Seòmar agus comataidhean

The making of a Temporary TrafficRegulation Order (TTRO) under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, for whateverreason, is a matter for the local road authority concerned. There is no statutoryright of objection in the TTRO making process.

The further 1 million interim fundingannounced on 16 March 2007 is to allow the service in the short term to build onthe improvements already made in reducing waiting times as a result of the additional1.9 million interim funding in 2005-06. It is expected that the Spending Review,which will take place later this year, will consider what increased resources mightbe made available to address the recommendations from the independent review ofwheelchair and seating services in relation to the longer term needs of those services.

The Executives response to the reviewemphasises the need for boards also to address the recommendations at local level.

 

In addition tothe money provided through the core settlement for care of the elderly, the ScottishExecutive is making additional provision through the local authority revenue settlementof 16.3 million in 2006-07 and 42 million in 2007-08 for the increased number ofolder people in Scotland. Highland Council’s share of this money is 671,000 in 2006-07and 1,730,000 for 2007-08. The distribution formulafor allocating the core settlement has been developed over several years in conjunctionwith COSLA and the distribution takes account of a number of demographic factors,including the proportion of elderly population.

In addition to this the Finance Ministerannounced in December 2006 an additional 201 million of which Highland Council willreceive 10.493 million. This was not provided for a particular purpose but in generalrecognition of a range of pressures on local authority services.

NHS Highland has been allocated atotal of 487.796 million in 2006-07, an increase of 31.012 million on the currentyear, and 513.03 in 2007-08. This money is distributed to the board on the basisof the Arbuthnott formula which is calculated each year and weighted to take intoaccount various factors specific to the population of each board area, includingthe age of its population. Any changes in the age profile of NHS Highland’s populationwill be reflected in the Arbuthnott formula and therefore impact on the level offunding the board receives.

It is however the responsibility of local authorities and NHSboards to provide appropriate service provision to meet the needs and prioritiesof their area.

I refer to the statement I madein Parliament on 16 March 2006 (see Official Report, c 24049) in which Iprovided an update on progress on our capital transport plan for new rail and roadinvestment. The following table lists the estimated costs mentioned in my statementtogether with the current estimated costs for the road projects included in theplan.

Project	Anticipated Out–Turn Forecast* (or Grant Limit Where so Noted) (£ Million)
Rail Projects
Edinburgh Airport Rail Link	550 - 650
Glasgow Airport Rail Link	170 - 210
Airdrie - Bathgate	300 - 375
Edinburgh Tram Lines 1 & 2	450 - 500 Proposed grant limit
Edinburgh Waverley	150
Borders Rail	155 Proposed grant limit
Larkhall - Milngavie	25
Stirling – Alloa - Kincardine	65 – 70
Road Projects
Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route	295 – 395
Kincardine Bridge	102 plus VAT
M74 Completion	375 – 500
M74 Raith	56-61 plus VAT
M8 Baillieston - Newhouse	170 – 210 plus VAT
M8 Associated Network Improvements	43 – 57 plus VAT
M80 Stepps - Haggs	130 – 150 plus VAT

Note: *The anticipated costswill depend on the out-turn of the various risks associated with each of these projects,subject to limits of grants proposed for some public transport works.

I wrote to the Local Governmentand Transport Committee on 13 March 2007 to explain that the anticipated outturnforecast of the Kincardine Bridge has risen from the tender cost of £93.5millionplus VAT (as indicated in my statement on 16 March) to £102.5 million to includea number of items that do not form part of the core contract estimate such as provisionsfor grouting underground mine workings, public utilities works and engineering costs.Otherwise, the anticipated out-turn forecasts for all other projects in the programmeare the same as those quoted in my statement last March.

Information on the currenttransport projects portfolio, which is the main area of civil engineeringrelated activity within the Scottish Executive, is published on the TransportScotland website at www.transportscotland.gov.uk.

A strategic projects reviewfor all transport modes is currently in progress and consideration will be givento how information on future infrastructure programmes can best be provided to thecivil engineering industry.

Major projects which wouldbe cancelled after May 3 would of course have a highly negative impact on theinternational construction industry’s confidence in the Scottish market.

Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area and can be contacted for moreinformation if required.

While Historic Scotland has indicatedthat it is willing to consider grant-aid for consolidation and repair of the monument,and for improving visitor interpretation, there is presently no detailed and costedscheme of works, so to offer a figure would be premature and potentially misleading.Given the importance of the site Historic Scotland is confident that if a schemewere to be agreed, resources would be found for urgently necessary work. In recentyears projects of a similar general scale have been supported through its AncientMonuments Grant scheme at castles in different parts of Scotland: for example Gylen(Argyll and Bute) and Cessford (Scottish Borders). Currently funded projects includeMoy (Argyll and Bute) and Invergarry (Highland) Castles.

Historic Scotland is expected to useits powers under the Ancient Monuments legislation pro-actively. It is not uncommonfor Historic Scotland to make it known in the course of visits of monument wardensand inspectors that support might be found for the consolidation or care of an importantmonument, even when the owner has not made a direct request for help. The grant-aidedconservation work at Moy and Cessford Castles came about after initial meetingswith the area inspector to discuss the condition and future care of the monuments.Typically, at such discussions the inspector will explain the grant applicationprocess and indicate the likelihood of a project receiving grant, although prospectiveapplicants are then encouraged to write to Historic Scotland to begin the processof formal consideration for grant.

Routinely, Historic Scotland also works with a range of communitygroups, conservation trusts and other bodies who wish to pursue the management ofkey historic environment assets which they do not themselves own, although suchbodies are required to obtain agreement from owners of sites affected by their proposalsbefore they can receive grant aid.

I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-32425 on 23 March 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-29718 on 23 March 2007, which provides our current best estimates for eachproject contained in Scotland’s transport future. All answers to written parliamentaryare available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Highland Council is currently taking forward the Inverness SouthConnectivity Study which is a Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidelines appraisalof the transport options for transport connectivity in the transport system aroundthe South of Inverness.

The study will be available tofeed into the Strategic Transport Projects Review that will determine the futureprogramme for transport investment.

There is £158,000 remaining fromthe £126 million surplus which arose from the Scottish Transport Group pension funds.This sum has been reserved for distribution to identified eligible former pensionscheme members and claims continue to be made. There are no other funds to distributeand no further payments will be made. Widows and widowers have received 100% oftheir entitlement under the pension scheme rules and therefore will not receiveany additional payments.