- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 22 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline the advice provided by the Chief Planner and Head of Planning Decisions Division to the First Minister in his capacity as MSP for Gordon on 29 and 30 November 2007.
Answer
Officials offered verbaladvice to Mr Salmond, at his request, confirming that, as MSP for theconstituency where the development was proposed, he was entitled to representproperly the interests of his constituents and to speak to the developer and toany other relevant parties. They confirmed that his constituency interest meantthat Mr Salmond was debarred from any potential Scottish ministerial planningdecision. They also set out their understanding of the procedural implicationsof the resolution of Aberdeenshire Council’s Infrastructure Services Committee.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 22 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive when it ceased to record telephone calls between ministers, civil servants and special advisers about matters of substance.
Answer
There has never been acorporate policy in the Scottish Government advising staff that a formal minutemust be produced for particular telephone calls.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 22 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what car journeys were made using the Government Car Service to and from the Marcliffe Hotel on 3 December 2007, showing who the passengers were and the timetable of all movements of the car involved on that day.
Answer
The information requested islisted as follows.
| Time | Pick Up | Via | Drop Off | Passengers |
| 1145 | Strichen | | Inverurie | Alex Salmond |
| 1700 | Inverurie | Special Adviser’s Home, Aberdeen (Geoff Aberdein dropped off) | Marcliffe Hotel | Alex Salmond Geoff Aberdein Hannah Bardell (Constituency Assistant) |
| 1825 | Marcliffe Hotel | | Strichen | Alex Salmond |
No otherjourneys were made on this day.
As a result of the unusualamount of public interest in the First Minister’s travel to this meeting, thePermanent Secretary has considered what use was made of the Government CarService on this occasion. He has noted that it is commonplace for civilservants, including special advisers, to travel with ministers in governmentcars, in order to assist ministers to use time spent travelling to progressgovernment business. He is satisfied that the use made of the Government CarService in this case was consistent with such general practice and was bothappropriate and pragmatic.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 22 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth had any conversations about the Trump planning application with the First Minister on 2, 3 or 4 December 2007 prior to the application being called in and, if so, what the timing was of each conversation.
Answer
No such discussions tookplace.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 22 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a formal record of the telephone call of 4 December 2007 between the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth and the Chief Planner about the call-in of the Trump planning application.
Answer
The phone call was notformally minuted, a record is kept on file showing that the Cabinet Secretaryfor Finance and Sustainable Growth had agreed to call in the application.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 22 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive when the First Minister first became aware that the Trump planning application was being called in, by what means and from whom.
Answer
I informed Mr Salmond afterI had made the decision to call in the planning application.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 22 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth had any discussions with the First Minister on 3 December 2007 about the Trump planning application.
Answer
I had no such discussionswith the First Minister.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 22 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what role the Head of Planning Decisions Division has in relation to any planning application and, in particular, what role he has in relation to the called-in Trump planning application.
Answer
Planning DecisionsDivision’s primary purpose is to consider planning applications and otherplanning cases notified or referred to Scottish ministers, advising ministers asappropriate. It is the role of the Head of Planning Decisions Division to leadand oversee the work of the whole division. As such in relation to the calledin planning application for the Menie Estate, he is responsible for the division’swork in considering the application and advising ministers.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 22 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Chief Planner has ever held meetings with developers after a planning application had been called in since May 2007.
Answer
No.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 22 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether members of the Trump Organization were with the First Minister when he called the Chief Planner on 3 December 2007.
Answer
I refer the member to the answerto question S3W-7663 on 20 December 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
