- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 22 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether telephone calls placed from private offices are listed by extension number.
Answer
Yes.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 22 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Chief Planner has been placed under any pressure by ministers or MSPs in relation to calling in the Trump planning application.
Answer
No.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
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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
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
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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.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
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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
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 22 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any special adviser has made telephone or email contact with representatives from the Trump Organization since May 2007 and, if so, who.
Answer
We are giving considerationto the publication of information under Freedom of Information legislation thatrelates to this question. I will write to advise when this procedure has beencompleted.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 22 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that it was appropriate for the First Minister to attend a press conference in St Andrew’s House in his capacity as First Minister on the issue of the Trump planning application, having been specifically prohibited from commenting on the matter as First Minister.
Answer
Yes. The First Minister wasdiscussing the position of the Scottish Government as set out in the answers to54 parliamentary questions on the matter. As in all his public statements onthe issue, the First Minister made no comment that could be interpreted asbeing for or against the development.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
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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
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 22 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many backbench MSPs have had meetings arranged for developers with the Chief Planner 24 hours after making telephone contact since May 2007.
Answer
Information in the formrequested is not held by the Scottish Government.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 22 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Chief Planner contacted the First Minister on 4 December 2007 about the Trump planning application and, if so, when.
Answer
The Chief Planner metrepresentatives of the Trump Organization on 4 December 2007.At the close of the meeting the Chief Planner telephoned Mr Salmond, in hiscapacity as MSP for Gordon, as a courtesy to say the meeting had taken placeand said that all discussion of potential ministerial action would be passed tome in line with proper procedure. The First Minister was not party to thedecision to call in the application.
