Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-33350

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 12 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to make a decision on the proposed Calliacher wind farm development.

Question reference: S3W-33199

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 12 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive on what 20 roads the highest number of (a) accidents and (b) fatalities have been recorded in each of the last five years.

The following tables provide statistics requested and are ranked by estimates per km of road.

2004
Injury Road Accidents			Fatalities
Road	Number of Injury Road Accidents	Per km of Road	Road	Number of Road Accident Fatalities	Per km of Road
A8	307	3.89	A916	3	0.19
A761	90	2.85	A77	12	0.08
M8	238	2.72	M74	4	0.08
A726	96	1.97	A91	5	0.06
A89	99	1.67	A90	13	0.05
A71	178	1.60	A92	7	0.05
A70	88	1.59	A85	7	0.05
A814	100	1.51	A96	7	0.04
A78	95	1.38	A9	17	0.04
A90	271	1.12	A8	3	0.04
A1	90	1.02	A71	4	0.04
A7	130	0.99	A72	3	0.04
A77	137	0.91	A70	4	0.03
A92	124	0.84	A859	3	0.03
A82	215	0.79	A701	3	0.03
A96	123	0.74	A82	7	0.03
A803	89	0.73	A702	3	0.02
A702	93	0.70	A83	3	0.02
A85	105	0.69	A87	3	0.02
A9	213	0.49	A93	3	0.02

Note: Each sub-table lists only twenty roads, therefore, in some cases, other roads may have the same numbers of injury road accidents, or fatalities, as the last road shown in a particular sub-table. For example, the A702 was not the only road which had three fatalities in 2004.

Source: Scottish Government STATS 19 Return

2005
Injury Road Accidents			Fatalities
Road	Number of Injury Road Accidents	Per km of Road	Road	Number of Road Accident Fatalities	Per km of Road
A8	269	3.41	A74	3	0.24
A761	84	2.66	A923	5	0.10
M8	222	2.54	A947	6	0.09
A814	107	1.62	A811	3	0.06
A803	89	1.60	A1	5	0.06
A89	94	1.59	A92	7	0.05
A726	77	1.58	A85	7	0.05
A721	72	1.52	A814	3	0.05
A71	143	1.29	A76	4	0.04
A1	110	1.25	A713	3	0.04
A77	154	1.02	A90	9	0.04
A90	235	0.97	A82	10	0.04
A7	126	0.96	A70	4	0.03
A96	139	0.83	A75	5	0.03
A92	120	0.81	A7	4	0.03
A82	209	0.77	A71	3	0.03
A70	87	0.71	A701	3	0.03
A702	73	0.55	A96	4	0.02
A85	73	0.48	A77	3	0.02
A9	192	0.44	A9	5	0.01

2006
Injury Road Accidents			Fatalities
Road	Number of Injury Road Accidents	Per km of Road	Road	Number of Road Accident Fatalities	Per km of Road
A8	301	3.81	A726	5	0.10
A761	85	2.69	A90	17	0.07
M8	224	2.56	A8	5	0.06
A726	96	1.97	A84	3	0.06
A814	113	1.71	A6105	3	0.06
A89	97	1.64	A947	4	0.06
A803	79	1.42	A76	5	0.05
A81	78	1.35	A96	9	0.05
A71	144	1.30	A75	8	0.05
A73	80	1.27	M8	4	0.05
A7	145	1.10	A71	5	0.05
A1	91	1.04	A97	4	0.04
A90	244	1.01	A95	4	0.04
A77	133	0.88	A9	17	0.04
A92	109	0.74	A82	10	0.04
A82	183	0.67	A91	3	0.04
A70	78	0.64	A701	4	0.04
A96	101	0.60	A72	3	0.04
A85	86	0.57	A92	4	0.03
A9	236	0.54	A77	4	0.03

2007
Injury Road Accidents			Fatalities
Road	Number of Injury Road Accidents	Per km of Road	Road	Number of Road Accident Fatalities	Per km of Road
A8	254	3.22	A8011	3	0.42
A761	79	2.50	A752	3	0.24
M8	193	2.21	A76	7	0.08
M74	85	1.62	A828	3	0.07
A814	105	1.59	M8	6	0.07
A89	93	1.57	A1	5	0.06
A726	74	1.52	A8	4	0.05
A1	103	1.17	A82	13	0.05
A71	126	1.13	A77	7	0.05
A90	248	1.02	A90	11	0.05
A77	137	0.91	A970	5	0.04
A7	118	0.90	A83	6	0.04
A82	228	0.84	A85	5	0.03
A92	114	0.77	A96	5	0.03
A70	81	0.66	A9	13	0.03
A96	109	0.65	A93	5	0.03
A85	94	0.62	A92	4	0.03
A702	76	0.57	A71	3	0.03
A75	80	0.52	A75	4	0.03
A9	217	0.49	A702	3	0.02

2008
Injury Road Accidents			Fatalities
Road	Number of Injury Road Accidents	Per km of Road	Road	Number of Road Accident Fatalities	Per km of Road
M8	224	2.56	A749	3	0.25
A8	199	2.52	A721	6	0.13
M74	107	2.04	A847	3	0.13
A89	92	1.56	B9022	3	0.12
A814	95	1.43	A904	3	0.10
A803	75	1.35	M8	8	0.09
A71	145	1.31	A947	5	0.08
A81	70	1.22	A96	4	0.06
A78	72	1.05	A91	5	0.06
A90	252	1.04	A92	6	0.06
A1	89	1.01	A98	4	0.05
A7	132	1.00	A8	3	0.04
A68	82	0.83	A90	9	0.04
A92	108	0.73	A82	10	0.04
A82	181	0.67	A71	4	0.04
A77	98	0.65	A9	15	0.03
A70	79	0.65	A75	5	0.03
A85	96	0.63	A85	4	0.03
A96	105	0.63	A1	2	0.02
A9	183	0.42	A68	2	0.02

Question reference: S3O-10359

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 5 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the recent HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) report on Perth Prison.

