Bill Butler

13 May 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the proposed national housing trust will be covered by the guidelines on consultancy introduced by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth in December 2008, requiring that the use of consultants at a cost of £10,000 or more be approved at director general level an…

Answer · Alex Neil: The delivery of the proposed National Housing Trust initiative is being led by the Scottish Futures Trust so is not covered by the guidelines on consultancy introduced by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth in December 2008.</p> <p >I re…

13 May 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Futures Trust is covered by the guidelines on consultancy introduced by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth in December 2008, requiring that the use of consultants at a cost of £10,000 or more be approved at director general level and, for £50,000…

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) is not covered by the guidelines on consultancy introduced in December 2008.</p> <p >SFT''s Management Statement and Financial Memorandum specifies the general principles that SFT must adhere to in any expenditure. This incl…

22 Apr 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals were successfully prosecuted under section 74 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 in 2009-10, broken down by procurator fiscal area.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The latest available information is given in the following table. Publication of data for 2009-10 is planned for January 2011.</p> <p >Persons with a charge proved for an offence where a religious aggravator was recorded by approximate procurator fiscal area…

22 Apr 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-31391 by John Swinney on 25 February 2010, whether it will provide details of any further expenditure by the Scottish Futures Trust on consultancy fees between 26 February and 31 March 2010.

Answer · John Swinney: I have asked Barry White, Chief Executive of the Scottish Futures Trust to respond. His response is as follows:</p> <p >SFT has engaged external assistance where necessary to help deliver and support the £5.5 billion of projects set out in our 2009-10 Busin…

13 Apr 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many stonemasonry apprenticeships it will provide in 2010-11, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. I will ask the Chief Executive of Skills Development Scotland to respond to you with this information.</p>

12 Apr 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Futures Trust will take up the option of an additional year’s contract with Mott MacDonald after 1 May 2010.

Answer · John Swinney: I have asked Barry White, Chief Executive of the Scottish Futures Trust to respond. His response is as follows: </p> <p >The contract with Mott MacDonald has been extended for a further year.</p>

12 Apr 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Futures Trust has renewed its contract with PricewaterhouseCoopers for 2010-11.

Answer · John Swinney: I have asked Barry White, Chief Executive of the Scottish Futures Trust to respond. His response is as follows: </p> <p >The contract with PricewaterhouseCoopers has been extended for a further year.</p>

12 Apr 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-32404 by John Swinney on 26 March 2010, when it will publish its response to the piece of work carried out by KPMG on behalf of the Scottish Futures Trust in respect of Scottish Water.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-33143 on 16 April 2010. 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/Apps2/…

12 Apr 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-32404 by John Swinney on 26 March 2010, when the piece of work carried out by KPMG on behalf of the Scottish Futures Trust in respect of Scottish Water was given to ministers.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-33143 on 16 April 2010. 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/Apps2/…

12 Apr 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-32404 by John Swinney on 26 March 2010, when it will publish the piece of work carried out by KPMG on behalf of the Scottish Futures Trust in respect of Scottish Water.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government does not as a matter of course request or publish studies which have been commissioned by agencies or public corporations from third parties. The Scottish Futures Trust is a public corporation which works at arms'' length to Scottish m…

31 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether private-hire taxi firms are required to have enhanced disclosure certification for contract work with NHS boards.

Answer · Adam Ingram: Disclosure Scotland provides criminal record checks for recruitment and other purposes under Part 5 of the Police Act 1997. That act does not impose any requirements about when the checks should and should not be used.</p> <p >Under the Protection of Childre…

31 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether private-hire taxi firms engaged to undertake contract work with schools are exempt in respect of enhanced disclosure requirements.

Answer · Adam Ingram: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-32986 on 23 April 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at the following link <a href="http://www.scottish.p…

31 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether private-hire taxi firms are required to have enhanced disclosure certification for contract work with schools.

Answer · Adam Ingram: Disclosure Scotland provides criminal record checks for recruitment and other purposes under Part 5 of the Police Act 1997. That act does not impose any requirements about when the checks should and should not be used.</p> <p >Under the Protection of Childre…

31 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers there to be sufficient statutory safeguards in place to ensure that those companies that apply for security work associated with public contracts are run by fit and proper persons.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government has made it a condition of contract that those providing private security services directly or indirectly to it achieve Approved Contractor Status from the Security Industry Authority. The authority is the body responsible for regulati…

25 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many delayed discharges there were in each NHS board in 2009.

Answer · Shona Robison: Information on the number of delayed discharges in each NHS board in Scotland is published in a quarterly census by NHS Information Services Division (ISD). Details of the number of delays in 2009 is available on the ISD website at <a href="http://www.isdscot…

25 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many school openings Scottish ministers have attended since 17 September 2009, broken down by (a) date, (b) school, (c) local authority and (d) minister involved.

