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Spending Review

(97 posts)
  • Started 12 years ago by Morningsider
  • Latest reply from chdot

1234

  1. crowriver
    Member

    This project is in the early stages of development by Network Rail and it could go ahead, dependent on funding.

    In his budget statement, Swinney revealed that ministers are trying to fund the Borders railway and the Edinburgh - Glasgow improvement not through direct capital spend, but through Network Rail borrowing against it's assets base in Scotland.
    I have no idea if this funding model is feasible or not. Presumably the debt would be recouped through track access charges to train operators?
    So I imagine any enhancement to the Inverness line would depend upon a similar funding model.

    In contrast, they are not funding the road building programme (including the ludicrous second Forth bridge white elephant) through borrowing, but through raiding the revenue funding account! Public services are being cut to fund bypasses and an unnecessary bridge.

    Tells you all you need to know about the SNP's real priorities.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  2. wee folding bike
    Member

    Crowriver, you do know who signed up for the M74 don't you?

    Posted 12 years ago #

  3. crowriver
    Member

    WFB: It certainly wasn't the Greens, I know that much! The M74 is done now. I'm talking about the Aberdeen bypass/ring road and the Forth crossing.

    Oh yeah, Glasgow's Fastlink dedicated busway along the Clyde is allegedly a 'sustainable' transport project, according to the SNP. Oh aye, and park'n'ride schemes are 'sustainable' transport too it appears.

    The SNP have massively disappointed with this budget, in many ways, not just related to transport. I know they are having to make difficult decisions due to cuts being passed on by Westminster, and in some areas like renewable energy they are doing well. However they have made some frankly questionable decisions on funding priorities, mostly as a result of vastly over promising in their manifesto.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  4. wee folding bike
    Member

    Well yes, the Greens never had enough members to do that.

    So do you know who gave the green light for the M74?

    Similarly who was at the helm (and chose an unexpected route) for the Aberdeen bypass? The reasons for the route are uncertain.

    The new Forth bridge was the subject of Green unhappiness in 2005. Will you be naming and shaming on that one?

    Could you outline some of the frankly questionable decisions?

    Posted 12 years ago #

  5. crowriver
    Member

    I think I've outlined some questionable decisions already.

    A few others for good measure:

    The 5 year council tax freeze. Allegedly this is funded by central government, but in reality will lead to big cuts in local services right across Scotland.

    Cuts to further and higher education. Some 20% cuts to FE colleges at a time of rising youth unemployment. Forced mergers of institutions across the FE and HE sectors.

    Cutting the active travel budget by 25% and funding bus lanes, car parks and 'low carbon' cars from the 'sustainable' travel budget instead.

    That's just for starters. For example, looking back at the previous SNP minority administration, there's the notorious approval of Trump's golf course overriding its rejection by Aberdeenshire council.

    There are plenty more examples.

    So do you know who gave the green light for the M74?

    No idea, which bit of the M74? The 1960s bit, the 1970s bit, the 1990s bit or the latest bit? Presumably McConnell, McLeish or Dewar approved the latter. Or maybe it was Michael Forsyth?
    However I note the SNP were very hands on with the project: Salmond launched the construction, and the current transport roads minister is clearly a fan of the project judging by his "on time, under budget" propoganda.

    Similarly who was at the helm (and chose an unexpected route) for the Aberdeen bypass? The reasons for the route are uncertain.

    Dunno. It is pretty clear though that the SNP have pushed for and approved this project.

    ]The new Forth bridge was the subject of Green unhappiness in 2005. Will you be naming and shaming on that one?

    The SNP could have cancelled the project and repaired the existing bridge, given the capital budget has been cut by 36%. Instead they are so determined to have a concrete trophy that they are raiding revenue budgets to pay for it. That is a terrible decision.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  6. Morningsider
    Member

    crowriver - the Borders Railway is to use a unique (in railway terms anyway) funding mechanism and not the Regulatory Asset Base (RAB) funding model being used for the Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP). RAB funding is a well established mechanism and has been used for other projects.

