- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 23 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm that there will be no replacement of the electric rolling stock on existing electrified lines with diesel rolling stock to facilitate the introduction of new electrified services on lines such as the Airdrie to Bathgate rail line.
Answer
A procurement plan is currentlybeing developed to deliver a fleet of new rolling stock for a range of major projects(including Airdrie to Bathgate) and passenger growth initiatives from 2009 onwards.
At this time therefore, no decisionhas been made on the actual type of rolling stock that will service any of the routes.
Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more informationif required.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 23 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has detailed plans in place to procure electric and diesel rolling stock for the new infrastructure investments that it is planning for 2007 onwards.
Answer
A procurement plan is currentlybeing developed to deliver a fleet of new rolling stock for a range of major projects(including Airdrie to Bathgate) and passenger growth initiatives from 2009 onwards.
The procurement process willbe carried out with the cooperation of the current operator, First ScotRail, inconsultation with Transport Scotland, commencing in early 2007.
At this time, no decision hasbeen made on the actual type of rolling stock that will service the route.
Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more informationif required.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 23 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in respect of the adequacy of Class 334 “Junipers” to provide the service on the Airdrie to Bathgate rail line, particularly in respect of acceleration, ability to deal with gradients on the new line and capacity compared with the trains that they would replace west of Airdrie.
Answer
The rolling stock procurementplan, currently being developed by Transport Scotland, is exploring a range ofoptions. I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-26843 on 23 June 2006.
The class 334 train has beenused as the “base case” for the timetable model on the Airdrie to Bathgate line.Whether these trains will be deployed on the route remains to be decided.
All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facilityfor which can be at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more informationif required.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 23 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive when it would need to commence the procurement of new electric rolling stock if it is to run services on the Airdrie to Bathgate rail line by the projected date of completion.
Answer
A procurement plan is currentlybeing developed to deliver a fleet of new rolling stock for a range of major projects(including Airdrie to Bathgate) and passenger growth initiatives from 2009 onwards.
The procurement process willbe carried out with the cooperation of the current operator, First ScotRail, inconsultation with Transport Scotland, commencing in early 2007.
Transport Scotland hascarried out extensive consultation with the rolling stock supply industry, and theindustry’s view is that this timescale is perfectly robust. The industry also hasadequate production capacity to meet our needs and that of other potential orders.
Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more informationif required.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 23 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the announcement of a study into the electrification of the Edinburgh to Glasgow rail line and the subsequent need to procure further electric rolling stock could have on the existing need to procure such stock for the Airdrie to Bathgate rail line and the Glasgow Airport Rail Link.
Answer
Transport Scotland has undertakena feasibility study into the possibility of the electrification of the Edinburghto Glasgow route. The rolling stock procurement plan currently being developed todeliver a fleet of rolling stock for the Scottish rail network, will work with orwithout electrification of the Edinburgh and Glasgow route as the industry has sufficientcapacity to produce the required number of vehicles to meet our requirements underany plausible scenario.
Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more informationif required.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 22 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the capital consent has been for (a) Argyll and Bute Council and (b) West Dunbartonshire Council in each year since 1999.
Answer
The capital consents issuedunder section 94 of the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 to each council fornon-housing capital borrowing is shown in the following table.
£ million
| Years | Argyll and Bute Council | West Dunbartonshire Council |
| 1999-2000 | 10.060 | 5.742 |
| 2000-01 | 10.766 | 5.809 |
| 2001-02 | 12.463 | 8.713 |
| 2002-03 | 16.184 | 6.185 |
| 2003-04 | 18.531 | 7.655 |
Notes:
1. Figures given excludecapital receipts.
The consent system ceased from1 April 2004, with the introduction of the Prudential regime. 2. Inaddition to the non-housing consents, Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire Councilsreceived allocations of £1.6 million and £5.7 million respectively in each of the years above for housing capital expenditure.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 22 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the budget for free personal care and nursing care has been allocated to (a) Argyll and Bute Council and (b) West Dunbartonshire Council since 2002.
Answer
Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE)is not a budget or money but is the methodology for apportioning funding to localauthorities.
Before Free Personal and NursingCare was introduced local authorities were already receiving funding to providepersonal care services without charge to those people who could not afford to payfor them. Local authorities are expected to continue to use this money as well asthe additional funds provided for the policy.
£162 million has been providednationally for the current year. £85.3 million of this is provided for personaland nursing care payments on behalf of people in care homes. Line (1) of the followingtable represents the amount provided for Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire councils.
The balance of this money, £76.7million, has been provided for personal care at home and this is included in the£467.3 million provided in the GAE line Services for Home Based Elderly. Line (2)of the following table represents the amount provided under that GAE line for Argylland Bute and West Dunbartonshire councils.
| GAE Line | | 2002-03 (£ Million) | 2003-04 (£ Million) | 2004-05 (£ Million) | 2005-06 (£ Million) | 2006-07 (£ Million) |
| (1) Free personal and nursing care in care homes | Argyll and Bute Council | 1.583 | 2.174 | 2.266 | 2.360 | 2.488 |
| West Dunbartonshire Council | 0.537 | 0.738 | 0.769 | 0.801 | 0.844 |
| (2) Services for the Home Based Elderly | Argyll and Bute Council | 6.332 | 8.327 | 8.597 | 9.013 | 9.836 |
| West Dunbartonshire Council | 6.223 | 8.204 | 8.979 | 9.422 | 10.174 |
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 22 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to tackle alcohol problems in the (a) Argyll and Bute and (b) West Dunbartonshire local authority area since 1997.
