Parliamentary questions
Jim Mather
709 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
19 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) target and (b) average period of time is to process an application for a visa under the Fresh Talent Working in Scotland scheme and what the longest period of time taken to do so has been, expressed in weeks.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive has no function in relation to the administration of the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme. The Scottish Executive does not consider applications for the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme, although it can provide advice on…
16 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the statement in Government Expenditure and Revenues in Scotland 2003-04 (GERS) that unidentifiable expenditure outside the United Kingdom was allocated to Scotland on the same basis as non-identifiable expenditure, in line with the principle that “expenditure outside the UK …
Answer · Tom McCabe: Expenditure on the Channel Tunnel Rail link in 2003-04 that is included in <i>Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses</i> in identifiable expenditure outside the UK amounted to £166 million (43 per cent of all expenditure on the Channel Tunnel Rail link, corr…
16 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will liaise with HM Treasury to correct the figures for Enterprise and Employment, published in December 2005 in Government Expenditure and Revenues in Scotland 2003-04, given that in private correspondence, dated 23 August 2005, the Treasury indicated that there was a mistake …
Answer · Tom McCabe: The Executive is working to establish the best functional classification for expenditure by the Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Any change in the classification will be reflected in Treasury’s <i>Public Expenditure Statistical Analys…
16 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish revised Government Expenditure and Revenues in Scotland (GERS) figures to take account of any mistaken allocation to Scotland of a proportion of the expenditure in the non-identifiable category on functions in England, or England and Wales, where expenditure on the co…
Answer · Tom McCabe: Treasury is consulting with UK departments and the devolved administrations to discuss methods for further breaking down non-identifiable expenditure, where this expenditure is not for the benefit of all UK residents. Greater precision in these source data wi…
16 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the approach in Government Expenditure and Revenues in Scotland 2003-04 (GERS) of allocating to Scotland a proportion of the expenditure in the non-identifiable category on functions in England, or England and Wales, where expenditure on the corresponding functions in Scotland is …
Answer · Tom McCabe: Yes, it is consistent with this new status. <i>Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland </i>has National Statistics status because it is produced and published under the scope of the principles of the National Statistics Code of Practice. The code seeks…
16 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of Government Expenditure and Revenues in Scotland 2003-04 (GERS), what proportion of the expenditure in the non-identifiable category on functions in England, or England and Wales, where expenditure on the corresponding functions in Scotland is identifiable, w…
Answer · Tom McCabe: I refer to my answer to question S2W-22344, answered on 9 February 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp…
16 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of Government Expenditure and Revenues in Scotland 2003-04 (GERS), why a proportion of the expenditure in the non-identifiable category on functions in England, or England and Wales, where expenditure on the corresponding functions in Scotland is identifiable, …
Answer · Tom McCabe: I refer to my answer to question S2W-22344, answered on 9 February 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp…
16 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of Government Expenditure and Revenues in Scotland 2003-04, what its estimate is of the aggregate of expenditure in 2003-04 in the non-identifiable category on functions in England, or England and Wales, where expenditure on the corresponding functions in Scotl…
Answer · Tom McCabe: As made clear in <i>Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland</i> 2003-04 (p.18), some programmes included in UK non-identifiable expenditure benefit England (or England and Wales) only but could not be allocated to any English region in particular. HM T…
16 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication of Government Expenditure and Revenues in Scotland 2003-04 whether it can confirm that expenditure in England on the operation of the prison system, the Court Service Agency, judicial salaries for England, the Valuation Office Agency, and non-domestic rate coll…
Answer · Tom McCabe: I can confirm this is the case.</p>
16 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21597 by Tavish Scott on 13 January 2006, what was deemed to be the relevance of the minister’s meeting with Western Ferries in September 2005; what precise objectives were set for that meeting, and what was achieved.
