The Executive has been and continues to be in regular discussion with the UK Government regarding the proposed new gambling legislation and the implications for Scotland.

The Scottish Parliament has now agreed that the relevant provisions in the Gambling Bill which confer powers on Scottish ministers, including the power to set fees and make regulations on the conditions to be attached to gambling premises’ licensing and permits, should be considered by the UK Parliament.

The level of fuel tax is a reserved matter. The Executive has regular discussions with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including fuel duty. Scottish ministers will continue to ensure that Scotland’s interests are placed firmly on the agenda in Whitehall on tax, as on other matters, through direct contact with Treasury Ministers.

A small number of additional allocations are to be made to the NHS prior to the end of the financial year. This will include additional provision to assist NHS boards make progress towards delivery of national waiting time commitments and enable boards to reduce the number of outpatients waiting more than six months from 52,000 to 25,000 and the number of in-patients/day cases waiting more than six months from 7,000 to 3,500 by 31 March 2005. The funds will be allocated on the basis of achievement of milestones for delivery of agreed targets.

The table below gives information provided by police forces for the number of police officers redeployed from court duties. Information on the number of officers freed up from escorting has not been quantified by the police but it is estimated to run to some 100 officers. Also the next phase, implementation of non-core tasks such as inter-force and UK custody transfers, which is scheduled to commence this month, will result in further officers being released.

Number of Officers Redeployed from Court Duties

Central Scotland	14
Dumfries and Galloway	6
Fife	4
Grampian	3
Lothian and Borders	35
Northern	1
Strathclyde	134
Tayside	12
Scotland	209

 

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-13619 on 18 January 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/wa.search.

The total cost of the Skye Bridge project was £39 million, of which some £15 million was publicly funded. Both these figures are quoted at 1991 prices.

Toll receipts totalled £33,370,829 in cash terms between October 1995 and September 2004. This includes compensation payments, totalling £7,564,517 in cash terms, in respect of the costs of increased frequent user discounts from 1998, the freeze on toll levels from 2000 and the imposition of VAT on tolls from February 2003. A breakdown of these totals is set out in the following table:

Year	Toll Revenue (£)	Compensation Payments (£)
1995	397,599	0
1996	3,178,385	0
1997	3,253,993	0
1998	3,579,642	637,482
1999	3,666,434	712,723
2000	3,755,373	801,483
2001	3,641,085	858,414
2002	4,003,881	1,028,589
2003	4,137,522	1,623,888
2004	3,756,915	1,901,938

 

As indicated in my statement, the maximum payment for the national free bus scheme for older and disabled people will be £159 million in 2006-07 and £163 million in 2007‑08. Actual expenditure within that cap will depend on the number of concessionary passengers and the cost of the journeys carried out. As also indicated in my statement, payment will be at the rate of 73.6% of the average adult fare.

Current estimates indicate that the cost of providing appropriate bus infrastructure to support the use of Smartcards for concessionary travel will be in the region of £9 million.

The Executive has no plans to in this regard.

I refer to the response to S2W-13266 on 24 January 2005 in relation to the cost of the work carried out to the end of January 2005 in connection with the EU requirements in relation to the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services.

There is no formal estimate of the future cost to the Executive of the tender process. However, if the tendering goes ahead, I expect that a similar team of officials to that which is currently working on the tendering proposals would be in place until contract handover date. On the basis that contract handover takes place in late 2007 staff costs would be approximately £550,000 in current prices. As with the reply to S2W-13266 this figure does not include the cost of senior officials in Transport Group, specialist officials or ministers as their time cannot be separately accounted for. Neither does it include a proportion of the overheads which the Executive accrues generally.

Further external technical advice would be commissioned to finalise the service specification, to assist in the Executive’s evaluation of bids and to support the Executive in monitoring and managing the contract handover and implementation. I would anticipate that this will cost in the region of £200,000 to 300,000. These costs are, of course, estimates and would depend on a number of factors, for example, the number of bidders, the complexity of tender negotiations and issues arising during contract handover.