- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 19 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-24353 by Stewart Stevenson on 10 June 2009, what type of rolling stock will be deployed for services west of Airdrie to Helensburgh Central station.
Answer
The current assumption is that class 334''s will be used between Airdrie and Helensburgh from the commencement of services in December 2010.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 19 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-24356 by Stewart Stevenson on 10 June 2009, how the revised additional passenger boardings of 13,878 between 7 am and 7 pm compare with the (a) original passenger boarding assumption set out in the business case and (b) actual passenger boarding numbers for the existing lines.
Answer
(a) The original business case assumed 12,678 passenger boardings for the hours between 7 am to 7 pm.
(b) Daily passenger numbers (boarding and alighting combined) for the existing lines (Helensburgh/Drumgelloch and Bathgate to Edinburgh Waverley) are as follows:
| Helensburgh/Drumgelloch 2008-09 | Total Daily Passenger Count |
| Helensburgh Central | 2,442 |
| Cardross | 618 |
| Craigendoran | 722 |
| Dalreoch | 1,221 |
| Dumbarton Central | 2,558 |
| Dumbarton East | 1,509 |
| Dalmuir | 2,497 |
| Hyndland | 3,522 |
| Partick | 5,797 |
| Charing Cross | 7,139 |
| Glasgow Queens Street | 18,077 |
| High Street | 2,255 |
| Bellgrove | 1,792 |
| Springburn | 662 |
| Carntyne | 823 |
| Shettleston | 2,143 |
| Garrowhill | 1,665 |
| Easterhouse | 1,270 |
| Blairhill | 1,690 |
| Coatbridge Sun | 1,621 |
| Coatdyke | 1,275 |
| Airdrie | 3,195 |
| Drumgelloch | 721 |
Note: Where a station is used on more than one route it is not possible to split out the specific data for a particular route.
| Bathgate/Edinburgh Waverley 2008-09 | Total Daily Passenger Count |
| Edinburgh Waverley | 2,757 |
| Haymarket | 1,520 |
| Edinburgh Park | 803 |
| Uphall | 860 |
| Livingston North | 1,729 |
| Bathgate | 1,801 |
Note: Where a station is used on more than one route it is not possible to split out the specific data for a particular route.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 18 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that equality impact assessments should be applied to singe outcome agreements.
Answer
It is not the Scottish Government''s role to determine on whether an authority has appropriately complied with its public sector equality duties. However, as the Scottish Government is engaged with community planning partnerships (CPPs) in the development of single outcome agreements (SOAs), it recognises its responsibility to work with partners to ensure that equality is properly considered and reflected.
To support this, in March 2009 the Scottish Government and COSLA issued advice on Equality and Single Outcome Agreements “ Getting to Best Practice. This advice is intended to help community planning partners to consider how they may move beyond fulfilling their individual equalities obligations and toward jointly incorporating and reflecting equality in the ongoing development of SOAs.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 18 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have (a) applied for and (b) received support to purchase a home in (i) Dunbartonshire and (ii) Argyll and Bute under the Low-cost Initiative for First-Time Buyers and what the value of that support is.
Answer
The Low-cost Initiative for First-Time Buyers (LIFT) established in October 2007 brings together a range of Scottish Government initiatives to help households get onto the housing ladder.
This includes the New Supply Shared Equity scheme and Open Market Shared Equity Pilot scheme; shared ownership; Rural Home Ownership Grants (RHOGs); and GRO grants for owner occupation (grants to private developers to build low cost housing for sale).
In response to (a), the only centrally held information on applications under LIFT relates to the Open Market Shared Equity Pilot scheme. Since the temporary expansion of the pilot scheme on 31 March 2009 the following people have applied from Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire:
| Grant Type | Local Authority | Number of Applications Received at 31.5.09 | Number of Completed Applications Returned at 31.5.09 | Number of Purchases at 31.5.09 |
| Open Market Shared Equity Pilot scheme | Argyll and Bute | 20 | 8 | - |
| West Dunbartonshire | 38 | 8 | - |
In response to (b), with regard to New Supply Shared Equity and Rural Home Ownership Grants, please see below the number of people in Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire who have received support to purchase a home and the value of that support.
| Grant Type | Local Authority | Number of Households Supported | Value of Support |
| New Supply Shared Equity scheme | Argyll and Bute | 67 | £3,146,806 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 35 | £1,585,809 |
| Rural Home Ownership Grant | Argyll and Bute | 15 | £760,137 |
| West Dunbartonshire | n/a | n/a |
We do not centrally hold information on shared ownership or GRO sales. However we can report that in West Dunbartonshire 25 shared ownership and 50 GRO grant properties have been completed and made available for purchase initially marketed at first-time buyers.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 18 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it costs the Accountant in Bankruptcy to administer the low income, low assets (LILA) scheme.
Answer
The low income, low asset (LILA) route into bankruptcy came into force on 1 April 2008, the same date from which debtor applications for bankruptcy were made directly to the Accountant in Bankruptcy rather than to the courts as previously.
LILA is an additional route into the bankruptcy process, not a separate scheme in itself, and the Accountant in Bankruptcy does not split the administration costs of the debtor application process.
The total administrative costs of the team dealing with debtor applications are estimated at £928,700 per annum.
This figure does not include fees payable to third parties associated with debtor applications which are beyond the Accountant in Bankruptcy''s direct control; principally the costs of advertising the award in the Edinburgh Gazette and registering the award with the Registers of Scotland.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 18 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans for trust deeds to be administered by the Accountant in Bankruptcy and, if so, how much this will cost.
Answer
The trust deed process was discussed as part of the work of the Debt Action Forum (DAF). There has not been any policy decision to change trust deeds at this time. Work is ongoing with stakeholders to consider the whether changes are required to trust deeds.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 18 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have applied for bankruptcy through low income, low assets (LILA).
Answer
The Accountant in Bankruptcy maintains the Register of Insolvencies in Scotland and publishes statistics on personal insolvencies in Scotland, quarterly on their website at
www.aib.gov.uk and by financial year in their annual report, which is also available on their website.
The Accountant in Bankruptcy considers debtor applications and assesses eligibility for bankruptcy. Debtor applications for bankruptcy are all considered via the same application process and applications are not specifically considered as low income, low assets applications.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 18 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff are employed by the Accountant in Bankruptcy and how this compares with the staffing in each of the last five years.
Answer
The Accountant in Bankruptcy publishes details of staff numbers and costs annually in their annual report which is available on their website at
www.aib.gov.uk.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 18 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will remove the £100 fee required for access to bankruptcy through low income, low assets (LILA).
Answer
A review of the low income, low asset (LILA) route into bankruptcy published in October 2008 concluded that the application fee was reasonable and minimised the administration cost to the public purse. The report is available on the Accountant in Bankruptcy website at
www.aib.gov.uk. The report also gave a commitment to consider the fee once evidence had been provided by the advice sector.
A further review of the LILA route into bankruptcy is currently underway and is due to report findings by August 2009. A decision on the application fee will be made based on the findings and any evidence provided by stakeholders.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 18 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual (a) staffing and (b) operational costs are of the office of the Accountant in Bankruptcy.
Answer
The Accountant in Bankruptcy publishes their staffing and operational costs annually in their annual report which is available on their website at
www.aib.gov.uk.
