Scottish Executive

Bridges

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the terms of reference are for the Scotland Transerv report regarding congestion on the Kessock Bridge.

Stewart Stevenson: The brief for the report is to find the most appropriate design solution that creates sufficient reserve capacity at Longman roundabout to reduce the morning and afternoon peak hour traffic queuing.

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether provisional financial resources have been set aside to take account of any work identified in the Scotland Transerv report regarding congestion on the Kessock Bridge.

Stewart Stevenson: Any measures identified in the Longman roundabout capacity improvement study will be costed and prioritised with other minor improvement schemes across the trunk road network.

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to resurface the Kessock Bridge before 2012 and, if so, when it will appoint the contractor; when the work will start; when the work will conclude, and whether it anticipates that the work will involve the closure of one or two lanes on the bridge for north and southbound traffic.

Stewart Stevenson: Resurfacing works are planned to start in March 2011 at the earliest, however this depends on a number of technical and financial factors. The works will require phased closure of one of the two carriageways of the bridge throughout the contract, with one traffic lane open in each direction on the opposite carriageway.

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what duration it anticipates for lane closures on the Kessock Bridge during any resurfacing work.

Stewart Stevenson: It is currently anticipated that the works will require contraflow on the bridge for a period of five to six months. During the works, contraflow will initially operate on one side of the bridge and then switch to the opposite side.

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a park-and-ride scheme will be put in place in North Kessock prior to any major roadworks taking place on the Kessock Bridge.

Stewart Stevenson: A number of measures to reduce delays during the works, including public transport initiatives, a park-and-ride scheme, car sharing and ferries are being considered, and our operating company, Scotland TranServ, is in consultation with the Highland Council about the viability of a temporary park-and-ride scheme.

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a ferry service for cars and pedestrians will be reintroduced from North Kessock to South Kessock prior to or during any major roadworks taking place on the Kessock Bridge.

Stewart Stevenson: A number of measures to reduce delays during the works, including public transport initiatives, a park-and-ride scheme, car sharing and ferries are being considered. The viability of introducing a passenger ferry service is one of the measures being assessed.

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the impact of rerouting traffic from the Kessock Bridge onto the old A9 through Clachnaharry and Beauly on congestion in Inverness and the communities along the old A9 route.

Stewart Stevenson: During the resurfacing works, traffic flow will be restricted to one lane in each direction on the Kessock Bridge. Traffic modelling exercises have been carried out to assess the impact of the works on both the trunk road and local roads network. Workshops have also been held with the Highland Council to review the impact on the local roads network. Traffic will not be signed to follow the old A9 (A862), however some traffic is expected to divert along this route.

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what provision has been made for access to the Kessock Bridge for emergency services during any period of resurfacing.

Stewart Stevenson: Initial consultation has been carried out with the emergency services, including the police, ambulance and fire services and RNLI, and all will be consulted extensively during the scheme design process. Provision will be made to allow access through the works for emergency services at all times.

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any resurfacing of the Kessock Bridge will be programmed to take place during a summer period.

Stewart Stevenson: Yes. The resurfacing work cannot take place during the winter. The bridge is very exposed and some of the operations required, including bridge deck waterproofing and surfacing, cannot be carried out at low temperatures, in wet conditions or during high winds. It is therefore necessary to carry out the work between March and October to minimise the probability of excessive weather delays. Consultation on mitigation measures to reduce disruption is already underway with the Highland Council and other stakeholders.

Credit Unions

Stuart McMillan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to support credit unions that are allegedly paying £1,500 a year in interest as a result of the bail-out of financial institutions.

John Swinney: The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is the UK’s statutory fund of last resort for customers of financial services firms, banks and building societies, and credit unions. The FSCS is an independent body, set up under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. If a financial services firm is unable, or likely to be unable, to pay claims against it, the FSCS can pay compensation to consumers. This means that credit unions enjoy exactly the same protection as banks and building societies.

In order to benefit from the "safety net" provided by the FSCS, all financial services firms and credit unions must pay a levy. There is a limit to the amount that FSCS can levy and it is proportionate to the size and nature of the individual financial institution or credit union.

Credit unions have an important role to play in addressing financial exclusion. Without the protection offered by the FSCS, should a credit union fail, its members would suffer disproportionately from the loss of their savings.

