councils registered for electronic alerts.

Of more than 7,600 subscribers to the electronic alert system, over 200 other individual subscribers did not indicate on registration whether they have involvement with a Community Council.

Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many void properties there have been in each local authority area in each year since 1999, also expressed as a percentage of the total housing stock.

Alex Neil: Vacant stock figures are collected annually by the Scottish Government (for local authorities), and by the Scottish Housing Regulator (for housing associations). The figures are a snapshot of vacancies as at 31 March each year, regardless of the length of time the stock has been unoccupied.

Vacant stock figures are not available for housing associations prior to March 2003, and so the following tables relate to public sector vacancies only in the period 1999-2002, and the whole of the social sector from 2003.

Table 1: Vacant Public / Social Sector Stock at 31 March

Table 2: Vacant public / social sector stock at 31 March as a percentage of all housing stock

Sources:

Local authority data: Stock1 and Stock2 returns by local authorities to the Scottish Government, Communities Analytical Services.

Scottish Homes data: Communities Scotland.

Housing association figures: Scottish Housing Regulator, Registered Social Landlord Annual Performance and Statistical Returns 2002-03 to 2007-08.

Notes to tables 1 and 2:

1. Local authority stock and vacancy figures include estimates based on previous data due to outstanding returns.

2. Following the transfer of Scottish Homes housing stock during 2005, figures from 2006 onwards do not include Scottish Homes.

3. Housing association void figures are not available from 1999 to 2002, therefore these tables relate to local authority and Scottish Homes figures only for that period.

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in order to inform responses to the consultation, Investing in Affordable Housing: A Consultation, how it plans to ensure that the proposed concentration and streamlining of development and procurement under the lead development system would safeguard local expertise that is currently harnessed directly by smaller rural housing associations.

Alex Neil: The government’s current proposals are that associations set up development consortia and that this should be governed by a formal agreement. On page 25 of the consultation paper Investing in Affordable Housing: A Consultation it says; "Consortium heads [or Lead Developers] will agree with the other consortium members what the nature of their contribution will be, how relations within the consortium will work and which organisation will eventually pay for, own and manage the new homes. They will also agree how to manage contracting and procurement in order to secure the most value from the process, and how completion and transfer of the new homes to the eventual owners and managers will work." Even when working with a Lead Developer there would still be a continuing role for smaller rural housing associations and the important contribution that their local expertise makes to development and procurement can be recognised and protected. It is also proposed to retain flexibility in funding arrangements and that associations could bid for funding without working with a Lead Developer, if they are pre-qualified. This could be another route through which smaller rural associations could continue to develop. We will look at responses to the consultation on this as well as all other points.

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses were built in Fife by registered social landlords or Fife Council in each of the last five years and how many are expected to be built in each of the next five years.

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses were built by registered social landlords or local authorities in each of the last five years and how many are expected to be built in each of the next five years, broken down by local authority area.

Alex Neil: The number of houses completed by registered social landlords (RSLs) or local authorities in the last five years is shown in the following table. These exclude conversions of existing buildings and Off the Shelf purchases by RSLs.

There is no centrally held source of information on projections of new registered social landlord or local authority housing.

Table 1: Social Sector New Build Housing Completions, 2003-04 to 2007-08

Sources:

Notes:

NB1 returns by local authorities to the Scottish Government, Communities Analytical Services (Housing Statistics).

Scottish Government Affordable Housing Investment Programme database.

Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many properties have been sold by registered social landlords in each of the last 10 years, broken down by local authority area.

Alex Neil: I have asked the Chief Executive of the Scottish Housing Regulator to respond.

Her response is as follows:

The number of properties sold by registered social landlords (by local authority area) each year since 2002 is shown in the following table. The information for the years 1999 to 2002 is not held centrally.

Source: Scottish Housing Regulator, RSL Annual performance and statistical returns 2002-08.

Note: This figure represents all right to buy and voluntary sales.

Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new council houses have been built in each of the last 10 years broken down by local authority.

Alex Neil: The requested information is available to download in Excel format from the Housing Statistics for Scotland website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/NewBuildLA.

