Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including defence.

We will respond to the committee’s report in due course.

The consultation andevidence gathering process currently underway will place a wealth ofinformation at the Executive’s disposal, including the potential costs andbenefits to businesses of different types of statutory controls. It is by nomeans clear that the impact on business would be negative. The ScottishExecutive always examines the scope for mitigating any cost likely to beincurred by businesses in determining the way forward and as with any proposalan economic impact assessment will be conducted.

Each year the ScottishExecutive writes to the Chief Executive Officers of all local authorities and localenterprise companies to inform them of any new bodies which have been broughtinto the relocation programme and to request information on available property intheir area suitable for these organisations. A brief description of eachorganisation is included along with details of its size and space requirement andan indication of when relocation decisions are due.

A copy of the guidance whichsets out the considerations which are taken into account in relocation reviewsis also included in the letter.

Relocation officialsregularly meet with representatives from local authorities and local enterprisecompanies to assist with relocation issues.

The Scottish Executive is taking forward a procurement exercise to bring broadband to every community in Scotland by the end of 2005. This intervention is supplier neutral and will not stipulate any particular technology for providing access.

European Union anti-discrimination rules require us to treat students from European Union member states in the same way that we treat students who are nationals of our State with regard to tuition fee support. Ultimately it is for the courts to decide the definitive interpretation of such rules.

The Water Industry Commissioner (WIC) re-appointment falls within the remit of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The Commissioner’s Code of Practice allows for first reappointments (i.e. a second term of office in the same role) to be made without open competition, provided a formal assessment has been carried out which confirms satisfactory performance during the first term of office.

A formal appraisal of the WIC was carried out by the Executive. This report allowed ministers to consider Mr Sutherland for reappointment.

Between1 January 2004 and 31 May 2004, 86.2% of the suppliers’ invoices processed by the Scottish Executive’s Accounting System were paid within 30 days of the date of receipt, orwithin the terms of specific contracts. This compares with 74.8% for the same periodin 2003, and 74.4% for this period in 2002, when teething problems with a new computerisedfinancial system led to a drop in levels of performance.

The Executive is taking a rangeof steps to improve performance. For example, the rollout of the EaseBuy electronic procurement system will ensure that these paymentsare made consistently and promptly. For low value ad hoc purchases the Governmentprocurement card operates like a credit card, ensuring that suppliers get paid withina few days by the credit card company, while the Scottish Executive gets a monthly consolidated invoice fromthe card company. For other items, we have analysed in which parts of the Executivelate payments arise, and are tackling those problems.

The Executive’s report Comparative Study of Business Tax Revenue estimated that the revenue raised from business transport taxes in Scotland was equal to 1.1% of GDP in 2000 compared to 1.4% for the UK as a whole. These figures follow the definition of business transport taxes used by the Confederation of British Industry and includes vehicle excise duty and fuel excise duty paid by businesses.

Vehicle duty and excise fuel duty rates are set at the UK level and these rates do not vary across the regions of the UK. Therefore, differences in total business transport tax revenues, relative to GDP, will in part reflect differences in usage patterns in terms of vehicles and fuel consumption across UK regions not differences in rates.

Our public consultation Rights of Appeal in Planning ends on 30 July 2004.We intend to make all non-confidential responses available to the public.

A copy of all the responses to the consultation (except those where the individual or organisation has requested confidentiality) will be placed in the Scottish Executive library in Saughton House, Edinburgh, by 27 August 2004. They can be viewed by visiting the library. Copies can also be provided by post.

We also intend to post a digest of responses received to the consultation, along with an analysis of those responses, on the consultation pages of the Executive’s internet website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultations/ after the analysis has been completed.