    The Borders Railway is to be funded through a variant of PFI/PPP called Non-Profit Distributing (NPD) - a less appropriate name is difficult to imagine. This also means that the Borders Railway will not be owned by Network Rail, making it the only part of the UK national rail network in private hands. I'll leave it up to you to decide how good an idea this might be.

    WFB - The M74 was approved by Nicol Stephen (Lib Dem) against the recommendations of the Scottish Government's own Inquiry Reporter. The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) was approved by Scottish Ministers on 4 March 2010, the SNP were a minority government at that time.

    It's all academic anyway, both these projects had the backing of every party except the Greens.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  7. druidh
    Member

    Forced mergers of institutions across the FE and HE sectors.

    What ones do you mean?

    St Andrews College and Moray House?
    Duncan of Jordanstone College, Tayside College of Nursing and the Fife College of Health all merging with Dundee?

    Posted 12 years ago #

  8. crowriver
    Member

    @Morningsider, that sounds even worse than the Network Rail funding option. Let's hope it's not another Edinburgh transport project disaster in the offing.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  9. crowriver
    Member

    @druidh, I'm speaking of forced mergers rather than mutually agreed ones. It's all over the papers: take your pick from Herald, Scotsman or Courier. It's even on the Beeb news site if you look hard enough.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  10. druidh
    Member

    crowriver - I suggest you look again at what has actually been said by ministers and not the spin put on it by the press. Name one "forced merger"

    Posted 12 years ago #

  11. chdot
    Admin

    "
    crowriver - I suggest you look again at what has actually been said by ministers and not the spin put on it by the press. Name one "forced merger"
    "

    I'm well aware of the media's ability to misreport, mislead and indeed spin, but this one looks fairly explicit -

    "

    Dundee and Abertay universities have confirmed that they have been asked by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to enter urgent discussions about a merger that could see Abertay, the smaller of the two institutions, being taken over by Dundee University.

    Last night, both universities expressed dismay over a decision that neither of them wants.
    "

    Whether the headline exaggerates or not I wouldn't know.

    http://www.scotsman.com/news/Ministers-to-enforce-university-39shotgun.6841762.jp

    Posted 12 years ago #

  12. druidh
    Member

    "have been asked by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to enter urgent discussions"

    You said mergers(s) - what other ones did you have in mind?

    Posted 12 years ago #

  13. crowriver
    Member

    Allegedly the "hit list" includes Robert Gordon, which will be coerced into merging with Aberdeen. One can probably imagine the others on the "hit list": West of Scotland, Caledonian, Napier, Queen Margaret...

    The SNP's programme for government features plans for legislation in 2012 to give ministers the direct power to force FE/HE mergers. So, in the case of Abertay and Dundee, it's a pretty obvious message: do as you are told, or else wait and be merged by direct decree.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  14. wee folding bike
    Member

    As you may have noticed the roads you are unhappy with were started by the Labour/LibDem coalition. The route of the Aberdeen road was not one of the options suggested to Tavish. Why he chose the one he did has been the subject of some speculation. There wasn't much chance of cancelling the M74 and even then Wee Wullie Bain successfully campaigned on a "Rip Off Glasgow" ticket. I don't know how locals in Aberdeen feel but the new road has been well received here. I work in the east end and other people travelling there from the south west used to cross the Erskine Bridge so now they don't have to.

    I've not noticed any increase in Active Travel as a result of government spending. I really am the only cyclist in town here unless you count the MAMIL round the corner but I only see him at weekends. In the cycle to work survey last week out of more than 1500 I was the only cyclist. It's a school so a fair number of them walk of course. The council built a HUGE greenhouse for bike storage at the side of the building but I've never seen more than one bike in it and that's the guy who runs the eco-commity.