This spreadsheet contains time series tables of quarterly, calendar year and financial year starts and completions by councils, broken down by local authority area. The second last sheet in the workbook shows the latest financial year completions.

Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new houses have been built by registered social landlords in each of the last 10 years, broken down by local authority area.

Alex Neil: The requested information is available to download in Excel format from the Housing Statistics for Scotland web pages:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/NewBuildHA.

This spreadsheet contains quarterly, calendar year and financial year starts and completions by registered social landlords since 1992, broken down by local authority area. The second last sheet in the workbook shows the latest annual completions.

Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the combined sale value was of all properties sold under right-to-buy legislation by registered social landlords in each of the last 10 years, broken down by local authority area.

Alex Neil: I have asked Karen Watt, Chief Executive of the Scottish Housing Regulator, to respond. Her response is as follows:

This information is not held centrally.

Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29606 by Lewis Macdonald on 20 November 2006, whether actual costings are now available and, if so, what these are.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Financial Memorandum to the Human Tissue (Scotland) Bill identified the following additional costs arising from the bill:

£50,000 a year as a cost to the Scottish Government for charges which the Human Tissue Authority might make for its work in Scotland relating to transplantation;

£250,000 as a one-off payment which the Scottish Government would need to make for the production of an initial supply of forms and leaflets associated with the process of authorising a hospital post-mortem examination;

Between £100-150,000 as a charge to other bodies (mainly NHS boards) to develop training for the staff who would have to talk families through the post-mortem examination authorisation form, and

£20-25,000 a year as a charge on the Scottish Government for inspections of Schools of Anatomy carried out by HM Inspector of Anatomy.

Further expenditure of some £50,000 has been earmarked for the production of an information leaflet setting out people’s rights in terms of authorisation under the act of the use of their organs for transplantation.

The Scottish Government does not hold details of any expenditure by local authorities or others as an immediate consequence of the act.

Justice

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20289 by Fiona Hyslop on 12 February 2009, what proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils has access to programmes aiming to help to reduce the carrying of knives and knife crime among young people.

Keith Brown: All schools can access such materials, for example through the Violence Reduction Unit’s website www.actiononviolence.com.

It is up to individual schools, youth organisations and local authorities to decide when and which programmes to access on the dangers of illegal knife carrying, as they are best placed to judge the needs of the children and young people in their communities.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20289 by Fiona Hyslop on 12 February 2009, what programmes are currently running in schools in each local authority area.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20289 by Fiona Hyslop on 12 February 2009, what proportion of school children has had access to the (a) Knife City DVD and (b) It’s Jist for Protection performance by young people in the last 12 months, broken down by local authority area.

Keith Brown: This information is not held centrally.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20289 by Fiona Hyslop on 12 February 2009, what the target audience is for the (a) Knife City DVD and (b) It’s Jist for Protection performance by young people

Keith Brown: The target audience for both the Knife City DVD and the It’s Jist for Protection performance is young people from the P7 age-group upwards. Further information on these resources can be accessed through the Violence Reduction Unit’s website at www.actiononviolence.com.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20289 by Fiona Hyslop on 12 February 2009, what criteria is used to evaluate the effectiveness of programmes such as the (a) Knife City DVD and (b) It’s Jist for Protection performance by young people in reducing offending behaviour.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20289 by Fiona Hyslop on 12 February 2009, whether it has recently commissioned research into how effective such programmes are in reducing offending behaviour.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20289 by Fiona Hyslop on 12 February 2009, whether it is developing or plans to introduce new programmes aimed at helping to reduce the carrying of knives and knife crime among young people.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20289 by Fiona Hyslop on 12 February 2009, what discussions it has had with the Home Office with regard to the sharing of good practice on education programmes aimed at helping to reduce the carrying of knives and knife crime among young people.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20289 by Fiona Hyslop on 12 February 2009, whether it is aware of any programmes in England that have been particularly successful at reducing offending behaviour and that could be applied in Scotland.

Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government is fully committed to getting knives off our streets and is taking direct action to tackle this issue. On 4 March 2009, we hosted the first national youth conference on violence and knife crime, which brought together over 80 young people from across Scotland and provided them with a platform to discuss what other action could be taken to tackle the problem. On the same day, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice launched No Knives Better Lives, our new £500,000 youth engagement initiative which will work directly with young people to educate them about the dangers and consequences of carrying a knife.