Answer · Keith Brown: Details of such school openings by Scottish ministers are set out in the following table:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td width=132 valign=top > <p align=center >Date</p> </td> <td width=168 valign=top > …

15 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-32179 by John Swinney on 12 March 2010, whether the Scottish Futures Trust has ever sought advice or used the services of consultants for issues relating to Scottish Water.

Answer · John Swinney: I have asked Barry White, Chief Executive of the Scottish Futures Trust to respond. His response is as follows: </p> <p >In October 2009, the Scottish Futures Trust engaged KPMG to do a limited piece of work in support of our business plan commitment to ass…

15 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what financial contribution it has made toward the cost of purchasing works of art for the National Galleries of Scotland since 1999, broken down by (a) work of art, (b) amount contributed and (c) date of purchase.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has provided the National Galleries of Scotland with a purchase grant of £1.26 million per annum since the 1990s. Major acquisitions are reflected in the National Galleries'' Annual Report and Accounts which are laid before the Scottis…

11 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-31932 by John Swinney on 3 March 2010, what its fair trade spending in 2008-09 was as a percentage of its catering budget.

Answer · John Swinney: The cost of the Scottish Government catering service is largely funded through charges paid by Scottish Government staff. A small level of financial support is paid to assist with the cost of the labour involved in the provision of the catering service. This …

11 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will commit to increasing the proportion of its catering budget spent on fair trade produce in 2010-11.

Answer · John Swinney: In the financial year 2008-09 government staff spend on fair trade and ethically traded produce through the Scottish Government catering contract was £211,330, or 10.2% of total customer spend. In the 11 month period April 2009 to February 2010 the customer s…

11 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in addition to trialling new fair trade goods in its catering services, wherever possible it will consider replacing current products with fair trade equivalents.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government remains open to considering adopting further fair trade and ethically traded products in addition to the range of such products currently used.</p>

9 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-31213 by Alex Neil on 26 February 2010, whether it will confirm that the £128,000 paid back by the Scottish-Islamic Foundation will not be reallocated before the end of financial year 2009-10.

Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-31213 on 26 February 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Scottish Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at: </p> <p ><a href="http://www.scotti…

4 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3M-30952 by John Swinney on 3 February 2010, whether the Scottish Futures Trust will renew its contract with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Answer · John Swinney: I have asked Barry White, Chief Executive of the Scottish Futures Trust to respond. His response is as follows: </p> <p >No decision has been made on whether to renew the contract with PricewaterhouseCoopers.</p>

4 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consultants are being used by the Scottish Futures Trust to work on projects related to Scottish Water, broken down by (a) length of contract and (c) amount to be paid to each consultant for the duration of the contract.

Answer · John Swinney: I have asked Barry White, Chief Executive of the Scottish Futures Trust to respond. His response is as follows: </p> <p >No consultants are being used for work on projects in relation to Scottish Water.</p>

4 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued to the Scottish Futures Trust in respect of its use of consultants.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Futures Trust''s (SFT) activities are guided by the principles set out in the Management Statement and Financial Memorandum agreed between SFT and the Scottish Government. This document is available on SFT''s website (<a href="http://www.scottish…

4 Mar 2010 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will commit to increasing the number and widening the range of fair trade products used by its catering services.

Answer · John Swinney: We seek to provide a range of Fairtrade and ethically traded products through our catering service. We currently offer a number of items including coffee, tea, sugar, confectionery, orange juice and bananas. To widen the service provision new products are reg…

1 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times it has met representatives of the UK Government to discuss how it delivers its boiler scrappage scheme, broken down by (a) date of meeting and (b) minister involved.

Answer · Jim Mather: The Scottish Government has not met with representatives of the UK Government about its boiler scrappage scheme, but officials have consulted on a number of occasions the Energy Saving Trust which is managing the scheme on behalf of the Department of Energy a…

25 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its staff were on secondment in 2008-09, broken down by (a) organisation to which they were seconded, (b) purpose, (c) duration and (d) cost.

Answer · John Swinney: Information on the purpose, duration and cost of individual secondments is not collated centrally.</p> <p >In 2008-09 the Scottish Government had 149 staff out on secondment, this includes staff on loan to other government departments. The organisations to w…

25 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its staff were on secondment in 2007-08, broken down by (a) organisation to which they were seconded, (b) purpose, (c) duration and (d) cost.

Answer · John Swinney: Information on the purpose, duration and cost of individual secondments is not collated centrally.</p> <p >In 2007-08 the Scottish Government had 149 staff out on secondment, this includes staff on loan to other government departments. The organisations to w…

24 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide an answer to question S3W-31213, which was due for answer on 12 February 2010.

Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-31213 on 26 February 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Scottish Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at: </p> <p ><a href="http://www.scotti…