    The fish phone advert a few years ago was a dismal failure trying to get us to eat fruit so I'm not surprised governments cut these things. I have known people to start cycling to work but only because they knew someone else who did it... well they knew me.

    Council tax freeze was going to happen how ever May turned out since it was also a policy espoused by Mr Grey. Most council funding comes from the government anyway.

    The hit list is indeed alleged and even if mergers take place this is nothing new, Cragie in Ayr merged with some others a few years ago.

    Look back further in the Trump plan and see who was in place at the beginning. He's not there now of course, too busy with the ermine in London.

    As with other things you mention it's not easy to stop these things once they get going. They didn't manage to stop the trams, they did stop GARL and EARL. I'm not sure how useful EARL would have been but GARL wasn't expected to carry many people and there is already a bus service. Most people I know get a taxi or a friend to take them to the airport Few want to schlep into Central and back out to Paisley. People even get a lift to Prestwick and it does have a train nearby. I've not been on a plane since '86, and even that was a university requirement, so I wasn't awfully keen on a railway line to the airport anyway.

    I'd probably have liked them to dodge the Commonwealth Games which was already rolling by 2007 but that's gone ahead too. Some of my ex pupils are getting apprenticeships out of it but I expect the east of the city to be left with some big buildings which are underused. On the plus side you might be happy to hear that the SECC has lost a car park because the running track has been built on it.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  15. chdot
    Admin

    "Scottish Government reneging on its own promises to improve Scottish health, says charity"

    http://www.sustrans.org.uk/about-sustrans/media/news-releases/scottish-government-reneging-on-its-own-promises-to-improve-scottish-health-says-charity

    Posted 12 years ago #

  16. chdot
    Admin

    "
    Colin Howden, Director of Transform Scotland, said:  "If the Scottish Government wants to support local jobs it should be increasing, not slashing, investment in cycle paths. Cycle routes are typically built by small civil engineering contractors and by local authorities, with the materials used sourced locally.

    "

    http://www.transformscotland.org.uk/government-proposals-would-slash-cycle-funding.aspx

    Posted 12 years ago #

  17. chdot
    Admin

    http://www.spokes.org.uk/wordpress/2011/10/draft-scottish-budget-spokes-submission

    Posted 12 years ago #

  18. chdot
    Admin

    "vision is to increase the modal share of cycling by 50 % over 10 years"

    Not Scotland of course.

    Actually the figures probably are - but not the will/money to make it happen.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  19. chdot
    Admin

    I recently posted this on the Borders Rail thread -

    "
    It is rumoured that John Swinney likes to see 'evidence' to justify spending - which is fair enough.

    What is surprising is that no-one (apparently) can provide convincing evidence for the benefits of cycling - certainly Sustrans publishes a lot of data about the increasing use of its network.
    "

    Seems Sustrans has been busy -

    "
    A new analysis by cycle path developers Sustrans shows the cuts would mean fewer people cycling, tourism would be hit and businesses would lose work if new routes are shelved and maintenance cut. It has calculated the cuts could cause an annual loss to Scotland of £103m, comprising leisure and tourism income being reduced by £74m, lost spending on new routes of £12m because of previous matching funding from councils, and the health benefits of cycling being diminished by £17m.

    "

    "Fears cuts will put brakes on cycling boom"

    http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/scotland/Fears-cuts-will-put-brakes.6850163.jp

    Posted 12 years ago #

  20. crowriver
    Member

    The SNP are steering us towards mass obesity and Scotland will be the new Land of the Fat. Wee rotund Eck will refashion the Scots in his own image...

    Posted 12 years ago #

  21. druidh
    Member

    crowriver - give it a miss mate. If you have to resort to personal abuse, you've already lost the argument.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  22. crowriver
    Member

    druidh - Do you think the cutting of the active travel budget is a good idea then?