This work will support other initiatives that we have recently announced, such as Medics Against Violence, which will see senior medics in Glasgow working directly with young people about the dangers of carrying a knife, and the groundbreaking Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) project, in which our £1.6 million investment will support partners’ efforts in tackling gang violence in Glasgow. All of this work has been informed by the good work that is being delivered in Scotland and beyond and we will continue to look for examples of good practice, both in Scotland and those developed by others such as the Home Office, that will have a positive impact.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers to be the typical profile of a knife carrier.

Fergus Ewing: The national Violence Reduction Unit – firmly established as the centre of expertise in tackling violence – consider the typical profile of a knife carrier to be: "a young male aged 16 to 24 who has left school with no formal qualifications, is likely to be unemployed, and will usually reside in a deprived community."

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that young people are more likely to be victims of knife crime than adults.

Fergus Ewing: The national Violence Reduction Unit – firmly established as the centre of expertise in tackling violence – consider that young people are generally more at risk of being the victims of knife crime, although this will vary from community to community.

Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been announced under its Cashback for Communities scheme.

Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government has invested over £11 million to date in a range of diversionary projects for young people. This represents £2.5 million to the Scottish Football Association, £3 million to YouthLink, £1.4 million to Scottish Rugby Union, £1.7 million to BasketballScotland, £2m to the Sports Facilities Fund and £0.6 million to Arts and Business Scotland. More announcements will follow. So far over 100,000 young people have participated in CashBack for Communities activities and tens of thousands more will benefit over the coming year.

Local Electoral Administration and Registration Services (Scotland) Act 2006

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29615 by George Lyon on 17 November 2006, whether actual costings are now available and, if so, what these are.

John Swinney: Part 1 of the Local Electoral and Registration Services (Scotland) Act 2006 (the 2006 Act) deals with changes to electoral administration procedures. As stated in the Financial Memorandum, there were no associated costs falling on the Scottish Government, local authorities or any other body as a result of implementing these changes.

Part 2 of the 2006 Act deals with improvements to the registration service in Scotland. The Financial Memorandum predicted expenditure of £100,000 by the Scottish Government in 2007-08 to acquire computer software and hardware associated with delivering e-registration. However, because of other priorities that work has been deferred until 2012.

Part 2 of the 2006 Act also envisages offering electronic notification of events to third parties, as an alternative to paper extracts of births, deaths and marriages, issued for a fee by the Registrar General and by local registrars. The new service will be introduced at a future date, if there is demand for it from, for example, insurance companies and pension firms etc. who no longer want to handle paper.

To date, there have therefore been no associated costs falling on the Scottish Government, or, as predicted, on local authorities or any other body as a result of part 2 of the 2006 Act.

Mental Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19730 by Shona Robison on 21 January 2009, whether it will outline the scope and remit of the The Same As You research proposal.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19730 by Shona Robison on 21 January 2009, who it has consulted on the detail of the The Same As You research proposal.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government will consult members of The same as you? Implementation Group, the Users and Carers Group and other interested stakeholders later this year to inform the scope and remit of the research proposal.

Planning

Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive in what circumstances the planning system provides for adjacent owners to be compensated for adverse impact of a development on the value of their properties.

Stewart Stevenson: There are no circumstances where the planning system provides for compensation for adverse impact of a development on the value of adjacent properties.

The planning system does not exist to protect the interests of one person or business against the activities of another. In determining a planning application, consideration will be given to a range of issues including the extent to which a proposal may affect the amenity and existing use of land and buildings which ought to be protected in the public interest, not whether owners or occupiers of neighbouring properties would experience financial or other loss from a particular development.

Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration has been given to the introduction of compensation payments for adjacent owners where planning applications, for wind turbines or other developments, are judged to have had an adverse impact on the value of their properties.

Stewart Stevenson: There are no plans at present to consider the introduction of compensation under the planning system for owners of land adjacent to wind turbines, or indeed any other developments, in regard to potential adverse impact on the value of their property.

