Seòmar agus comataidhean

In August 2001, the Scottish Executive announced approval in principal for the Larkhall/Milngavie rail link scheme and made available £16 million towards its construction costs. Strathclyde Passenger Transport (SPT) is the lead authority for the project and the Scottish Executive continues to support SPT as they take this project forward.

The private bill promoting the re-opening of the Stirling to Alloa to Kincardine railway line was introduced to Parliament in March this year. Subject to its successful passage, the project could be authorised for construction by summer 2004, with a view to running services by winter 2005-06.For the proposed re-opening of the Airdrie to Bathgate line, the Scottish Executive has made available £500,000 to West Lothian Council in order to fund a detailed engineering study into the scheme. We expect to receive the study's findings by spring 2004.

It is for local authorities to decide on how they provide day care services for individuals, in consultation with the users of those services and their carers. While day care centres may be one form of appropriate provision, service users are entitled to choice and services tailored to their needs. Achieving this can result in a move away from the provision of fixed services in day care centres and it would therefore be a retrograde step to consider statutory provision for funding of a form of day care which may not be every user's choice.

The Litter (Fixed Penalty) (Scotland) Order 2003, which will increase fixed penalty fines for littering from £25 to £50, was laid before Parliament on 5 June and will come into force on 1 July 2003.

All transport projects for which funding is sought from the Scottish Executive are subject to appraisal under the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-255 today. 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/webapp/search_wa.

The provision of funds for the UK rail network is a reserved matter. The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) has administered funding on a UK basis since it was established in 2001. The SRA publish their strategic plan annually, a copy of the 2002 and 2003 documents are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 18609, 26628 and 26626). The strategic plan sets out the projects that the SRA is seeking to support in Scotland.

Formulaic funding for social inclusion is provided by the Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC) via the three strands shown as follows:Entry Costs Social Inclusion Premium: This element reflects SFEFC's on-going commitment to support the development of further education as a means of giving new opportunities to people from socially deprived areas. The premium supports the extra costs colleges bear when engaging with socially excluded groups and provides an incentive for colleges to increase their provision for these groups. Colleges will receive a premium worth £57.95 in 2003-04 for students domiciled within the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland.Retention and Achievement Social Inclusion Premium: This element acknowledges the difficulty in meeting the on-going support needs of students from under-represented groups as they progress through their courses. Colleges will receive a premium for 2003-04 worth £9.94 per unit of funding generated by students domiciled within the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland.Remoteness Element: SFEFC has a duty, on behalf of the Scottish ministers, to ensure that there is adequate and efficient provision of FE in Scotland. It is recognised that there are additional costs, for what are often small colleges, associated with operating in remote and island areas of Scotland. The remoteness element aims to reflect the additional costs which these colleges necessarily bear. Each qualifying remote college receives an institutional element (£191,359 for 2003-04), and the sum of £30.70 per head based on the number of students whose home address is in a sparsely populated area.It is also recognised that colleges operating on islands or in extremely remote locations can face even higher financial burdens due to their location. Therefore, both the above institutional and student based elements are uplifted by a further 30% for island locations and 15% for extremely remote mainland locations.

The public consultation in relation to delivery of court services in the Peebles area will commence when discussions between the Scottish Court Service, Scottish Borders Council and Lothian and Borders Police on the relocation of the court to council buildings at Rosetta Road, Peebles have concluded.

No.