³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

During the construction of Laurencekirk Station around 50 staff were involved on site with this project.

Information on the average class sizes in primary stages one, two and three by local authority from 2004 to 2009 can be found in table 6.6 of the relevant year''s publication of Pupils in Scotland at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/PubPupilCensus

Pupil census data on average class size in primary stages one, two and three by local authority from 1999 to 2003 is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 52079).

The number of local authority homes completed in each year since 1996-97 is published on the Scottish Government website by local authority area. All of these homes are for social rent. The following is a link to this data:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/NewBuildLA

The number of housing association homes built for social rent over the past decade is shown in the following table by local authority area. Figures for 1999 are not shown as the time series is only available on a consistent basis from 2000-01.

Information on new build for social rent by Scottish Parliamentary constituency area is not held centrally.

Housing Association New Build - Completions for Social Rent by Local Authority Area

Local Authority	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Aberdeen City	40	142	39	35	47	128	7	100	28	42
Aberdeenshire	24	183	160	111	198	207	77	62	136	322
Angus	131	36	107	69	95	43	40	108	75	68
Argyll & Bute	131	54		81	47	85	59	104	109	27
Clackmannanshire	16	44	28	58	20	27	34		1	46
Dumfries and Galloway	57	178	60	128	81	141	63	238	154	88
Dundee City	114	309	91	145	299	328		110	278	91
East Ayrshire		60	36		6	10	30	72	125	176
East Dunbartonshire	16	49		4	7	142		26	42	26
East Lothian	46	27		30	133	35	51	80	42	71
East Renfrewshire	30	41	30		19	46	37		20	89
Edinburgh, City of	295	400	288	183	389	398	382	462	208	419
Eilean Siar	21	20	13		19	53	21	41	66	39
Falkirk	14	45	81	16	4		61		31	65
Fife	122	164	151	111	81	190	242	201	295	154
Glasgow City	920	971	938	1,161	798	941	821	731	689	850
Highland	116	127	132	135	110	108	178	277	265	263
Inverclyde	152	101	69	87	91	117	8	42	85	283
Midlothian	28		31	26		9	16	12	38	10
Moray	6		26	2	55	158	34	90	39	82
North Ayrshire	87	8	76	71	71	79	64	125	66	84
North Lanarkshire	178	159	237	142	28	406	82	62	226	164
Orkney	14	35	23		55	13	32	27	25	24
Perth and Kinross	166	148	112	153	142	84	46	113	131	271
Renfrewshire	163	138	136	78	165	278	98	114	80	109
Scottish Borders, The	79	61	58	41	79	50	46	67	69	34
Shetland		16	13		4		33	12	31	64
South Ayrshire	61	64	163	42	92	19	68	62	42	207
South Lanarkshire	101	138	162	100	277	136	142	131	229	274
Stirling	59	8	78	61	67	47		124	118	64
West Dunbartonshire	169	146	116	110	121	240	51	48	51	78
West Lothian	57	128	50	45	165	10	64	85	103	165
Scotland	3,413	4,000	3,504	3,225	3,765	4,528	2,887	3,726	3,897	4,749

Source “ Affordable Housing Investment Programme.

The Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 gives parents, parent councils and community councils a central role in the consultation process associated with a school closure proposal, as mandatory consultees. The Act also provides for a three week period, after a local authority has published its consultation report, for these groups, and anyone else with an interest, to make representations to the decision makers before they can meet to take a final decision. It does not however prescribe whether or not these groups are allowed to appear before the local authority when they are taking the decision on a closure proposal; that is entirely a matter for the relevant local authority to determine, bearing in mind the obligation of all elected bodies to be accessible, open and transparent in their decision making.

Please refer to Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, the project sponsor for Gartcosh, Kelvindale, and Maryhill line railway stations. Information relating to the projected monthly passenger use and catchment area populations of these stations is not held by Transport Scotland.

Actual monthly passenger use information is not held by Transport Scotland but by ScotRail. Annual data, typically used in preference to monthly data as it avoids issues relating to seasonality, is publicly available up to 2008-09 via the Office of Rail Regulation website (http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1529). The latest available figures show total use (entries and exits) of these stations in 2008-09 as follows:

Gartcosh	124,314
Kelvindale	109,534
Maryhill Line
Maryhill	77,398
Summerston	118,222
Gilshochill	102,982
Possilpark and Parkhouse	106,672
Ashfield	57,906

 

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-37066 on 3 November 2010 All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at

.

Publication of the Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Joint Structure Plan in 2000 preceded the transfer of responsibility for rail strategy and funding to Scottish Ministers.

It is therefore not known whether, or to what extent, the costs, catchment areas and populations relating to these new or relocated stations were established at the time.

However, this information may be available from the Glasgow and Clyde Valley Strategic Development Planning Authority, the successor authority to the Glasgow and Clyde Valley Joint Structure Plan Committee.

Capital investment in the trunk road and rail networks since 1999 is shown in the following table:

	1998-99	1999-00	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
	 £ million	 £ million	 £ million	 £ million	 £ million	 £ million	 £ million
(a) Improving the Road Network	   174.0	165.3	   164.9	155.8	  112.1	  138.9	  147.1
(b) Rail Infrastructure and Other Transport Programmes*	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

 

	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008- 09	2009-10
	 £ million	 £ million	 £ million	 £ million	 £ million
(a) Improving the Road Network	  105.4	  177.3	  171.7	  176.6	  284.5
(b) Rail Infrastructure and Other Transport Programmes*	-	515.9	631.2	540.4	536.2

Note: *Responsibility for Rail was devolved to the Scottish Government in 2006.

The appraisal of Laurencekirk railway station, undertaken by Scott Wilson Consultants for Aberdeenshire Council and the Scottish Executive, estimated that around 36,000 annual trips would be made to and from this station. From its opening in May 2009 to March 2010, 52,369 passenger journeys were made. This data was supplied to Transport Scotland by ScotRail. Monthly passenger data is not held by Transport Scotland. In future, annual data, typically used in preference to monthly data as it avoids issues relating to seasonality, will be publicly available for this station via the Office of Rail Regulation website:

http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1529.

Information relating to the current catchment area population of this station is not held by Transport Scotland, though the appraisal reported a resident population of approximately 2,800 in the township and rail potential hinterland, with 4,700 in the surrounding Mearns of Aberdeenshire (National Census Data, ONS, 2002).

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-37069 on 3 November. 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/apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.