Chamber and committees

We are continuing an extensive exercise to gather as much information as possible with respect to public and private contracts where Carillion have been involved.

Through making using of the Public Contract Scotland system where Contract Award Notices are published the following facilities management contracts/frameworks are currently live within the public sector:

*Mini competition run under Crown Commercial Service Facilities Management Framework for 3 public bodies (Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration, National Museums Scotland and Historic Environment Scotland). The estimated value is based on total value including all three bodies, however currently only Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration remain engaged in the contract.

+NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde do not contract directly with Carillion, their contract is with the PFI contractor.

While the Scottish Government provides the policies, frameworks and resources for high quality healthcare in Scotland, it is for each NHS Board to decide best how to utilise funding, facilities and staff while taking account of national and local priorities to meet local health needs, including the provision of specialist physiotherapy for adults with muscle-wasting conditions.

The Scottish Government engages with the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner and Police Scotland on a regular basis to keep abreast of developments on a range of policing matters. Responsibility for decisions on the Chief Constable’s leave lies with the Scottish Police Authority, and as such it would be for them to communicate with the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner or the Police Scotland command team regarding the return of Chief Constable Phil Gormley.

As confirmed to the Justice Committee on 23 January 2018, Paul Johnston, DG Education, Communities & Justice, had a call with DCC Iain Livingstone on the afternoon of 9 November 2017, during which he advised him of developments in relation to the Chief Constable’s leave arrangements.

I did not speak with the Chief Constable on or after 7 November 2017.

Communications between Paul Johnston, Director General, Education, Communities & Justice, and the Chief Constable are set out as part of a letter from Mr Johnston to the Public Audit and Post-Legislative Scrutiny Committee at the following link: http://www.parliament.scot/S5_Public_Audit/General%20Documents/20180118_Letter_from_Paul_Johnston.pdf

As a private company, we do not know for certain the number of people within Scotland employed by Carillion, but we believe the number to be close to 1000. We continue to work closely with the official receiver to obtain an accurate number.

The Scottish Government wants to see more people take the train and recognises that prices have to be affordable and fair. Scottish Ministers ensure that fares are kept below certain thresholds by regulating the maximum permitted annual increase for selected fares, including Anytime and Season tickets, to the level of the Retail Price Index (RPI) for regulated Peak fares and one per cent below RPI for regulated Off-Peak fares. Scotland has the lowest level of fares increase with the average regulated fares increase below the rate of inflation.

Members will be aware that ScotRail launched fares initiatives last year to provide a free week for season ticket holders and additional offers for leisure travellers. A further phase of the fares initiative, which is fully funded by the Scottish Government and ScotRail, will be launched later this month, with full details being announced shortly.

I recognise ScotRail has faced a number of challenges recently and fully expect this downward trend to be addressed immediately. This is why Alex Hynes has instigated an independent review as part of ScotRail’s recovery measures, which I very much welcome, as the sooner we can address these challenges the sooner passengers can enjoy the level of service that they desire and deserve. I will be meeting with the ScotRail Alliance team tomorrow (Friday 19 January) to discuss and hear about their plans to address poor performance.

Registers of Scotland have been unable to find any record of a good neighbour agreement having been registered under section 75D of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 since 2011-12. However, as there is no prescribed style of good neighbour agreement it is not possible to be definitive. People may have chosen to use other named deed types, such as a minute of agreement, to register a good neighbour agreement. It is also possible that parties have entered into good neighbour agreements but chosen not to register them in the property registers.

The Anti Social Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004 provides a wide range of powers to address antisocial behaviour. The supporting guidance on noise nuisance provides support to local authorities as to how they adopt its provisions.

The Scottish Government is satisfied that the provisions contained within the Planning (Scotland) Bill are compliant with the Aarhus Convention, including new provisions which strengthen processes, engagement and participation in the planning system overall. The Scottish Government is not able to disclose legal advice it receives, including any legal advice that may have been considered in relation to compliance with the Arhus Convention. The policy memorandum published to accompany the Bill contains information about provisions which are relevant to the Aarhus Convention.

The Statements on Legislative Competence which accompany the Planning (Scotland) Bill recognise the Bill’s competence, including its compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights. The Scottish Government is not able to disclose legal advice it receives, including any legal advice that may have been considered in relation to compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights. The policy memorandum published to accompany the Bill addresses human rights issues at paragraphs 170 to 173 of the memorandum.