Chamber and committees

The renovated facilities will provide a courtroom to replace the courtroom currently housed in a porta-cabin at the rear of the building. It will upgrade the custody suite, improve access to the building, including disabled access, and generally upgrade the internal accommodation.The decision to refurbish Lanark Sheriff Court was made on an assessment of the business needs of the courthouse.

Presently the proposed redevelopment is at scheme design stage and as such, the anticipated costs are under review. The costs associated with the temporary outhousing accommodation are, however, contractually committed.The anticipated cost of the proposed redevelopment is in the region of £3,000,000. The cost of the temporary accommodation, including fees, lease, construction costs, is estimated at £297,000.

I understand that the Health and Safety Executive has commissioned a report from Professor David Ball as part of wider discussions about playground safety. The report has not yet been published but will be made available publicly soon in the Health and Safety Executive's Contract Research Report series.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-22524.

Health and safety is a reserved matter enforced by the Health and Safety Executive or local authorities depending on the type of premises. There are no specific regulations covering children's playgrounds under health and safety law. The Health and Safety Executive has issued a sector information minute which provides information on the physical standards expected in children's playgrounds, the management systems play providers should have in place and the relevance and status of applicable European standards. I have arranged for a copy to be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 19102).

Only four contracts have been placed with Arthur Andersen or Arthur Andersen Consulting since 1 July 1999. All four were awarded following competition. Expenditure to date on these contracts is £410,000. However, three contracts have not yet been completed and it is expected that additional expenditure will be incurred in 2002 and 2003 taking the estimated total value to around £1.1 million. Two of the four contracts were in respect of financial advice - one in connection with a PFI project and one in connection with broadband. The other two contracts were in respect of consultancy advice - one in connection with continuous professional development for teachers and one in connection with a review of Scottish Police Information Strategy.None of the Executive's agencies have placed any contracts with Arthur Andersen over the period.Procurement of goods and services by non-departmental public bodies is a matter for the individual body concerned.

In the course of their duties, Scottish ministers and officials with responsibility for a wide range of issues have been in contact with a large number of companies and other organisations and individuals, both in the energy field and in other areas. This will continue to be the case. We have no knowledge or record of any such contact with or about Enron, aside from one e-mail exchange with an official last year about renewable energy.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-22482.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-22482.

It is entirely a matter for each local authority to establish its expenditure priorities within the budget available to it. It would not be appropriate for ministers to intervene in the individual spending decisions of a council.