Patricia Ferguson

25 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 October 2012 (Official Report, c. 12408), whether it will publish the “specific legal advice” and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-10549 on 12 December 2012. 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/parliamenta…

25 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 October 2012 (Official Report, c. 12408), whether it considers the contents of the “specific legal advice” that it has requested on the EU membership of an independent Scotland to be in the public interest and, if so, for what reason.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Paragraphs 2.30 – 2.35 of the Ministerial Code set out the public interest in the Government ensuring that decisions are taken in a fully informed legal context, and taking account of the public interest in maintaining the right of confidentiality of communic…

25 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 October 2012 (Official Report, c. 12408), what “specific legal advice” it has requested from the Law Officers and what the scope of this is.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: As set out in my statement on 23 October 2012 (at Column 12408), the Government has commissioned specific legal advice from the Law Officers on the position of Scotland within the European Union if independence is achieved through the process set out in the E…

25 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 October 2012 (Official Report c. 12408), who commissioned the “specific legal advice from [its] Law Officers on the position of Scotland within the European Union if independence is achieved” and on what date.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: As set out in my statement on 23 October 2012 (at Column 12408), I commissioned specific legal advice from the Law Officers on 23 October 2012.

22 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its plans are to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 2014.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government and the Homecoming Scotland team at VisitScotland are working in close partnership with the National Trust for Scotland as it develops its plans for the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 2014. The anniversary will be a …

22 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-03289 by Fiona Hyslop on 3 November 2011, what plans it has to commemorate the anniversary of other wars or battles.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: In addition to marking the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 2014, Scotland will commemorate the centenary of World War One during 2014-18. The Scottish Government will recognise our nation's significant contribution to the war and the impact …

22 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has (a) spent and (b) budgeted to spend on events planned to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 2014, broken down by (i) value and (ii) nature of expense.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: An application for funding from Homecoming has been received for the re-enactment event on 28 to 30 June. This is currently being assessed by the Homecoming Scotland team at VisitScotland along with the 164 other applications received. The request is to suppo…

22 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-01551 by Fiona Hyslop on 3 August 2011, what meetings (a) ministers and (b) officials have had relating to plans to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 2014.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Ministers and officials met with representatives from Stirling Council on 15 March 2011, 18 September 2012 and 11 October 2012 to discuss plans for Stirling 2014, including commemorating the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn. Officials from the S…

22 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-03289 by Fiona Hyslop on 3 November 2011, what plans it has to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 2014.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-10384 on 8 November 2012. 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/parliamentar…

22 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it and its agencies have spent on Homecoming 2014, also broken down by (a) nature of expense and (b) receiving organisation.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government has allocated a core budget of £5.5m to VisitScotland to deliver Homecoming Scotland 2014. £3m of funding will support the signature and funded events programme for Homecoming Scotland 2014, which recently closed to applications on 30 …

22 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has budgeted for (a) external organisations and (b) its agencies in relation to Homecoming 2014, broken down by (i) financial year, (ii) purpose of funding, (iii) name of organisation and (iv) how spending will be evaluated in each case.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government has allocated a core budget of £5.5m to VisitScotland to deliver Homecoming Scotland 2014. £3m of funding will support the signature and funded events programme, £1.75m for the related marketing and communications activity and £0.75m w…

22 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what evaluation it has made of the efficiency of marketing and communications spending relating to Homecoming 2009 and what lessons can be learnt for Homecoming 2014.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The EKOS Ltd report Homecoming Scotland 2009- Economic Impact (March 2010) provided an assessment of events coverage and marketing aspects. The key lessons for Homecoming 2014 are that coverage is most common in countries with a strong tourism or Diaspora lin…

22 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what basis it will allocate funding in different countries for marketing and communications activity relating to Homecoming 2014.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: VisitScotland will use the most up to date information available on domestic and international visitors to focus its marketing and communication activity for Homecoming Scotland 2014. The allocation of funding to individual campaigns is an operational matter …

22 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its target markets are for Homecoming 2014, broken down by (a) country, (b) demographics, (c) socioeconomic segmentation and (d) psychographic segmentation.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: In addition to the UK, VisitScotland’s core markets include the USA, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Australia and New Zealand. These countries offer good prospects to maintain and grow Scotland’s share of their outbound holiday taking. Vi…