Employment

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people registered unemployed were aged (a) 16 to 24, (b) 25 to 34, (c) 35 to 44, (d) 45 to 54 and (e) over 55 in each of the last five years, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

John Swinney: The official source for statistics on people who are registered unemployed is the claimant count, which details the number of people who are claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance. I have placed tables in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 49478) showing, for each parliamentary constituency, what percentage of people in the claimant count were aged (a) 16 to 24, (b) 25 to 34, (c) 35 to 44, (d) 45 to 54 and (e) over 55 for the periods October 2004 to September 2005 to October 2008 to September 2009.

Energy Efficiency

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with utility companies regarding increasing the provision of thermal insulation in domestic homes.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Government is working closely with energy utilities through our Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) Strategy steering group to boost investment in thermal insulation in Scottish homes. In offering their support for our Securing Our Share: A CERT Strategy for Scotland, energy utilities are committed to maximising their CERT offerings in Scotland.

More specifically, the Scottish Government is driving greater CERT uptake through our partnerships and regular meetings with the energy utilities in providing CERT funded home insulation through the Home Insulation Scheme and Energy Assistance Package.

Enterprise

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27617 by Jim Mather on 6 October 2009, how many responses it received to the public consultation on the draft guidelines for the Saltire Prize.

Jim Mather: There were 21 responses to the public consultation on the draft guidelines for the Saltire Prize.

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27616 by Jim Mather on 6 October 2009, whether it will publish details of the registrations of interest for the Saltire Prize competition and, if so, when.

Jim Mather: As no agreement has been made with Saltire Prize Registrants to release information, the Scottish Government will not be publishing details of the registrations of interest received for the Saltire Prize. There could be potential to breach commercial confidentiality. However, details of the teams that make formal applications to participate in the competition will be published on the Saltire Prize website. Application packs for entry will be finalised by the end of 2009.

Ferry Services

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27342 by Stewart Stevenson on 2 October 2009, whether it will list the combined weight of freight and freight vehicles or trailers carried and the metres of deck space allocated to them on each route operated by (a) Calmac Ferries Limited, (b) Cowal Ferries Limited and (c) NorthLink Ferries Limited in each of the last 10 years for which records are available.

Stewart Stevenson: Further to the answer to question S3W-27342 on 2 October 2009, only part of the information requested is available. Although each company monitors the overall weight of freight vehicles and trailers for loading and space allocation purposes, this data is not retained for record keeping purposes. However, deck space data is available showing the lane meterage used by commercial vehicles on the Gourock-Dunoon route (as currently operated by Cowal Ferries Ltd), on the Clyde and Hebrides ferry network (as currently operated by CalMac Ferries Ltd) and on the Northern Isles ferry network (as currently operated by NorthLink Ferries Ltd). Please note that we do not hold comparable data for the Northern Isles prior to 2003.

The carrying statistics are available from the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre (Bib. number 49477).

Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what experts have been appointed to assist the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry.

Nicola Sturgeon: The inquiry Chairman, Lord MacLean, has not yet decided which witnesses, expert or otherwise, will be called upon to assist the inquiry. Lord MacLean has, however, appointed two assessors as identified on the inquiry’s website www.valeoflevenhospitalinquiry.org.

Dr Geoff Ridgway OBE is a retired consultant in Clinical Microbiology at University College London Hospitals. His career encompassed the diagnosis and management of infectious diseases, with a special interest in genitor-urinary bacterial infections. Other research interests included hospital infection control and sterilization and disinfection technology.

Mrs Mary Waddell OBE recently retired as Director of Nursing, eastern board, Northern Ireland. Mrs Waddell has held positions of Nursing Officer, Clinical Nurse Teacher and Director of Nursing at the Mater Hospital, Belfast prior to her appointment as Director of Nursing at the eastern health and social services board in April 1990, until her retirement in May 2009.

Housing

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the level of funding was in (a) 1999-00, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02, (d) 2002-03, (e) 2003-04, (f) 2004-05, (g) 2005-06, (h) 2006-07 and (i) 2007-08 for affordable housing projects in the Lothians region, broken down by local authority area.

Alex Neil: The level of Affordable Housing Investment Programme funding spent on affordable housing projects in the Lothians region, broken down by local authority area for the years identified, is as indicated in the following tables. The figures contained in the tables are actual expenditure and will differ from the funding allocated at the commencement of each individual financial year.

Since 2005, the Scottish Government has, in addition to the figures shown, provided funding through the demand-led Low-Cost Initiative for First-Time Buyers (LIFT) scheme for both Open Market and New Supply Shared Equity purchases.

Land

Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what authorities have responsibility for maintaining records of common land.

