- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 2 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what inquiries it has made in respect of alleged rendition flights through airports operated by Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd, following the publication of documents obtained by Amnesty International and by the Danish Government.
Answer
We have made no inquiries. Ministers have consistently made clear that if anyone has credible and reliable information regarding alleged criminal activity, it should be passed to the police.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 2 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has taken legal advice in respect of allegations that airports operated by Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd may have provided facilities to rendition flights.
Answer
In the absence of credible and reliable information, the Scottish Executive has no reason to take legal advice on these allegations.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 2 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the consequences would be for Scottish Ministers if it were subsequently proved that rendition flights had used airports operated by Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd.
Answer
It would not be appropriate for the Scottish Executive to speculate on this matter without credible and reliable information.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 2 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on whether the Metropolitan Police is providing Scottish police forces with specific advice on how to respond to requests for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
Answer
We have no information pertaining to advice that may have been circulated by the Metropolitan Police Service to Scottish police forces. Police forces may co-operate when dealing with freedom of information requests in the interests of efficiency and consistency. This is an operational matter.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 2 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many times Scottish police forces have provided advice to the Metropolitan Police on how to respond to requests for information in England and Wales under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 1 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, if it is successful in its bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games, whether it will ensure that sporting competitions are located around Scotland, such as equestrian events in the Scottish Borders.
Answer
The Scottish Executive and Glasgow City Council have received advice from the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland indicating that the prospects for Scotland’s bid to be successful are maximised if the events venues are as close together as possible and if the use of these facilities is maximised where possible.
Therefore it is likely that, should Scotland be successful in its bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the majority of sporting events would be based within or close to Glasgow. All of the bid partners are, however, committed to ensuring the bid is one that involves and benefits the whole of Scotland.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 1 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will investigate a means whereby contracts for the provision of catering in the Parliament are drafted to ensure that the menus in the members¿ dining room use Scottish-sourced produce, while remaining compatible with European procurement legislation.
Answer
Our contractor is currently reviewing its menus to introduce traditional and contemporary Scottish dishes in the members’ dining room.
The SPCB cannot adopt a policy which specifies that all produce must be Scottish as this is not permissible under European procurement law. We pursue sustainable development objectives in the catering service contract in line with our Responsible Purchasing Policy. This covers, for example, food production, packaging, wastage, nutrition, healthy food, freshness, fair trade products and local sourcing. We encourage local supply. The contract already specifies the use of fresh and seasonal produce and our contractor is working with us in the sourcing of local produce taking account of quality, price and health and safety standards of suppliers. Examples of locally sourced products are, salmon, pork, most root vegetables, cheese and milk.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 31 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has carried out since 1999 to examine the economic impact of independence and, in particular, whether it would have a positive impact on the Scottish economy.
Answer
No such research has been carried out.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 31 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests it dealt with from 1 January 2005 to 23 December 2005; how many of these requests it responded to within 20 working days, and how many are still outstanding.
Answer
Information on numbers of requests received and timeliness of responses to requests in the first six months of 2005 is available in a report on information request handling in the Scottish Executive. This report is available in the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre (Bib. number 37868) and on the freedom of information pages of the Scottish Executive Website. The Executive will be publishing the report for requests received during the period 2 July 2005 – 31 December 2005 in March once the figures for this period have been analysed.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 31 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 that it has handled resulted in a fee notification being issued and how many of those applicants proceeded with their request after the notice was issued.
Answer
Of the records held centrally one fees notice has been issued and the applicant did not proceed with the request.
