Chamber and committees

I informed Paul Gray, Director-General of Health and Social Care Directorates and Chief Executive of NHS Scotland, shortly after he received Bill Howatson’s letter of resignation on 14 October 2014.

I was notified of the resignation of Bill Howatson as chairman of the board of NHS Grampian when I received his resignation letter by email on 14 October 2014. The First Minister was made aware shortly after.

I carried out two ministerial engagements within the local authority area of Aberdeen City during the period specified.

Details of all ministerial engagements are proactively published on the Scottish Government website at the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/People/14944/Events-Engagements/MinisterialEngagements

(a) directorates:

As part of their normal duties, civil servants provide support on relevant aspects of the Scottish Government’s work. Staff contribute to constitutional policy development from within their own subject areas as and when required. For details of the staff of the election and constitution division as at 31 March 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 I refer the member to the published information on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/constitution/About/constitution-SG-staffing

(b) agencies:

I have asked the chief executives of executive agencies to respond. Their responses are as follows:

Executive agencies	Number of policy officers with responsibility for constitutional reform as of date of question
Accountant in Bankruptcy	1 full-time equivalent
Disclosure Scotland	0
Education Scotland	0
Historic Scotland	0
Scottish Prison Service	0
Scottish Public Pensions Agency	1.5 full-time equivalent
Student Awards Agency for Scotland	0
Transport Scotland	2 full-time equivalent

(c) NDPBs and (d) public corporations:

Staffing is a matter for individual NDPBs and public corporations. The information requested is not held centrally.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-22853 on 28 October 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

<>The Public Sector Pay Policy for Staff Pay Remits provides for a Scottish Living Wage and a minimum pay uplift of £300 for those earning under £21,000. All public bodies subject to the pay policy in 2014-15, who have settled their pay, have met the low pay requirements in that pay policy. Pay progression is a matter for individual public bodies and nothing in the pay policy is intended to interfere with arrangements, nor to constrain discussions between employers and staff. Further details of the pay policy and pay data is available at www.scotland.gov.uk/publicsectorpay.

All police staff are employed by the Scottish Police Authority whether under the direction and control of the Chief Executive or the Chief Constable. As such, terms and conditions, including annual leave entitlements and shift patterns, are a matter for the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland. Police Scotland’s corporate strategy sets out plans to standardise terms and conditions of employment and any material changes to them require ministerial approval. No discussions have taken place with the Scottish Government regarding annual leave or shift patterns.

For police officers annual leave is a matter for discussion and negotiation through the Police Negotiating Board, of which the Scottish Government, the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland are members. The annual leave entitlement for officers was changed in March 2014 and these changes were set out in the Police Negotiating Board circular 2014-15 (see following link). Shift patterns are a matter for the Chief Constable and no discussions have taken place with the Scottish Government on shift patterns.

http://www.local.gov.uk/documents/10180/6144395/2014-5+EXCHANGE+OF+PUBLIC+HOLIDAYS+FOR+ANNUAL+LEAVE+FINAL.pdf/5f2d8ce1-81d3-4336-b773-c3c7b22b1e81

All police staff are employed by the Scottish Police Authority whether under the direction and control of the Chief Executive or the Chief Constable. As such, terms and conditions, including annual leave entitlements and shift patterns, are a matter for the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland. Police Scotland’s corporate strategy sets out plans to standardise terms and conditions of employment and any material changes to them require ministerial approval.

For police officers there are currently no proposals to change annual leave entitlements, beyond that already set out in the Police Negotiating Board circular 2014-15 (see following link). Shift patterns are a matter for the Chief Constable.

http://www.local.gov.uk/documents/10180/6144395/2014-5+EXCHANGE+OF+PUBLIC+HOLIDAYS+FOR+ANNUAL+LEAVE+FINAL.pdf/5f2d8ce1-81d3-4336-b773-c3c7b22b1e81

Yes. Page 417 of Scotland’s Future addresses several key questions around the current Scottish Government's priorities for motoring services in an independent Scotland.

Decisions on vehicle excise duty will be made by the Parliament and Government of an independent Scotland. Page 417 of Scotland’s Future addresses several key questions around the current Scottish Government's priorities for motoring services in an independent Scotland.