Chamber and committees

Yes.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures were provisional, and have since been withdrawn by ONS. The letter from the Commission confirmed my view that retrospective consideration of eligibility is not possible, and followed a telephone call I received from Commissioner Barnier's Deputy Head of Cabinet. Both the call and the e-mail attaching the letter expressed regret and apologised for the earlier misunderstandings caused by the Commission.I have arranged for a copy of the Commission's letter to be sent to you. Copies have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 25841).

The projected modest decline in Scotland's population is attributable to the declining birth rate rather than net out-migration. Measures that ease the financial and practical difficulties faced by parents will help to address the declining birth rate. These include the UK Government's Child and Working Families tax credit policies and the Executive's Childcare Strategy and investments in the provision of pre-school care and education for three- and four-year-olds.As well as seeking to address this major demographic concern, the Executive recognises the need to retain and attract people, including those who have previously left Scotland, with the skills necessary to enable the Scottish economy to grow and compete internationally. The Executive, working with the Enterprise networks and Scottish Development International, has a number of initiatives to link Scottish businesses with successful Scots now living overseas and to attract those with appropriate skills to live and work in Scotland.

No industry representatives were present at the meetings on 26 November and 12 December. Industry representatives were present at the meetings on 11 November, 14 November and 2 December. However, these meetings were organised by the North East of Scotland Fisheries Development Partnership, Euan Robson MSP and Tavish Scott MSP respectively. Accordingly, detailed information on who attended is not held centrally.

Further to my answer to S1W-30169 on 10 October 2002, the expected costs (invoice awaited) for the additional work by Shepherd and Wedderburn, solicitors, in advising on claims against both Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd and Flour City International Inc are £13,680 plus VAT and outlays for US agents of £1,370.

Those attending the meeting on 4 September 2001 were present in their capacity as representatives of their respective organisations, not as individuals in their own right. Any agreed actions or decisions are made on behalf of the organisations they represent and it would be inappropriate to identify individuals. I understand from the Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group that no other meetings took place involving members from the Holyrood Project Team.

Water fluoridation is one of the options on which views are sought in our current consultation paper Towards Better Oral Health in Children, and, as stated previously, the Executive is neutral on this particular issue.But this consultation is not simply a debate on fluoride. By any measure, oral health in Scotland compares poorly with other countries, and we need to build a consensus about how best to tackle this problem. Negative responses, simply rejecting one option or another, do not help build that consensus. As such, I would encourage individuals and organisations wishing to contribute substantively to the consultation to identify also the actions they favour.

Funding for the project is provided to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), is hypothecated from Scotland's total budget and is not allocated from the Executive. The Holyrood Progress Group (HPG) was established by the SPCB as its principal advisory body in taking the project forward and financial control is exercised through regular reporting to the Finance Committee by the SPCB. The Scottish Executive is represented at official level on the HPG and is in regular contact with the SPCB over costs as the project develops. However, responsibility for the Holyrood project rests with the SPCB and the Parliament.

The procurement strategy for the project was developed by Bovis Lend Lease (Scotland) Limited following their appointment by The Scottish Office in January 1999. The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has informed me that the strategy always included one trade package for all of the MSP Building Cladding works and this approach was agreed by the Holyrood Project Team prior to the issue of tender documentation on 16 August 2000. Initial bids were due to be received from tenderers on 19 September 2000, but this was extended by two weeks to 3 October 2000 at the request of all of the tenderers.

No, neither the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body nor the Holyrood Project's construction managers have seen the quarterly accounts of Flour City International for the financial period to 31 July 2002.