Alex Neil

24 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the impact will be on resources for the development of (a) charities, (b) the arts and (c) other activities funded by the lottery in Scotland of the higher than predicted cost of the 2012 London Olympics.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-30069 on 11 December 2006. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/…

24 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether at any time since 1997 the legal or any other expenses of the trade union Unison were authorised to be paid by the Executive or any related body in connection with Unison’s representation of any Scottish Criminal Record Office experts or in connection with any other matter related…

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive is notaware of any expenses being paid to Unison in connection with the Shirley McKiecase other than those detailed in the answer to question S2W-25336 on 5 June 2006.All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the P…

24 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29700 by Elish Angiolini QC on 22 November 2006, whether any experts or non-expert supervisors within the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) or any officers of Strathclyde Police liaised with any Lothian and Borders Police, Metropolitan Police or…

Answer · Elish Angiolini: Scottish Criminal Record Officefingerprint experts were not involved in the fingerprint examination work in theLockerbie investigation. There is no record of any liaison between SCRO fingerprintexperts or SCRO supervisors and the relevant personnel of Lothian…

21 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23961 by Malcolm Chisholm on 16 March 2006, whether it has data to indicate the number of new houses built for social rent in each local authority area for the years subsequent to 2004.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The following table containscounts of new build completions in the social rented sector for 1996-2005, brokendown by local authority area.</p><p>New Dwellings Completed in theSocial Sector by Local Authority Area; 1996 to 2005</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0…

20 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government on Treasury proposals for reverting latent bank balances to it.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive is inregular contact with HM Treasury and is aware of this issue. In our dialogue withHM Treasury, we are stressing that the devolved implications of using unclaimedassets should be considered at an early stage in the process. The Scott…

20 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government on proposals to revert unclaimed revenues from the Standard Life shares issue to a charitable trust or trusts.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive isaware that Standard Life has been discussing this issue with HM Revenues and Customsand stands ready to assist if required.</p>

20 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government about the proposed introduction of a planning-gain supplement and, in particular, whether it has been asked for or submitted views on the principle and implementation of such a tax, on whether it will apply at a uniform rate throughout th…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Taxation is a reserved matter.The consultation paper issued by the UK Government at the end of last year raiseda great number of questions. We are aware of the very many concerns raised by localauthorities, developers, professionals and others about the outli…

20 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider bringing housing associations and transport partnerships within the remit of the Scottish Information Commissioner and the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland and their respective codes of practice.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive hasno current plans to bring housing associations and transport partnershipswithin the remit of the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland.</p><p>The Scottish Executive isconducting a review of the Freedom of Information (Scot…

20 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the recent ministerial changes will have on the membership of the ministerial working party on the second stage transfer of Glasgow Housing Association’s housing stock.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I will chair the MinisterialProgress Group on Second Stage Transfers (SST). Otherwise the membership of thegroup will remain unchanged.</p>

20 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a list of meetings attended by the First Minister or any of its other representatives with representatives of the UK Government at which the possibility of a variation in corporation tax for Northern Ireland was discussed, including details of when and where such m…

Answer · Tom McCabe: Scottish ministers andofficials are in regular contact in a variety of ways with the UK Governmentand its representatives on a wide range of subjects, both formally andinformally, details of which are not always recorded centrally.</p>

17 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29239 by Malcolm Chisholm on 14 November 2006, on what financial issues related to second stage transfers it sought independent or external advice.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has soughtindependent, external advice on a broad range of financial issues associated withSecond Stage Transfers (SST), including VAT, funding and risk.</p>

17 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29242 by Malcolm Chisholm on 14 November 2006, what valuation principles it has agreed with Glasgow Housing Association for the second stage transfer of its housing stock.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: A copy of the information requestedhas been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41067).The valuation principles were agreed with Glasgow Housing Association as part of the Joint Project Team Interim Report in 2005. Some of these …

17 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what influence HM Treasury had on preparing and drafting the Executive’s strategy documents for stronger engagement with (a) the United States of America and (b) China and whether a secondee from HM Treasury had primary responsibility for these documents.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The strategies for stronger engagementwith the USA and China are the plans of Scottish ministers and of course weare always happy to share our knowledge and expertise with HM Treasury.</p>

17 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29363 by Malcolm Chisholm on 13 November 2006, how the £1,045,000 earmarked by Communities Scotland for seedcorn funding to support local housing organisations in taking forward their second stage transfer proposals has been allocated and distributed.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The majority of the seed cornbudget has been supporting local housing organisations (LHOs) initiallyon Glasgow Housing Association’s (GHA’s) prototype Second Stage Transfer (SST) programmeand then, subsequently, after GHA ended the prototype programme, on the…

9 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28145 by Johann Lamont on 15 September 2006, what “early progress” means in relation to the implementation of Glasgow Housing Association’s second stage transfer.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: “Early progress” in thatcontext means continuation of the current efforts of all the key stakeholdersculminating in some transfer proposals reaching the point where they can beformally put to tenants under the statutory provisions of the Housing(Scotland) Act…