John Swinney: The information requested is not held centrally. All moveable and heritable common good assets which are the property of the local authority are accountable within the audited accounts of each local authority. Local authority accounts are subject to annual audits by Audit Scotland and these are accessible by law to any member of the public.

Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what support is available to help local communities identify and develop areas of common land.

John Swinney: Common good land and assets are the responsibility of local authorities and it is up to them how to involve local communities in the management of these areas.

There is a statutory duty on councils to have regard to the interests of the area in which the common good formerly related. Under the principles of best value they are also required to demonstrate responsiveness to the needs of communities. How these obligations are fulfilled is a matter for local authorities to decide.

Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what rights and responsibilities are attached to common land.

John Swinney: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 makes it clear that local authorities are the stewards of common good land and assets. Most common good assets are held in perpetuity meaning they cannot be disposed of. In many cases a specific deed of trust, or conditions of bequest, will exist for land or assets, and if so, then a council is bound by them.

School Transport

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25448 by Stewart Stevenson on 6 August 2009, whether it is concerned that school travel co-ordinator posts are decreasing and that the number of schools that each co-ordinator is responsible for is increasing.

Stewart Stevenson: As I said in my previous answer, it is entirely for each local authority to set its own priorities, allocate funding and deliver active travel outcomes as agreed in their single outcome agreements.

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to ensure that local authorities employ measures to encourage active travel to and from school, such as school travel co-ordinators.

Stewart Stevenson: The ring-fenced grant for school travel co-ordinator posts was rolled up into the local authority grant settlement in 2008-09.

The Scottish Government continues to provide local authorities with £9.09 million per year for Cycling, Walking and Safer Streets projects which they can supplement if they wish to. Also, this year we will provide £3.165 million to Sustrans and Cycling Scotland to deliver projects that will, for example, provide cycle racks and promote cycle training in schools, and other resources that tackle the school run, such as Walk to School Week material.

Schools

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the first supplementary to question S3F-1930 by Nicola Sturgeon on 1 October 2009 (Official Report c. 20201), whether it will list the 150 school projects that have been completed since the current administration took office.

Keith Brown: The 152 school rebuilding or refurbishment projects which were completed between May 2007 and December 2008 are as follows:

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the first supplementary to question S3F-1930 by Nicola Sturgeon on 1 October 2009 (Official Report c. 20201), whether it will list the further 100 school projects that will be finished by the end of the current parliamentary session.

Keith Brown: In addition to the 152 school rebuilding or refurbishment projects completed between May 2007 and December 2008, as listed in response to S3W-27951 on 30 October 2009, a further 84 projects were completed by August 2009. We expect that the cumulative total will comfortably reach 250 by the end of the current parliamentary session.

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.

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils in the City of Glasgow it has since May 2007 lifted out of schools that were in a poor or bad condition and how this has been achieved, broken down by school.

Fiona Hyslop: Glasgow City Council are responsible for assessing and reporting the condition of their schools. Since May 2007, the number of pupils in the City of Glasgow lifted out of schools that were in a poor or bad condition and were subsequently recorded as good or satisfactory condition in the School Estate Statistics 2009, is 3,654.

Scottish Enterprise

David Whitton (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applicants there were for the recently filled post of chief executive of Scottish Enterprise; how many were internal candidates, and how many were from abroad.

Jim Mather: Recruitment is a matter for Scottish Enterprise in line with Scottish Government’s guidance on Appointment and Remuneration of Chief Executives. I have asked the Scottish Enterprise Chairman to write to you in this regard.

David Whitton (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive who decided on the details of the remuneration package for the post of chief executive of Scottish Enterprise.

Jim Mather: Under the Enterprise and New Towns Act, ministers must be consulted on remuneration for the chief executive. In considering remuneration, ministers took into account the Scottish Government’s Public Sector Pay Policy for Senior Appointments, together with advice from the Scottish Government’s Remuneration Group.

David Whitton (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether consideration was given to reducing the salary level for the post of chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, given that the remit of the agency has changed and staff numbers reduced.

Jim Mather: The remuneration package was set at the beginning of the recruitment process by Scottish Enterprise in consultation with Scottish ministers. The package was established using the Scottish Government’s Public Sector Pay Policy for Senior Appointments.

This was arrived at taking account of a Hay Group job size evaluation completed in October 2008. That independent, market-facing review considered the chief executive role as it is now, after the implementation of the enterprise network reforms announced in September 2007.