Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-14837 on 17 March 2005. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for whichcan be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-14837 on 17 March 2005. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for whichcan be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

As I have said before in response to other parliamentary questions, I am delighted that this year's G8 summit will be held in Scotland. We want to take the opportunity to ensure that the education community in Scotland is aware of the G8 and its agenda and has a chance to debate the issues.

So far as our input to the European Council’s contribution to G8 is concerned, we continue to reflect Scottish views to UK and European colleagues on both reserved and devolved matters through the normal channels. The appropriate conduit for Scottish input here is the Joint Ministerial Committee on Europe whichis held in London each month and is chaired by the Foreign Secretary,Jack Straw. The Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform, Tom McCabe isthe Scottish representative at that meeting.

You will already have seen First Minister’s work to give schools the opportunity to combine learning with real support for development in Africa, through the Scottish Schools Africa Challenge. The winners of that competition, four to six young people and two teachers from a Scottish secondary school, will visit Malawi, meet young people of their own age in that country, see their schools and learn about their education system. Their involvement in this visit is an important opportunity to signal commitment by Scotland’s youth to communities in Malawi and Africa as a whole.

In addition, on Commonwealth Day, 14 March, Euan Robson, the Deputy Minister for Education and Young People hosted a showcase of primary school links with schools in Commonwealth countries.

In September 1999, the ScottishExecutive commissioned a detailed evaluation of the Empty Homes Initiative fromCaledonian Economics Ltd, in association with Arneil Johnston. The evaluationreport was published by the Scottish Executive in February 2001.

We are working to improve arrangementswith other public bodies and UK government departments for the disposal of surpluspublic sector land to make use of such land for housing where appropriate. Thiswork is being taken forward jointly with the Convention of Scottish LocalAuthorities.

A key focus is thedevelopment of new agreements for the identification and release by publicbodies of sites suitable for affordable housing. The Executive has alreadyagreed a land release policy with Forestry Commission Scotland. The commission nowprovides a preferential opportunity for registered social landlords, supportedby Communities Scotland, to acquire its surplus land for affordable housing.

The Scottish Executive has regular contact with the UK Government and HM Customs and Excise on a range of issues. At an operational level, the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency and Scottish police forces work closely with a number of UK law enforcement agencies, including HM Customs and Excise, in order to provide a co-ordinated partnership approach. However, the deployment of resources by each such agency is an operational matter for that agency.

No guidance has currently been issued to NHS staff. Draft guidance has however been prepared by NHS Education Scotland (NES) on the education and trainingstandards for violence and aggression for those in the mental health setting andit has been to place a copy of the guidance in the Scottish Parliament InformationCentre when finalised. That guidance will be adapted to apply to NHSScotland ingeneral.

The law concerning physical restraint centres around the use of reasonable force. Draft guidance has however been prepared by NHS Education Scotland (NES) on the education and training standards for violence and aggression for those in the mental health setting and it has been to place a copy of the guidance in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre when finalised. That guidance will be adapted to apply to NHSScotland in general.

The fees set in respect of the services provided by Registers of Scotland distinguish between the fees for registration in the registers and the fees for inspecting the information contained in those registers. There is no cross-subsidisation of costs and fees between the registration of property in the property registers and the inspection of information from those registers. The overall costs of registration are met from the overall fee income for registration. Similarly the fees charged for inspection of the registers are intended to meet the overall costs associated with making the registers available for public inspection. The scales upon which fees are calculated for registration of titles and standard securities differ, to reflect generally the different levels of work required. Registers of Scotland is currently undertaking a review of fees relating to the provision of information from the registers, and plans to undertake a review of registration fees in 2006.

There are 13% of staff compliment in the building division of the Scottish Procurement Directorate (SPD) and 13% of staff compliment in the Procurement Operations branch of SPD advising on major capital projects. This represents a total of nine projects; sevem IT-enabled business change projects, one building project for Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency and one estate development project at Jordanhill School.

The majority of all other major capital projects being handled by the core Executive are dealt with by roads division.