Answer · Tavish Scott: The Managing Director of WesternFerries wrote to me shortly after my appointment as Minister for Transport requestinga meeting to discuss issues related to ferry services in Scotland, particularlythe Gourock to Dunoon service. I agreed to meet the company as …
16 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21597 by Tavish Scott on 13 January 2006 and acknowledging that the “decisions, actions or conclusions” in respect of a Users Charter relating to the services provided by Western Ferries between Inverclyde and Cowal that were referred to in that answ…
Answer · Tavish Scott: At the meetings in June, Julyand August, Western Ferries outlined their proposals for a Users’ Charter. Discussionsat that stage were exploratory in nature as the Executive sought clarity on thecompany’s proposals. At the meeting in November, Western Ferries …
16 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21597 by Tavish Scott on 13 January 2006, what the precise dates were on which discussions in respect of a Users Charter relating to the services provided by Western Ferries between Inverclyde and Cowal took place and which parties were present.
Answer · Tavish Scott: Western Ferries proposals fora Users’ Charter were discussed at meetings on the dates detailed below. The partiespresent at each meeting are also indicated below:</p><p>8 June 2004 – Scottish Executive officials and representatives fromWestern Ferries.</p><p>…
13 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many migrants under the Fresh Talent initiative, including but not exclusive to those under the Working in Scotland scheme, have not held degrees or qualifications gained from Scottish institutions.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The information requested is not available. Individuals moving to Scotland from the rest of the UK and overseas do so under a variety of means and it is not possible to identify to what extent they have been influenced by the Fresh Talent initiative.</p>
13 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many migrants under the Fresh Talent initiative, including but not exclusive to those under the Working in Scotland scheme, have entered employment, broken down by sector and month.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The information requested is not available. Individuals moving to Scotland from the rest of the UK and overseas do so under a variety of means and it is not possible to identify to what extent they have been influenced by the Fresh Talent initiative.</p>
13 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many migrants under the Fresh Talent initiative, including but not exclusive to those under the Working in Scotland scheme, have been (a) skilled, (b) unskilled and (c) semi-skilled, broken down by month.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The information requested is not available. Individuals moving to Scotland from the rest of the UK and overseas do so under a variety of means and it is not possible to identify to what extent they have been influenced by the Fresh Talent initiative.</p>
13 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what international comparators it uses when assessing the performance of Scotland in respect of innovation and research and development.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive uses a wide range of measures to monitor Scotland’s innovation and research and development (R&D) performance against international comparators.</p> <p>The key measure we use when assessing the performance of Scotland in respect to …
13 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will measure Scotland’s progress in innovation against the European Innovation Scoreboard and publish any such measurements.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive uses a range of measures to monitor Scotland’s progress in innovation relative to our European comparators. The Community Innovation Survey (CIS) (<a href="http://www.dti.gov.uk/iese/cis.htm">http://www.dti.gov.uk/iese/cis.htm</a>) is t…
13 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive where Scotland would rank were it included in the European Innovation Scoreboard 2005 and what the value and rank for Scotland would be for each of the European Innovation Scoreboard indicators.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The European Innovation Scoreboard 2005 was published on 13 January 2006. At this time we are not in a position to benchmark Scotland relative to the 2005 index, as the 2005 UK Community Innovation Survey results, which include results for Scotland, are not y…
12 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the latest tender process in respect of the ferry route between Campbeltown and Ballycastle and whether it will meet ferry operators in order to identify any inhibitors that resulted in a lack of bids and to develop a successful basis for tenders to be encourag…
Answer · Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive was disappointed that no tenders were submitted from the four invited bidders for a public service contract for a subsidy to operate a passenger and vehicle on the Campbeltown to Ballycastle route. The Executive has approached the compa…
12 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the next step will be in order to continue the process of providing Campbeltown with a regular and long-term ferry service.
Answer · Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive is currently exploring the reasons for the lack of response from the market to the tendering of a public service contract for a subsidy to operate a passenger and vehicle ferry service on the Campbeltown to Ballycastle route. The Execut…
12 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will state the selection criteria that it will apply in awarding the contract for the Gourock to Dunoon ferry route and whether the successful bidder will gain any contractual advantages, such as exclusivity on the route and the option to offer a more frequent service.