Answer
The Scottish Executive publisheda Plan for Action on Alcohol Problems in 2002. The plan sets out a range of actionsto tackle alcohol problems in Scotland.
Delivery of the aims of theplan is being taken forward by a range of organisations including at a local levelthrough Alcohol and Drugs Action Teams (ADATs). Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire are covered by the Argyll and Clyde ADAT other than theClydebank area of West Dunbartonshire, which is covered by Greater Glasgow ADAT.
Since2002-03 each ADAT has been tasked with producing annual Corporate Action Plans whichinclude actions that are being taken forward locally to tackle alcohol related problems.These are available on the ISD website at:
http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/dat/cap/dat.htm.Someof the activities to tackle alcohol problemsin these areas include almost £500,000 being spent in West Dunbartonshire to supportnew service development for alcohol problems, almost £400,000 to extend and developcommunity alcohol services in Argyll and Bute and over £300,000 in Greater Glasgow(which is inclusive of the Clydebank area of West Dunbartonshire) to develop projectsaimed at early intervention in community and primary health care and workplace settings.
Additional information can beobtained direct from NHS boards. Information is not available centrally on tacklingalcohol problems prior to 2002-03.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 22 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives it has undertaken, or plans to undertake, to tackle drug misuse in the (a) Dumbarton parliamentary constituency, (b) Argyll and Bute Council area and (c) West Dunbartonshire Council area and how much money has been allocated to each area for this purpose in each year since 1999.
Answer
Drug Action Teams are responsiblefor the strategic planning and co-ordination of action to tackle drug misuse intheir area. Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire are covered by the Argyll and Clyde ADAT and the Clydebank areaof West Dunbartonshire is covered by the Greater Glasgow ADAT. When developingdrug treatment and rehabilitation services, Drug Action Teams and their local partnersassess the level of need in their areas and have to ensure that the treatment needsof their local drug using population are met.
Each Drug Action Team producesan Annual Corporate Action Plan which sets out the actions they plan to take overthe year to address local drug problems. These plans are available on the ISD websitehttp://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org.
The funding allocated for drugand alcohol treatment services in the Argyll and Clyde ADAT and the Greater GlasgowADAT since 1999 is as follows:
| Year | Argyll and Clyde ADAT | Greater Glasgow ADAT |
| 1999-2000 | 901,000 | 3,502,000 |
| 2000-01 | 984,000 | 3,670,000 |
| 2001-02 | 1,111,000 | 4,387,000 |
| 2002-03 | 1,338,000 | 4,488,000 |
| 2003-04 | 1,338,000 | 4,488,000 |
| 2004-05 | 1,988,000 | 5,488,000 |
| 2005-06 | 1,988,000 | 5,488,000 |
| 2006-07 | 2,226,000 | 6,392,000 |
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 22 June 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the grant aided expenditure settlement has been for (a) Argyll and Bute Council and (b) West Dunbartonshire Council in each year since 1997, showing year-on-year percentage changes.
Answer
The information requested isshown in the following table.
| | Argyll and Bute Council (£ Million) | Increase % | West Dunbartonshire Council (£ Million) | Increase % |
| 1997-98 | 104.687 | 0.4 | 112.239 | -2.3 |
| 1998-99 | 105.352 | 0.6 | 109.574 | -2.4 |
| 1999-2000 | 108.878 | 3.3 | 115.424 | 5.3 |
| 2000-01 | 111.694 | 2.6 | 118.784 | 2.9 |
| 2001-02 | 120.464 | 7.9 | 131.795 | 11.0 |
| 2002-03 | 131.200 | 8.9 | 141.489 | 7.4 |
| 2003-04 | 145.735 | 11.1 | 154.660 | 9.3 |
| 2004-05 | 157.810 | 8.3 | 164.698 | 6.5 |
| 2005-06 | 166.670 | 5.6 | 174.674 | 6.1 |
| 2006-07 | 173.486 | 4.1 | 176.841 | 1.2 |
| 2007-08 | 177.935 | 2.6 | 181.567 | 2.7 |
Notes:
(i) There have been a numberof adjustments to the GAE totals over the period covered, including from 2006-07the transfer of concessionary fares provision from schemes locally administeredby councils to a national scheme administered by Transport Scotland. If concessionaryfares are taken out of the 2005-06 figures for consistency, the increases between2005-06 and 2006-07 would be 4.8% for Argyll and Bute Council and 1.4% for WestDunbartonshire Council.
(ii) Grant aided expenditureprovision is neither a budget nor a spending target. Rather it is part of a methodologyused in the local government financial settlement for calculating the overall levelof support the Scottish Executive provides through the block revenue support grant.
(iii) The methodology used inthe local government financial settlement protects those councils with falling populations(such as West Dunbartonshire Council). It ensured for example that in 2006-07, allcouncils received a revenue support grant increase of at least two per cent over2005-06.