22 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it plans to spend on marketing and communications activity relating to Homecoming 2014 in the rest of the United Kingdom, and what proportion of all marketing and communications spending this represents.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government has allocated a core budget of £5.5m to VisitScotland to deliver Homecoming Scotland 2014. VisitScotland has allocated £1.75m of these funds for UK and international marketing and communications activity which will begin early in 2013.…

22 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it plans to spend in Scotland on marketing and communications activity relating to Homecoming 2014 and what proportion of all Homecoming 2014 marketing and communications spend this represents.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government has allocated a core budget of £5.5m to VisitScotland to deliver Homecoming Scotland 2014. £1.75m of these funds will support UK and international marketing and communications activity which will begin early in 2013. Decisions on how t…

22 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it and its agencies have (a) spent and (b) budgeted to spend on marketing and communications to promote Homecoming 2014, broken down by (i) expenditure and (ii) country of spend.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government has allocated a core budget of £5.5m to VisitScotland to deliver Homecoming Scotland 2014. £1.75m of these funds will support UK and international marketing and communications activity which will begin early in 2013. Most activity will…

15 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria it uses to decide whether to have consultation responses analysed internally or externally.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The decision whether to undertake consultation analysis internally or externally is made on a case by case basis depending on factors including the volume of responses and the staff resources required.

15 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions the analysis of responses to its consultations has been carried out (a) internally and (b) externally, in each year since 2007.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: A list of the consultation analyses that have been externally commissioned since 2002-03 is available on the Scottish Government’s website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Research/About/Social-Research/SR-Contracts. This includes the organisation that car…

15 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what deadline Craigforth Consultancy and Research was given to complete the analysis of the Your Scotland, Your Referendum consultation responses.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-10495 on 19 November 2012. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Scottish Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parl…

15 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the terms of the contract agreed with Craigforth Consultancy and Research were for analysis of the Your Scotland, Your Referendum consultation responses.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-10495 on 19 November 2012. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Scottish Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parl…

15 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it received the analysis of the Your Scotland, Your Referendum consultation on time and, if not, whether the consultants will pay a penalty.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-10495 on 19 November 2012. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Scottish Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/par…

15 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it received the analysis of the Your Scotland, Your Referendum consultation from Craigforth Consultancy and Research.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-10495 on 19 November 2012. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Scottish Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parl…

12 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many registered sex offenders released from prison in each of the last 5 years have been allocated social-rented housing.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: This information is not held centrally.

12 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that referrals under section 5 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 are appropriate for the rehousing of registered sex offenders.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: Local authorities have the power, under section 5 of the 2001 Act, to refer a homeless person to a Registered Social Landlord (RSL) for the RSL to house that person. Where a registered sex offender is homeless, the circumstances of their case might mean that …

12 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work has been carried out on the suitability of the different types of accommodation available for the re-housing of registered sex offenders and the possible effect that these types of accommodation might have on their behaviour.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: In 2001, the Expert Panel on Sex Offending, chaired by Lady Cosgrove, produced a report Reducing the Risk: Improving the response to sex offending, which contained recommendations to strengthen the measures for protecting communities from sex offenders. The S…

12 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many registered sex offenders released from prison in each of the last five years have been housed in multi-storey flats.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: This information is not held centrally.

12 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions have taken place between the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities concerning the housing of registered sex offenders on release from prison.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: Justice and Housing officials discuss the matter regularly as part of their responsibilities for policy on housing registered sex offenders. When a registered sex offender is released from prison, the Scottish Prison Service and the relevant local authoritie…

12 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which ministerial portfolio has responsibility for the housing of registered sex offenders.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: I am responsible for Scottish Government policy on the housing of registered sex offenders.

9 Oct 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what provision the Scottish Football Association has made for delivering anti-sectarianism workshops, events and messages through the CashBack for Communities funding that it receives.

Answer · Shona Robison: For 2007-14, the Scottish FA has been awarded £5.436 million in CashBack for Communities funding to run a series of six projects including Schools of Football, Girls’ and Women’s Football Development, the Football Equity Project and the Diversionary Football …