- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by George Reid on 4 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether, in any decision on whether to initiate court action against the construction managers arising from breaches of contract or delictual obligations in relation to the Holyrood Project, any individual who played a part in the selection of Bovis as construction manager will be involved in the making of such a decision or in the decision-making process and what the role of the Post-Completion Advisory Group is in relation to any legal claims, given that Dr John Gibbons is a member of the group.
Answer
Decisions as regards the initiationor otherwise of court action are for the Corporate Body. The Post-Completion AdvisoryGroup is not part of that decision-making process.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 April 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it received SNH Advice on Coastal and Marine National Parks on 30 March 2006 and, if not, on what date the advice was received.
Answer
SNH’s advice was sent to ministerson the evening of Thursday 30 March and posted on SNH’s website following the Scottish Executive news release on 31 March.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 21 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in relation to the proposed tendering of Clyde and Hebridean Ferry Services, it has now developed a scheme in respect of pension provision for Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) staff and, if so, whether the scheme has been approved by the CalMac pension fund trustees, the company and the pensions regulator.
Answer
The Scottish Executiveattaches great importance to the future of the CalMac workforce and iscommitted to protecting the pension position of transferring staff. the Executive is working closely with the CalMac pension fund trustees, CaledonianMacBrayne Limited and the Pension Regulator on the changes that are necessaryto the CalMac pension fund as a consequence of the restructuring of CaledonianMacBrayne. Discussions are progressing well and there is a clear willingness onall sides to address the complex issues involved. The Executive will make astatement on the outcome of these discussions at the appropriate time.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the former Minister for Justice, Mr Jim Wallace MSP, asked his department to investigate the issues described in a Sunday Times article on 26 February 2006 as having been reported to him by a “whistleblower” from within the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) who alleged that the complainant had become a victim of “bullying, intimidation, harassment and victimisation” by SCRO management; if so, on what date such a request was made by the former Minister for Justice and to which official or officials; what action was subsequently taken in respect of the complaint; whether the present Minister for Justice will make a statement to the Parliament about how the complaint was dealt with, whether it was dealt with by the Justice Department and, if so, who was in charge of handling the complaint; in particular, whether in the handling of the complaint, there was any attempt to seek further information from the “whistleblower”; whether any conclusion was reached about the complaint and, if so, what that conclusion was and by whom it was handled; whether all documents in relation to the complaint will be made public, and, in so doing, whether it will consider, for the protection of the complainant against any possible bullying, intimidation, harassment or victimisation, whether his or her name shall be redacted when such documents are provided.
Answer
I understand this letter wassent to the Lord Advocate. A reply was sent on his behalf requesting further informationin relation to the point raised which concerned Crown Office, in respect of a particularcase. This information was subsequently provided and it was clear at that stagethat fingerprint evidence had not been presented to the Procurator Fiscal in thecase in question and no further action was required by Crown Office at that time.
The original letter was alsoforwarded by the Crown Office to the Justice Department, in relation to the issuesinvolving SCRO. As these were management issues for SCRO to deal with, it wouldnot have been appropriate for the JusticeMinister to intervene. At that time SCRO management issues, particularly in relationto the Fingerprint Bureau, were already being addressed comprehensively on the basisof the HMIC Primary Inspection of the SCRO Fingerprint Bureau, the report of whichhad been published in September 2000.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 13 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether advice has been provided to the Minister for Justice by any civil servant in the Justice Department in relation to the decision to settle the civil action raised by Shirley McKie in the Court of Session for damages to the sum of £750,000; whether the decision to pay this sum was considered to fall within the terms of paragraph 8.3 of the Memorandum of Accountable Officers from the Principal Accountable Officer under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000, namely that the proposed decision to settle the action in this way raised an issue not of formal propriety or regularity but relating to wider responsibilities for economy, efficiency and effectiveness, such as value for money, and whether the minister's attention was drawn to the relevant facts in respect of value-for-money issues during the course of the action.
Answer
The Justice Department providedadvice to ministers having taken full account of the Memorandum to Accountable Officersfrom the Principal Accountable Officer and the Scottish Public Finance Manual
.At all times ministers have beenmindful of the need for any settlement to be defensible in terms of the public purseand advice to ministers took account of value for money issues including the costof proceeding to a five week proof and the prospects of recovering any award ofexpenses that might have been made against Ms McKie. At one point, Ms McKie wasseeking a settlement of £1.2 million with backdated interest on top. The £750,000settlement which includes interest is considerably less than that figure.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what grant assistance Forscot has received from (a) Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and (b) other public bodies in respect of a proposed integrated pulp mill, paper mill, chemical plant, bio-energy scheme, rail heads and sawmill in Invergordon; whether the Executive will consult HIE and Forestry Commission Scotland before any further grant is paid to Forscot and, if not, whether it is satisfied that a proposed consumption by the project of nearly 4 million tonnes of timber per annum can be achieved without any significant displacement of jobs and businesses in the sawmill and timber processing sectors; whether the Executive will seek a detailed report from HIE and Forestry Commission Scotland about the proposed project, and whether it will consult existing businesses in the sawmill and processing sectors in respect of the impact of the project on their businesses.