9 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28144 by Johann Lamont on 15 September 2006, when the report of the joint team of officials looking at the financial issues raised by second stage housing stock transfer will be available.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The report of the joint teamon financial issues associated with second stage transfers will be finalised shortly.It will be made publicly available following its initial consideration by keystakeholders.</p>

9 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28143 by Johann Lamont on 15 September 2006, whether this answer indicates that the Executive has given no funds to Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) other than for the delivery of GHA’s business plan and, if it has provided further funding, what the…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-29751 on 22 November 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webap…

9 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28143 by Johann Lamont on 15 September 2006, whether it will list each tranche of funding that it has made available to Glasgow Housing Association to support the delivery of its business plan, indicating the specific purpose for which each tranche w…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The following table providesa breakdown of the funding available to Glasgow Housing Association to supportdelivery of its business plan and indicates the purpose of each source offunding.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 width=606> <thead> <tr>…

9 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28141 by Johann Lamont on 15 September 2006, who the members are of the joint team examining the financial issues of second stage transfers, indicating the positions they hold (a) on the joint team and (b) within the organisation they represent on th…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive doesnot feel it would be appropriate to provide names of officials involved in the jointteam. However, a list of the organisations involved is provided in thefollowing table:</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr…

9 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28139 by Johann Lamont on 13 September 2006, whether this answer indicates that the Executive has made no estimate of the capital and revenue costs of implementing the second stage transfer of Glasgow Housing Association’s housing stock.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: As noted in the reply to the answer to S2W-28139 on 13 September 2006, the costs ofsecond stage transfer (SST) will vary significantly according to a large numberof factors, including in particular the number and shape of transfers and thetiming of these tran…

9 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to make additional investment to maintain the provision of science and engineering subjects at universities and colleges, in light of reports that the Higher Education Funding Council for England has announced an additional £75 million funding for this purpose at tertiar…

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The additional allocation justannounced by the Higher Education Funding Council for England is £25million per year over the next three years. This has been made to sustain capacityin some science departments which are vulnerable because of low student demand.…

8 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the drop-out rate was for medical courses at Scottish educational establishments in each year since 1997, broken down by establishment.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: This information is not heldcentrally.</p>

8 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applicants to medical schools there have been in each year since 1997

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The following table shows thenumber of applicants to Scottish medical schools for each year since 1997.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td width=52 valign=top> <p align=center>Year</p> </td> <td width=248 valign=top> <…

8 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the position of Chair of Scottish Enterprise will next be advertised.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Ministers announced their decisionto re-appoint Sir John Ward as Chairman of Scottish Enterprise for a period of twoyears from February 2007 on 14 December 2006.</p><p>The position of Chair of the Scottish Enterprise Board will next be advertised in time to a…

8 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the budget for implementing its creative industries strategy has been in each of the last three years, also showing (a) actual spend and (b) outcomes.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The Executive has not hithertohad a stand-alone strategy for the creative industries; instead we have sought tohelp the sector through policy initiatives and funding provided by the enterpriseagencies and the Scottish Arts Council (SAC). In the period 2001-02…

8 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the budget for implementing its construction industry strategy has been in each of the last three years, also showing (a) actual spend and (b) outcomes.

Answer · Allan Wilson: The implementation of the strategyfor the construction industry, in line with the recommendations of the ModernisingConstruction Strategy Group, is being pursued by Scottish Enterprise and is an operationalmatter for them. It takes the form of funding for SE …

8 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Crown Office has reviewed the fingerprint evidence used in the Lockerbie trial since the verdict was issued and, if so, which organisation carried out the review and when it did so.

Answer · Elish Angiolini: There has been no review of the fingerprint evidence in the Lockerbie trial by the Crown Office andProcurator Fiscal Service and there is no intention to conduct such a review.</p><p>The fingerprint evidence wasnot disputed by Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi…

8 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which organisations provided the fingerprint evidence for the Crown Office in the Lockerbie trial.

Answer · Elish Angiolini: Officers of Lothian andBorders Police, the Metropolitan Police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police andan agent of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation were cited as prosecutionwitnesses in the Lockerbie Trial in 2000 to give evidence about theirex…

7 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any experts employed in the Scottish Fingerprint Service have been granted immunity from prosecution and, if so, which experts have this immunity.

Answer · Elish Angiolini: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-29649 on 21 November 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’swebsite, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp…

7 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, following the previous Lord Advocate’s decision in August 2001 to take no criminal proceedings against the Scottish Criminal Record Office experts in respect of their misidentification of the Shirley McKie fingerprint, those experts were granted immunity from prosecution or wheth…

Answer · Elish Angiolini: The decision not to take proceedingsagainst the four SCRO officers who identified print Y7 as being that of ShirleyMcKie, made by the Lord Advocate in 2001, is final and it would not be possibleto prosecute these officers at any point in the future in relatio…