Question reference: S3W-32971

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 29 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how much further education colleges have been awarded by the Scottish Funding Council or its predecessor body in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S3W-32972

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 29 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how much higher education colleges have been awarded by the Scottish Funding Council or its predecessor body in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S3W-32970

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 29 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many students at a further education institute had their course funded by the Scottish Government in each of the last 10 years, broken down by students from (a) Scotland or (b) elsewhere in the European Union.

Question reference: S3W-32832

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 29 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Scottish and Southern Energy regarding undergrounding sections of the Beauly to Denny power line upgrade in the Stirling area.

Scottish Power Transmission Ltd (SPT) have responsibility for constructing the overhead line upgrade in the Stirling area.

Discussions have been held between Scottish Government officials, SPT and Stirling Council regarding the Stirling Visual Impact Mitigation Scheme. No proposals have been submitted. Undergrounding part or parts of the new line remains one of the options open to the developer in seeking to mitigate the visual impact of the line in the Stirling area. This is also the case in respect of the Glenside Mitigation Scheme.

Question reference: S3W-32833

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 29 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Scottish and Southern Energy regarding undergrounding sections of the Beauly to Denny power line upgrade in Perthshire.

Question reference: S3W-33200

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 28 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to mark the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 2014.

Scottish ministers have recognised the need for improvements to the facilities at Bannockburn to bring them up to a standard that reflects the historic importance of the site. Historic Scotland is working with the National Trust for Scotland, which owns and manages the site, to re-present the site in time for the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in June 2014.

Historic Scotland will be arranging a programme of events to mark the anniversary but it is too early to confirm their nature at this stage. Likewise, National Archives of Scotland will mark this important anniversary but it is too early to confirm their commemorative plans.

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Question reference: S3W-32969

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 26 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many students at a higher education institute had their course funded by the Scottish Government in each of the last 10 years, broken down by students from (a) Scotland or (b) elsewhere in the European Union.

The Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) provides tuition fees for eligible full-time Scottish and EU domiciled higher education students studying in Scotland. Table 1 shows the number of students in each of the past ten academic years who attended a Scottish higher education institution (HEI) and who had their tuition fees paid by SAAS.

Table 1: Full-time Scottish and EU Domiciled Higher Education Students Attending Scottish HEIs and Receiving Tuition Fee Support from SAAS “ Academic Years 1999-2000 to 2008-09

Academic Year	Number of Students
Academic Year	Scots Domiciles	EU Domiciles	Total
1999-2000	63,260	3,040	66,300
2000-01	77,515	3,770	81,290
2001-02	78,840	3,950	82,795
2002-03	79,195	4,285	83,475
2003-04	79,760	4,720	84,475
2004-05	79,355	5,555	84,910
2005-06	79,595	6,005	85,600
2006-07	80,575	6,925	87,495
2007-08	80,580	8,115	88,690
2008-09	82,590	9,005	91,590

Source: Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS).

Notes:

1. Student numbers have been rounded up or down to the nearest 5: i.e. 1, 2 round to 0, 3, 4 round to 5.

2. Totals may not equal the sum of their constituent parts due to rounding.

SAAS also pays tuition fees for full-time students studying higher education level courses in colleges. In academic year 2008-09 they paid tuition fees for 22,970 Scottish and EU domiciled higher education students in Scottish colleges.

Some part-time higher education students who are on low incomes or certain benefits can have their tuition fees waived as part of the Scottish Funding Council''s Fee Waiver scheme. Table 2 shows the number of such students at Scottish HEIs in academic years 2001-02 to 2008-09. Academic year 2001-02 is the earliest for which this data is available.

Table 2: Part-time Higher Education Students at Scottish HEIs in Receipt of a Part-Time Fee Waiver “ Academic Years 2001-02 to 2008-09

Academic Year	Number of Students
2001-02	3,820
2002-03	4,105
2003-04	4,530
2004-05	4,565
2005-06	4,695
2006-07	4,820
2007-08	4,880
2008-09	5,845

Source: The Scottish Funding Council.

Notes:

1. Student numbers have been rounded up or down to the nearest 5: i.e. 1, 2 round to 0; 3, 4 round to 5.

2. The Part-Time Fee Waiver is available to eligible Scottish and EU domiciled students. It has not been possible to provide a breakdown by domicile.

The ILA (Individual Learning Account) 500 scheme, which provides a tuition fee grant of up to £500 for eligible part-time higher education students, was introduced at the start of academic year 2008-09. A total of 2,275 part-time higher education students received an ILA 500 in 2008-09. This figure includes students at both higher education institutions and colleges. ILA 500 is available to both Scottish and EU domiciled students.

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