The planning system does not exist to protect the interests of one person or business against the activities of another. In determining a planning application, consideration will be given to a range of issues including the extent to which a proposal may affect the amenity and existing use of land and buildings which ought to be protected in the public interest, not whether owners or occupiers of neighbouring properties would experience financial or other loss from a particular development.

Rail Freight

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many freight movements have taken place on the Leven to Thornton railway line in each of the last 15 years, broken down by (a) company, (b) type of freight, (c) date and (d) time.

Stewart Stevenson: We do not hold this information centrally.

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it would cost to enable freight to be transported on the Leven to Thornton railway line.

Stewart Stevenson: The costs would be dependent on the level of service to operate on the line and the impact to existing infrastructure.

Rail Network

James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Transport Scotland in relation to the introduction of the new Caledonian Express service between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley via Shotts.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-20947 on 9 March 2009. 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.

Road Accidents

Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many pedestrian deaths at level crossings, other than suicides, there have been in each year since 1999.

Stewart Stevenson: The numbers of pedestrian deaths at level crossings in Scotland, other than suicides, in each year since 1999 are:

2007 is the latest year that figures have been published for.

Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many pedestrian deaths at level crossings, other than suicides, have resulted in a fatal accident inquiry in each year since 1999.

Stewart Stevenson: Both the British Transport Police and the Office of Rail Regulation carried out an accident investigation into each of the four recorded pedestrian deaths at level crossings and submitted a report to the Procurator Fiscal.

Procurator Fiscal records are not structured in a manner that makes it possible to confirm if any of these four pedestrian deaths were followed up by a fatal accident inquiry.

Roads

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive who authorised any changes made to the appraisal summary table for the Inverness bypass between the July 2008 draft Strategic Transport Projects Review document and the December 2008 final document.

Stewart Stevenson: Technical reviews for consistency and clarity of the appraisal and its reporting on a Scotland-wide basis were completed as part of the quality assurance of the STPR in the period July 2008 to December 2008.

Any changes to the reports were made by the review consultants and subsequently accepted by the project team in receiving the reports for publication.

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the improvements to the A77 around Ayr will be completed.

Stewart Stevenson: The Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) has recommended a package of proposed investments for the period 2012 and beyond, the delivery of which will be prioritised in each spending review.

A timetable for undertaking the work on the A77 upgrades will therefore be developed as part of this prioritisation process.

We have a fully committed programme of transport infrastructure investment to 2012:

Planned improvements to the A77 include the introduction of grade separated junctions at Symington and Bogend Toll and realignment and improvement of 3.3km of the carriageway between Dowhill and Chapeldonan.

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what budget has been allocated for the improvements to the A77 around Ayr.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answers to questions S3W-19420 on 26 January 2009 and S3W-20652 on 24 February 2009. 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.

Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is considering a review of the trunk road network.

Stewart Stevenson: The strategic motorway and trunk road network was last reviewed in the public consultation Shaping the Trunk Road Network in 1994-95 which was linked to the reorganisation of local government at the time (the previous review was 1946). Following this review, a number of trunking and detrunking orders were made, resulting in the present local and trunk road networks.

Following the announcement of the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) on 10 December 2008 which identified national strategic land-based transport priorities we are considering the need to undertake a comprehensive review of the national strategic trunk road network.

Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities can apply for a trunking order to be granted.

Stewart Stevenson: A local authority may make a request to Scottish ministers to consider trunking a local road. Scottish ministers may consider any such request and if satisfied that it is expedient for the purposes of extending, improving or reorganising the trunk road network, have powers to direct that the road becomes part of the trunk road network.

Schools

Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many newly rebuilt or significantly refurbished schools have been completed since May 2007.

Keith Brown: Between May 2007 and last month there have been 152 schools either newly rebuilt or significantly refurbished.

Scottish Government Finance

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Islamic funding sources in relation to (a) the Scottish Futures Trust or (b) other Scottish Executive spending; which sources have been involved, and when it will be in a position to indicate what use is expected to be made of such sources.

Jim Mather: No discussions have taken place with Islamic funding sources in relation to the Scottish Futures Trust or other Scottish Executive spending and there are therefore no plans to make use of such sources at this time.

