- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 21 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact a seventh Scottish city with legal status would have on its (a) current Cities Growth Fund, (b) Building a Better Scotland programme and (c) future planning for the Building a Better Scotland and City Region programmes.
Answer
The monies assigned to the Cities Growth Fund 2003-08 have been fully allocated to Scotland’s six cities. Decisions on funding allocations after 2007-08 will be taken in due course following the next spending review.
Building a Better Scotland is not a city specific programme; rather it is a spending strategy which sets out how the devolved administration in Scotland will allocate resources to meet its objectives of: growing the economy for the benefit of all in Scotland; delivering excellent public services for all; supporting stronger safer communities, and developing a confident, democratic Scotland.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 21 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it would welcome having seven legal Scottish cities with legal status instead of the current six cities.
Answer
Whilst cities provide a focal point, they must also interact with their surrounding areas. Scotland’s economic strength depends not only on the economic success of its cities but also on the wider city-regions. This is reflected in a number of policy statements such as the:
National Planning Framework for Scotland1, Framework for Economic Development in Scotland2, the revised
Smart Successful Scotland3, and the
Infrastructure Investment Plan4. It is also reflected in Scottish Enterprise’s Operating Plan 2005-08. All of these take an explicitly spatial approach to economic development.
Links:
1. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/planning/npf04-00.asp.
2. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/government/feds-00.asp.
3 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/enterprise/sssen.pd.f
4 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/finance/iipifs-00.asp.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 30 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty’s Government in relation to the impact that the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill may have on Scottish publishers, writers and broadcasters.
Answer
Scottish Executive officials discussed the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill with Home Office counterparts during its preparatory stages. The subject matter of the bill falls within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. The issues raised in the bill had already been examined by the Cross Party Working Group on Religious Hatred. In light of their recommendations and the existing provisions in the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003, it was decided that there was no need to extend this bill to Scotland.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 20 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 27 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it was aware that the charity Independent Special Education Advice obtained funding from Comic Relief to monitor the implementation of the Additional Support for Learning (Scotland) Act 2004 in every local authority area before the Executive commissioned the National Autistic Society to fulfil the same role.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has not commissioned the National Autistic Society to monitor the implementation of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004. The implementation of the act is being monitored by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 25 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact it considers that the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill for England and Wales will have on Scottish publishers, writers and broadcasters.
Answer
The Racial and Religious Hatred Bill will not apply to material published and distributed in Scotland. The bill will, however, apply to material published or distributed in England and Wales by Scottish publishers, writers and broadcasters.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 24 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for a review of the Futurebuilders Scotland strategy and whether any such review would be overseen by the proposed Social Economy Advisory Board.
Answer
In December 2005 we published our policy statement A Vision for the Voluntary Sector – The Next Phase of Our Relationship, a copy of which is available on the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 38445) which noted that we will consider the next stages of Futurebuilders Scotland. The Social Economy Advisory Board will be asked to provide advice to ministers in relation to this.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 24 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Social Economy Advisory Board, proposed in 2004 as part of Futurebuilders Scotland and announced by the Deputy Minister for Communities on 19 May 2005 (Official Report c. 17079), will be operational and what the role and membership of the board will be.
Answer
We expect the Social Economy Advisory Board to be operational by March 2006. The board will advise ministers on the future development of the social economy. This will include advising on the Social Enterprise Strategy and the future development of the Futurebuilders Scotland programme. I expect to announce membership of the board shortly.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive who the (a) current and (b) past board members are of the Local Government Improvement Service.
Answer
The Improvement Service was officially launched in April 2005. The current Board members are:
Patrick Watters (COSLA)
Roderick Ian Douglas Mair (COSLA)
Tom McCabe (Minister for Finance and Public Services Reform)
Keith Dunckley Yates (SOLACE)
Colin Peter Caldwell Mair (Chief Executive, the Improvement Service for Scottish Local Government)
Douglas Sinclair (SOLACE) re-signed from the Improvement Service at the last board meeting on 21 November 2005 due to the completion of his term as chair of SOLACE. Gavin Whitefield (SOLACE) is the nominated replacement for Douglas Sinclair, however the legal appointment process for Mr Whitefield has still to be finalised.
Prior to the official launch of the Improvement Service, a Shadow Board was put in place in 2003 to pave the way for the establishment of the company. The Shadow Board Members were: -
Patrick Watters (COSLA)
Corrie McChord (COSLA)
Andy Kerr (then Minister for Finance and Public Services Reform)
Leslie Evans (Scottish Executive)
Douglas Sinclair (SOLACE)
Keith Dunckley Yates (SOLACE).
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 October 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 19 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage output from the manufacturing sector was in (a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom in (i) each of the last four quarters to 2005 Q2 and (ii) the year to each of the last four quarters to 2005 Q2.
Answer
The quarterly and annualgrowth rates for the Scottish and UK manufacturing sectors for the four quarters leadingup to quarter 2, 2005 are as follows.
Table 1: Constant PriceGross Value Added for Manufacturing Sector: Quarterly Growth Rates, 2004 Q3 to2005 Q2
| Quarter | Scotland | United Kingdom |
| 2004 Q3 | -1.2% | -0.7% |
| 2004 Q4 | +0.6% | +0.6% |
| 2005 Q1 | -0.4% | -0.9% |
| 2005 Q2 | -0.1% | -0.2% |
Table 2: Constant PriceGross Value Added for Manufacturing Sector: Four Quarter on Four Quarter GrowthRates, 2004 Q3 to 2005 Q2
| Quarter | Scotland | United Kingdom |
| 2004 Q3 | -0.3% | +2.1% |
| 2004 Q4 | +0.2% | +1.9% |
| 2005 Q1 | -0.1% | +1.4% |
| 2005 Q2 | -0.5% | +0.4% |
Sources:
Scotland Data: Scottish Executive: Quarterly GDP Index.
United Kingdom Data: Office of National Statistics.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 18 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures are in place to ensure that local authorities comply with the conditions applicable to grants allocated for specific projects and who is responsible for carrying out the financial and implementation audits on such grants.
Answer
Scottish Executive Departments administer a wide range of grant schemes linked to specific objectives. In 2005-06, the value of these grants totalled over £1.8 billion. Grant schemes include, for example, the Cities Growth Fund, the Bellwin Scheme and measures to tackle anti social behaviour. A list of the grants is published at Annex I of Finance Circular No 8/2005 issued on 23 November 2005.
Each grant scheme has its own terms and conditions and responsibility for ensuring that councils adhere to these rests with the relevant Executive Department. In general, councils are required formally to assure the department that the funding has been spent in accordance with the grant offer. In a number of cases, there is a further requirement for councils to have the return audited as part of their annual accounts. Routine evaluation and monitoring is also carried out.
