Chamber and committees

It is the practice of successivegovernments, reflected in the Scottish Ministerial Code and the provisions of theFreedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, that the fact and content of legal adviceis not revealed.

The data were despatched on 26 October 2007. Civilservants were advised of a potential problem on 23 November. Ministers were informedon 23 November.

Scottish ministers have no powerto call in a planning application after the written notice of refusal has been issuedby a planning authority.

The Scottish Government doesnot hold this information.

Welcome to Scotland is nota slogan or a logo – it is a simple and straightforward welcome to those arrivingin our country. No money was used to develop the “Welcome to Scotland” message.The message reflects recommendations from customer research and evaluation undertakenin March 2006 and 2007. Design, printing and installation of the new airport campaigncost £125,000 from existing budgets.

Welcome to Scotland is notan advertising logo. It is a simple and straightforward welcome to those arrivingin our country. The new posters are replacing existing Scottish Government postersat Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Prestwick airports. The cost of renting the sites at the six airportsfrom August 2007 until July 2008 is £497,101.78. The cost of rental of these spacesfrom August 2006 to July 2007 was £505,502.90

An event was held at the TrumpNational Golf Club to welcome participants to the Globalscot Conference and to givethem an opportunity to network with each other. This comprised a two and a halfhour-long reception at which food, refreshments and music were provided. The publicsector cost of the event was circa £15,000, for which sponsorship was provided byVisitScotland. A further cost in respect of branded drinks consumed was sponsoredby Pernod Ricard. There was no subsidy or sponsorship by the Trump Organization,to whom the full commercial rate for use of the facility, was paid by Scottish Enterprise.

Special advisers didnot brief factual inaccuracies to the media.

All information given to Parliament on this issue hasbeen correct.

The BBC approachedScottish Government officials on 12 December 2007 with questions relating to the Chief Planner’s telephonecontacts with Aberdeenshire Council. Those questions were answered correctly onDecember 12. On December 13, the BBC refined its question by changing a limitednumber of words. During the course of a busy day in which we fielded a large numberof questions from a range of parties about the Trump application, officials didnot realise the question had been changed slightly and repeated an answer giventhe previous evening. Once the mistake was identified officials clarified the positionto the media at the earliest opportunity. We always strive to supply full and accurateanswers to media enquiries and I regret that this unfortunate but easily understooderror occurred on this occasion.

On 2 December 2007, I attended the GlobalScot Welcome Reception, which washeld at the Trump National Golf Club, Westchester, New York. Scottish Enterprise arranged the reception and VisitScotlandBusiness Tourism Unit were the sponsor of the reception. The list of attendees isconfidential but I can confirm that no member of the Trump Organizsation was present.

On 3 December, I spokeat the Alexandria Real Estate Equities Conference which was held at the St RegisHotel in New York. The conference was arranged and paid for by Alexandria Real Estate.The list of attendees is commercially confidential to Alexandria Real Estate butI can confirm that no member of the Trump Organization was present. Alexandria RealEstate arranged for me to be flown by helicopter from central New York to Armonkto fulfil a speaking commitment and Alexandria paid for this trip.

I attended the AmericasGlobalscot Conference, which was held at the IBM Learning Centre, Armonk, New York. The conference was organisedand paid for by Scottish Enterprise although some of the costs were offset throughdelegate fees and sponsorship from IBM and VisitScotland’s Business Tourism Unit.The list of attendees is confidential but I can confirm that no member of the TrumpOrganization was present.

I then undertook atelevision interview at Fox Business News and a telephone interview with NationalPublic Radio. Officials from the Scottish Affairs Office in Washington, ScottishDevelopment International (SDI), my Private Office, and a representative of WeberShandwick - who act on media matters for SDI - were present.

In addition I visited Corporate Satellite Communications and met with the Presidentand Managing Director of CSC. Officials from the Scottish Affairs Office in Washington,SDI and my Private Office were present.

Another venue was required becausethe main venue at Armonk could not offer a facility for the exclusive use of theconference welcome and networking reception. The Trump National Golf Club, Westchester, waschosen because of its relative proximity, and suitability, and because of the exclusiveuse which could be made of its facilities.