Student Finance

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received requests for additional discretionary funds in the last 14 months from colleges, universities or the Scottish Funding Council and, if so, from whom and for how much.

Fiona Hyslop: The requests for additional Discretionary Funds in academic years 2007-08 and 2008-09 are shown in the following tables:

In-Year Re-Distribution 2007-08

In-Year Re-Distribution 2008-09

Tourism

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much VisitScotland spent on the promotion of (a) walking, (b) cycling, (c) golf and (d) wildlife tourism in the last 12 months.

Jim Mather: VisitScotland’s marketing budget for 2007-08 was £29.5 million. This includes spend on the promotion of activities such as walking, cycling, golf and wildlife tourism. Their marketing is based on sophisticated market research which identifies what the consumer needs and desires in a trip to Scotland, and allows them to focus spending in order to generate the maximum economic value for Scotland. Walking, cycling, golf and wildlife tourism are promoted across a range of market segments and as part of a wide variety of campaigns.

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of visitors to Scotland take part in walking activities.

Jim Mather: In 2007 there were almost 16 million visitor trips to Scotland, 5.3 million of which enjoyed walking as part of their trip. So, almost one third of visitors to Scotland participate in walking activities of some kind during their stay, with a value of £1.3 billion to the Scottish economy.

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much walking tourism contributes to the economy.

Jim Mather: VisitScotland figures for 2007 show that where walking was the main purpose of a visit to Scotland, it generated £244 million for the Scottish economy. Moreover, a high number of visitors enjoy walking more generally as part of a wider trip to Scotland. Where walking is cited as an activity in such visits, the value of these trips is £1.3 billion.

Transport

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the budget for Transport Strategy and Innovation in 2009-10 the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland will receive.

Stewart Stevenson: In 2009-10, the budget for the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS) will be part of the wider budget for Transport Strategy and Innovation. The MACS budget provides running cost support for the committee. The Transport Strategy and Innovation Budget is a Level 3 figure. Current Scottish Government Finance Guidelines are that we do not publish figures below those shown in Level 3.

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of car journeys are under one mile.

Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Household Survey Travel Diary collects information on the proportion of car journeys less than one mile. Results are shown in the following table:

Table 1: Proportion of Car Journeys Under One Mile

Note: *Passengers account for 20%.

These are the latest figures available.

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what research was carried out on the environmental impact of the Inverness bypass between July 2008 and the publication of the Strategic Transport Projects Review in December 2008 and what detailed results are available.

Stewart Stevenson: The Strategic Environmental Assessment was completed in the period July 2008 to December 2008.

Specific comments on the environmental impacts of the Inverness bypass are set out on page 126 of the Environmental Report. These, and the detailed results of the appraisal which are set out in Report 3, can be found on the Transport Scotland website at www.transportscotland.gov.uk/stpr.

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what research was carried out on the economic impact of the Inverness bypass between July 2008 and the publication of the Strategic Transport Projects Review in December 2008 and what detailed results are available.

Stewart Stevenson: Economic output from the completion of the modelling of the operation of the Inverness bypass provided a benefit to cost ratio of less than 0.75 for the scheme in the period July 2008 to December 2008.

This is reported in the option summary table (Annex 3, E6) of Report 3 to the STPR which can be found on the Transport Scotland website at www.transportscotland.gov/uk/stpr.

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive on what date Scottish ministers took the decision that the Strategic Transport Projects Review should be extended to cover the additional decade between 2022 and 2032.

Stewart Stevenson: The scale and phased implementation of a number of the 29 recommended schemes contained within the STPR means they may take longer to complete than the 10 years between 2012 and 2022.

Voluntary Organisations

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the amount currently provided in annual funding for the Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme has been allocated to South Lanarkshire Council for 2009-10.

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the funding for the Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme has been allocated in 2008-09, broken down by local authority area.

Jim Mather: A grant totalling £1.023 million for the three years 2006-09 was awarded to Community Service Volunteers (CSV) for its Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme. No part of that grant was hypothecated to any specific area.

The following questions were given holding answers:

S3W-20844

S3W-20845

S3W-20846

S3W-20847

S3W-20857