- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 31 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 13 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to protect open and green space that is not included in the definition of valued and functional space in Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) 11.
Answer
I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-3874 on 13 September 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will proceed with the Referendum (Scotland) Bill if there is a low level of public support for the proposals in its white paper, Choosing Scotland's Future: A National Conversation.
Answer
The government willconsider the response to the national conversation in deciding how to proceed withthe draft bill. However, the level of support for any particular proposals couldbe only properly determined by a vote in a referendum.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many events have been planned around Scotland to promote its white paper, Choosing Scotland’s Future: A National Conversation.
Answer
The white paper invitespeople to sign up for the national conversation, and indicate how they wish to contribute.The paper also invites people to suggest how the conversation would best be structuredto ensure the greatest possible involvement of the people of Scotland. The exact form of the national conversation will dependon the responses received, but the government is determined to support a conversationthat ensures that all sectors of Scottish society have the opportunity to contribute.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive when the proposed Referendum (Scotland) Bill will be brought before the Parliament.
Answer
The government iscommitted to building support for a referendum on negotiations for independencein the lifetime of this Parliament, but decisions on this will be made in the lightof the national conversation.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has (a) sought and (b) received on the legislative competence of the proposed Referendum (Scotland) Bill.
Answer
The practice of successivegovernments, reflected in the Scottish Ministerial Code and the provisions of theFreedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, is that the fact and content oflegal advice is not revealed. We consider it entirely proper for the Scottish Governmentand Scottish Parliament to discuss the constitutional future of Scotland, and invite the people of Scotland to express their views.
Choosing Scotland’sFuture says (at paragraph5.11 and paragraph 3 on page 35), that as far as legislative competence is concerned,a referendum could be held under the authority of an act of the Scottish Parliament,depending on the precise proposition in the referendum bill, or any adjustmentsmade to the competence of the Parliament before the bill is introduced.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a budget has been set for the national conversation on the draft Referendum (Scotland) Bill.
Answer
The cost of producingand translating the document is around £35,000 (including the web version, the design,printing and the summary in eight languages and a full Gaelic version). Distributionof the document cost a further £5,000, and the cost of the launch event was £8,000.The total cost of launching the national conversation to date is therefore £48,000.
The costs of carryingout the conversation will depend on how its structure develops, in light of responsesfrom the people of Scotland as to how they wish to be involved. The workis being carried out within existing resources from the government’s constitutionalpolicy and communications teams.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how responses to its white paper, Choosing Scotland's Future: A National Conversation, will be collated.
Answer
Responses made onthe National Conversation website are available there. Other responses to the conversationwill be collated and made available as the conversation progresses.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what legal advice it has taken from the Scottish law officers in relation to the competence of the Executive to hold a referendum as detailed in the national conversation white paper.
Answer
I refer themember to the answer to question S3W-3306 on 12 September 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament's website the search facility for which can befound at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 6 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what responsibility the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth and the Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism retain for Scotland¿s creative industries and when they will outline their vision for the growth of this sector of the economy.
Answer
the Scottish Government is collectively considering how to best support the creativeindustries in Scotland. We will make an announcementon this matter, setting out respective roles and responsibilities, when we publishour proposals for Creative Scotland.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Bruce Crawford on 27 August 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the commitment made by the Minister for Parliamentary Business on 14 June 2007 (Official Report c. 709), what progress has been made on convening a summit with key stakeholders to agree a joint position against renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system; on what date the summit will take place, and which key stakeholders will be invited to participate.
Answer
Initial planning hasbegun with a view to the summit taking place in Glasgow later this year. The precise date, the venue and those to be invited toparticipate are under consideration.