Answer
Forestry Commission Scotlandhas granted Forscot £10,000 towards studies of the pulping properties of Scotspine and Sitka spruce. Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Scottish Enterprise(SEn) have contributed towards Phase 1 of the project’s feasibility study.
Any future grant assistancefrom HIE and other public bodies to Forscot is a matter for the fundingorganisations concerned. It is for HIE to assess any application to them from thecompany for further support in accordance with the requirements of the managementstatement between them and the Scottish Executive. Consideration of the impacton existing businesses would form part of any such assessment.
The Executive has no plansto seek a report on the Forscot proposal from Highlands and Islands Enterpriseor The Forestry Commission Scotland, and no plans to consult with existingsawmill and processing businesses regarding the company’s project.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 3 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the statement contained in the article on pages 38 and 39 of the Sunday Herald of 19 February 2006 that the civil servant of the Executive’s Justice Department named in the article attended meetings of the Scottish Criminal Record Office executive committee and, in particular, that he attended meetings in the year 2000 is correct, and whether the civil servant concerned reported to, or otherwise advised, the then Minister for Justice, Mr Jim Wallace MSP, in relation to these meetings and, if so, whether the Executive will publish the terms of such advice.
Answer
John Rowell attendedmeetings of the Scottish Criminal Record Office Executive Committee during 2000as part of his role as head of Police Division 2. Advice to Ministers fromcivil servants is not normally published because this could have an adverseeffect on the free and frank provision of such advice in the future.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 21 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive when the report by James Mackay, in relation to the Shirley McKie and Marion Ross fingerprints was concluded; to whom it was communicated; whether it was passed to any civil servant of the Executive’s Justice Department; whether its contents were the subject of any report to the Justice Department, and whether its contents, or the conclusions of the report, or any of these, were reported by any civil servant to the Minister for Justice and, if so, whether it will provide copies of any such document in which the Minister for Justice was so advised.
Answer
The Mackay and Robertsonreport was a confidential report relating to a criminal investigation,completed on 20 October 2000. The report was submitted in full to the RegionalProcurator Fiscal at Paisley, the President of ACPOS and the Deputy ChiefConstable of Strathclyde Police.
The Scottish Executive wasadvised of the Lord Advocate’s decision (that there should be no criminalproceedings against employees of SCRO), which was made after consideration of the Mackay and Robertson report and a report by the Regional Procurator Fiscalat Paisley following his consideration of the Mackay and Robertson report.
Neither the Mackay andRobertson report nor the Regional Procurator Fiscal’s report was made availableto the Justice Department or to Justice Ministers.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 20 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received the document referred to in the article on pages 38 and 39 of the Sunday Herald of 19 February 2006 as the “report by three experts at the UK’s national forensic training centre in Durham” in relation to the Shirley McKie and David Asbury fingerprints; if so, on what date and, if not, whether it has received advice as to its contents and, if so, on what date.
Answer
A report prepared by the NationalTraining Centre for Scientific Support to Crime Investigation was completed in June2001 and thereafter passed to the Crown Office. No Scottish minister outwith CrownOffice has seen this report. The previous Justice Minister was informed on 3 August 2000 that theeight chief constables had concluded, on the basis of investigations up to thatpoint, that four fingerprint officers at SCRO were to be suspended and of the reasonfor this. These investigations became part of a criminal investigation on whichno further information was made available to the Justice Ministers.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 17 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has received from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) regarding the scheme of charges to be payable to SEPA in respect of energy schemes; whether it will publish that advice and what the reasons are for its position on the matter; whether it has been advised by SEPA that the initial scale of charges suggested by SEPA would make smaller-scale schemes, such as that proposed for the River Gynack, Kingussie, a hydro scheme, non-viable because of costs payable to SEPA; whether will meet any MSP who has a constituency interest in this matter before making any decision, and when a decision is expected or planned to be made.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is currentlyconsidering the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s (SEPA) response to itsconsultation on the Water Environment charging scheme. The consultation resultedin a significant number of responses, including one from Kingussie Development Company,which detailed the impact of SEPA’s proposal on their industry. Due to the complexityof the scheme, it has taken longer than anticipated to consider a number of amendmentsproposed by SEPA, including one that acknowledges the importance of small scalehydropower in the development of renewable sources of energy. As I expect a formalannouncement to be made very shortly, I do not consider a meeting at this stageto be appropriate.