    Posted 12 years ago #

  23. chdot
    Admin

    "

    SpokesLothian:

    See Spokes member email circular 11Oct ... pls write to MSPs re draft Scottish Budget ... really bad for cycle/walk ... http://t.co/9MXgKO8p

    Original Tweet: http://twitter.com/SpokesLothian/status/123893664224251904

    "

    Posted 12 years ago #

  24. SRD
    Moderator

    Quick and positive reply from an MSP to my letter

    "I am a member of the committee that will examine these budget headings and will be putting pressure on the government. I am a keen cyclist and public transport user and want to see these methods of travel greatly improved. Thanks for getting in touch."

    Posted 12 years ago #

  25. SRD
    Moderator

    and here is my letter - sent a slightly different one to my constituency MP who is SNP, but this went to the regional ones:

    "I am very disappointed to hear that the draft budget under consideration does not live up to the SNP's manifesto commitment to increase spending on active travel, but instead decreases it, while massively increasing the spending on trunk roads and motorways.

    Leaving aside the SNP's failure to maintain their manifesto commitment, this is a deeply retrograde step, when we need to be working preventatively to improve the health and mobility of Scottish people, to improve the quality of air in Edinburgh, and decrease congestion on the roads.

    I hope you will pursue this issue with the Finance Secretary, both in the interests of upholding trust in politicians and their election commitments, and of improving the quality of life for residents in our
    region.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  26. SRD
    Moderator

    another one :

    The Scottish Conservatives are supportive of cycling and fully understand the wider benefits both to public health and the environment. Scottish Conservatives supported a Climate Change (Scotland) Act with verifiable targets for reductions in carbon and other emissions. Conservatives welcomed the fact that annual targets have been set for each year in the period 2011 to 2019, ensuring a consistent rate of reduction to allow the interim target to be met.

    The recent spending review is unrealistic and unattainable, and while we welcome the increase in transport spending and understand the requirement to improve Scotland's roads, we do not agree with cuts to services and blatantly ignoring manifesto commitments. The SNP government has much explaining to do with regard to their draft budget and the Scottish Conservatives are committed to holding them to account.

    I have asked my colleague, Jamie McGrigor MSP, Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change, to raise the issue of active and sustainable travel directly with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth as soon as possible.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  27. chdot
    Admin

    "The announcement by the Scottish Government of its Spending Review and draft budget for 2012-15 will badly affect the way we travel in Scotland unless the Government changes its mind."

    http://www.sustrans.org.uk/sustrans-near-you/scotland/scotland-news

    Posted 12 years ago #

  28. chdot
    Admin

    " ‘Staycations’ save the day as overseas tourism falls"

    Another reason for improving cycle infrastructure.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  29. SRD
    Moderator

    and the greens:

    Thank you very much for getting in touch on this important issue. The Scottish Green MSPs have consistently called for substantially increased spending on public transport and active travel within the Scottish Government's transport budget. I believe the Government's spending priorities are wrong, by prioritising an absurdly expensive second road bridge across the Firth of Forth ahead of other areas, such as active travel, that would be far healthier for people and better for the environment as you mention in your letter.

    We have also pressed Minister's on the subject of the Report on Policies and Proposals (RPP). Currently, we are in a situation where we have climate change legislation in place, but no investment through the Scottish budget that backs up the RPP to be turned into real action. The RPP is currently still reliant upon voluntary measures, rather than serious Government action with properly funded budgets to sustain that action. Without a radical shift in this direction, the Scottish Government is doing little to tackle climate change and is instead content with passing a Budget that will worsen climate change emissions.

    I will endeavour to do all I can to challenge this situation, so that money within Scotland's budget flows in a direction that improves people's health, livelihoods and our environment.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  30. chdot
    Admin

    "
    SpokesLothian:

    Scottish draft budget, walk/bike disaster - update (including cheeky SNP MSP reply).  Please contact your MSPs now ... http://t.co/BuYZJw9d

    Original Tweet: http://twitter.com/SpokesLothian/status/129342610052628480

    "

    Posted 12 years ago #

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