Questions and answers

Question reference: S3O-05658

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 29 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to reduce levels of sickness absence in the public sector.

Question reference: S3W-19307

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 15 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to improve flood prevention schemes in Perthshire in 2009.

Question reference: S3W-19308

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 15 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to improve flood prevention schemes in Angus in 2009.

Question reference: S3W-18775

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 13 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, based on the legally enforceable class size maximum, what the average capacity of state schools is in each local authority in 2008-09.

There is not a statutory class size maximum throughout schools. The capacity of a school is based on a number of factors including the size of the classrooms, the number of teachers and the design of the school. These factors are taken into account by local authorities when providing information on the capacity of schools for the school estates survey.

The latest available information on the capacity of publicly funded mainstream schools (primary and secondary) comes from the school estates survey which was published in September 2008.

The average capacity as at September 2007, of publicly funded mainstream schools in each local authority that were open in April 2008, is given in the following tables.

Local Authority	Average Capacity
Aberdeen City	478
Aberdeenshire	245
Angus	325
Argyll and Bute	210
Clackmannanshire	397
Dumfries and Galloway	204
Dundee City	554
East Ayrshire	437
East Dunbartonshire	479
East Lothian	376
East Renfrewshire	608
Edinburgh City of	490
Eilean Siar	142
Falkirk	458
Fife	385
Glasgow City	512
Highland	230
Inverclyde	479
Midlothian	421
Moray	300
North Ayrshire	449
North Lanarkshire	432
Orkney Islands	175
Perth and Kinross	239
Renfrewshire	499
Scottish Borders	261
Shetland Islands	123
South Ayrshire	390
South Lanarkshire	353
Stirling	243
West Dunbartonshire	527
West Lothian	398

Information on the capacity of special schools was not collected. Guidance for authorities on determining school capacities was issued by the Scottish Executive in Circular 3/2004 and can be found on the Scottish Government website using the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/01/20528/50013.

Question reference: S3W-18774

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 13 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive, based on the legally enforceable class size maximum, what the capacity of each state school is in 2008-09.

There is not a statutory class size maximum throughout schools. The capacity of a school is based on a number of factors including the size of the classrooms, the number of teachers and the design of the school. These factors are taken into account by local authorities when providing information on the capacity of schools for the school estates survey.

The latest available information on the capacity of publicly funded mainstream schools (primary and secondary) comes from the school estates survey which was published in September 2008.

The available information on the capacity as at September 2007, of each publicly funded mainstream school that was open in April 2008, has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 47263).

Information on the capacity of special schools was not collected. Guidance for authorities on determining school capacities was issued by the Scottish Executive in Circular 3/2004 and can be found on the Scottish Government website using the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/01/20528/50013.

Question reference: S3W-18858

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 8 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what next steps it will take to ensure the beginning of phase 1 work on the A9 Upgrade from Dunblane to Inverness as outlined in the Strategic Transport Projects Review.

Question reference: S3W-18851

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 8 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will begin phase 1 work on the A9 Upgrade from Dunblane to Inverness as outlined in the Strategic Transport Projects Review.

Upgrading the A9 remains a priority for the Scottish Government and is clearly identified as such within the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) and current design work is progressing to dual the Birnam to Luncarty section.

The STPR provides a robust framework of prioritised schemes, the delivery of which will be prioritised in each spending review

A timetable for undertaking the phase 1 work on the A9 upgrade from Dunblane to Inverness will therefore be developed as part of this prioritisation process.

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

Recent improvements to the A9 have included a new flyover at Ballinluig.

Question reference: S3W-18856

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 8 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is of grade separation at the Broxden and Inveralmond roundabouts.

Question reference: S3W-18852

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 8 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how long it will take to complete phase 1 work on the A9 Upgrade from Dunblane to Inverness as outlined in the Strategic Transport Projects Review.

Question reference: S3W-18854

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 8 January 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is to dual the A9 between Perth and Blair Atholl.

The costs identified within the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) reflect the likely range of funding required to deliver the recommended interventions.

In STPR Report 4, the first phase of the A9 upgrading from Dunblane to Inverness is expected to have a cost in the range £500 million to £1bn. This is broken down as Dunblane “ Perth £100 million to £250 million, Broxden and Inveralmond junctions £50 million to £100 million, partial dualling (Perth “ Blair Atholl) and 2+1 sections £500 million to £1 billion.

These costs will be refined as the more detailed design and development work associated with each intervention moves forward with the aim of reaching a final estimate.

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