Answer · Tavish Scott: The service specification for the commercial service on the Gourock to Dunoon route is currently being developed. Part of this process will be to determine the selection criteria that the Executive will use to appoint the successful operator. Issues such as t…
6 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of AxSys Technologies having been named as the successful bidder in NHS Scotland’s national generic clinical system procurement process, what penalty clauses in respect of late delivery, poor response times and capacity and functionality problems have been built into the contrac…
Answer · Andy Kerr: The contract lays down staged payments for the toolset with payments falling due after successful delivery of developments. The eventual cost of the licence is also tied to the number of users and the move to a full (unlimited) national licence is at the sole…
6 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of AxSys Technologies having been named as the successful bidder in NHS Scotland’s national generic clinical system procurement process, what confidence the Executive has that the AxSys Technologies systems will be installed and operational within an acceptable timeframe compare…
Answer · Andy Kerr: The evaluation programme concluded that the ease of use associated with the AxSys toolset, its acceptability to developer evaluation teams, its use of industry standard technologies, and that fact that AxSys systems are already well-used by the clinical commu…
6 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of AxSys Technologies having been named as the successful bidder in NHS Scotland’s national generic clinical system procurement process, what guarantee the Executive has that this decision will fulfil the function and provide the performance and long-term service resilience requ…
Answer · Andy Kerr: As with the procurement of any system, it is only possible to predict future success by thorough evaluation, feedback from existing users of the supplier and product and from past experience. The Executive has no reason to believe that the GCS toolset will no…
6 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of AxSys Technologies having been named as the successful bidder in NHS Scotland’s national generic clinical system procurement process, what milestones have been put in place to monitor progress against the planned overall implementation programme.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The first milestone is the delivery of standard GCS interfaces to the NHSScotland core integration products – i.e. SCI Store and SCI Gateway. Delivery of these interfaces is due for completion in early March 2006. Delivery of an appropriate training and suppo…
6 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of Axsys Technologies having been named as the successful bidder in the NHS Scotland’s national generic clinical system procurement process, when the system planned will be installed and fully operational at both pilot and national roll-out levels
Answer · Andy Kerr: Use of the toolset by NHSScotland developers is currently being piloted by the SCI-DC (Scottish Care Information – Diabetes Collaboration) team based in the Clinical Technology Centre of Ninewells Hospital, Dundee. It is planned to develop the next version of…
6 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of AxSys Technologies having been named as the successful bidder in NHS Scotland’s national generic clinical system procurement process, what criteria will be used to monitor the development and implementation progress of the system.
Answer · Andy Kerr: There are two aspects to clinical systems delivery with the GCS toolset. The first is the on-going development of the toolset product itself, and its implementation within NHSScotland developer teams, or by third parties commissioned by NHSScotland, to enable…
6 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of AxSys Technologies having been named as the successful bidder in NHS Scotland’s national generic clinical system procurement process, whether AxSys Technologies will work with any joint venture partners with a track record of installing such systems elsewhere.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The contract with AxSys Technology is a non-exclusive contract which means that other parties employed by NHS Scotland may use the toolset to develop applications. There is nothing to prevent AxSys employing sub-contractors to deliver developments.</p>
6 Jan 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of AxSys Technologies having been named as the successful bidder in NHS Scotland’s national generic clinical system procurement process, what other software suppliers were considered and what criteria were used to select AxSys Technologies.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The requirement was advertised in the <i>Official Journal of the European Union</i>. From the initial responses to the advert, 12 companies were selected to respond to a detailed requirements document. Following an extensive evaluation process, the respondent…
22 Dec 2005 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether all savings listed in the Efficiency Technical Notes in support of the Efficient Government Programme are net of redundancy payments and the cost of capital and/or other spend-to-save disbursements.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Where investment was justified to enhance or sustain service delivery, and not solely in order to secure efficiency gains, capital costs and redundancy payments are not taken into account when calculating the efficiency saving. In any project where efficiency…