Chamber and committees

I understand from the Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group that the Interim Contract was executed on 29 January 2001.

The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has confirmed that the parent company guarantee was signed by Johnson K Fong for and on behalf of the Guarantor.

In his report on the public local inquiry into the application for scheduled monument consent to conserve Castle Tioram, the Reporter stated that the realisation of the project would not make the castle a national tourist attraction and the economic impact of the development would not be of national importance. However, given its fragility, he stated that the application would benefit the local economy. He also observed that similar benefits could accrue in terms of specialist trades and tourism under the consolidation approach.

The Trans-European Transport Network aims to ensure the sustainable mobility of persons and goods across the EU. It includes all transport links within the EU that are considered to be of common interest, including the Scottish motorway network and a number of trunk roads, including the A82 between Glasgow and Invergarry. The EU may contribute up to 10% of the project cost of schemes on these routes. The Executive currently has no plans to make an application for Trans-European Network support, for any scheme on the A82.

The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has confirmed that at this point in time, there are no identified losses. The additional costs to the project arising from the insolvency of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd, are currently estimated as £3.85 million. The various elements of the MSP cladding are presently out to re-tender therefore it is not possible to provide a detailed breakdown of this figure.

None.

The Executive has no powers in respect of Crown Estates property, and has no intention of seeking any.

Our modernising agenda is about improving choice in the way services are delivered. The Scottish Executive is therefore committed to a multi-channel approach for the delivery of online public services and is continuing to explore a variety of platforms, including the use of interactive digital television, public kiosks, Personal Digital Assistants, the internet and WAP phones. As part of this, the Scottish Executive is paying close attention to the development of the Your Guide pilot project in Post Offices in Leicestershire and Rutland. Arrangements have been made for ministers and officials from the Scottish Executive to see the project first hand. The pilot will of course have to be comprehensively evaluated to assess the case for national roll out. In particular those organisations wishing to use Your Guide will need to examine carefully how a national service could fit in with their wider service delivery plans, how far it could help in achieving greater efficiencies and whether it would provide value for money compared with alternative direct channels to the public. Until these evaluations are complete, it would be premature to discuss details such as responsibility for the provision of equipment. I can assure you, however, that the Scottish Executive is examining this project and its potential implications for Scotland with great care and that we are committed to finding ways to achieve citizen-centred public service delivery.As regards progress in the delivery of online public services, the Electronic Service Delivery Progress Report, published on 16 November 2001, details the services provided by the Scottish Executive, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies. That report shows that 66% of services are now available online, though the majority of these relate to the provision of information. The second Electronic Service Delivery Progress Report is currently being prepared and will be published shortly.

The design services not completed by Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd mainly comprised detailing of interfaces between complex cladding elements and the cost of completing that work would have been £117,500. I understand from the Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group that the cost of this work being completed by the Design Team is still being assessed and has yet to be agreed.

As stated in my reply of 22 February to the member, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) will undertake a review of its headquarters locations. No targets have been set for relocating public sector posts and all areas of Scotland will be considered. The review has not yet started. The target date for completion of the review is mid-2002 and ministers will take a decision on the most suitable HQ location for SNH based on the review findings.