- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are used to determine whether there should be ministerial involvement in a procurement exercise.
Answer
I refer the member to the question S2W-11414 answered on 9 November 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its staff are involved in the procurement of capital projects.
Answer
The number of major capital projects (defined as project involving acquisition of asset with estimated value of at least £5 million) is variable, the number of Executive staff working on each project varies considerably and some staff may work on more than one project at any given time.
At this point in time, we estimate that there are currently 95 Executive staff involved in the procurement of capital projects.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to make ministerial involvement a prerequisite in key procurement decisions, as referred to by the Minister for Finance and Public Services in the debate on the Holyrood Inquiry Report on 22 September 2004 (Official Report col. 10409).
Answer
Officials are currently working on proposals regarding the approach to be adopted towards procurement strategies and plan to issue guidance on this shortly.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued on the conduct of gateway reviews in relation to major projects, as referred to by the Minister for Finance and Public Services in the debate on the Holyrood Inquiry Report on 22 September 2004 (Official Report col. 10412).
Answer
The Executive has established the Centre of Expertise, part of the Scottish Procurement Directorate, which delivers a programme of Gateway Review training for officials, including Senior Civil Servants. Information on the conduct of Gateway Reviews is also available electronically, and guidance is included in the Construction Client Pack, which is published on the Executive’s website. The Gateway Review process was first introduced by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), which has assisted the Executive in developing Gateway Reviews in Scotland. OGC’s guidance on Gateway Reviews is published on its website at:
http://www.ogc.gov.uk/index.asp?id=377.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the comments made by the Minister for Finance and Public Services in the debate on the Holyrood Inquiry Report on 22 September 2004 (Official Report col. 10412), what criteria it will use to determine whether the use of construction management is appropriate for future capital projects.
Answer
Officials are currently working on revised guidance on how to determine the appropriateness of various procurement routes and to underline the associated risks. The Scottish Public Finance Manual and the Construction Client Pack will be amended shortly.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring arrangements are in place to assess the success of any changes it has introduced in procurement professionalism, capacity and practice since 1999, as referred to by the Minister for Finance and Public Services in the debate on the Holyrood Inquiry Report on 22 September 2004 (Official Report col. 10412).
Answer
Key performance indicators for the procurement function are recorded value for money (VFM) savings and customer satisfaction feedback reports (completed by the client for every project). VFM savings consistently exceed direct procurement costs and over 90% of customer feedback reports record client satisfaction with the function’s work. Another measure of the success of these changes is that, since devolution, no complaint regarding compliance with EU procurement rules obligations has been upheld regarding a procurement overseen by procurement function staff. Gateway Reviews will also help assess the quality of procurement activity.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 8 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on the implementation of recommendations contained in the Sensory Impairment Action Plan, launched in January 2004, relevant to people with visual impairment and how such progress is being monitored.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is working closely with Deafblind Scotland, the Royal National Institute for the Blind and the Scottish Council in Deafness in taking forward the recommendations within the Sensory Impairment Action Plan. Good progress is being made and is being monitored by a Steering Group.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 September 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 4 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to improve the median waiting times for appointments with an orthopaedic surgeon.
Answer
The Executive has not set any targets for median waiting times. Our policy is to reduce waiting times for all patients, with particular priority being given to treating those patients who have experienced the longest waits. That is why we are committed to ensuring that from December 2005 no patient will wait more than 26 weeks for a first outpatient appointment with a consultant, following referral.
I refer the member to the answer to S2W-11086, on 25 October 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 3 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive why the spending plans in the Justice section of Building a Better Scotland Spending Proposals 2005-2008 include a commitment to provide 500 additional prisoner places when the focus of the Justice portfolio is to “continue to focus on reducing crime, particularly violent and drug-related crime and reducing reoffending”.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:
The Scottish Prison Service is committed to helping prisoners address their offending behaviour. The spending plans include a commitment to provide additional places which will reduce levels of overcrowding in the prison estate and provide fit-for-purpose facilities for SPS staff to work with prisoners with the aim of reducing re-offending.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 2 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Human Rights Commission in Scotland proposed in the spending plans in the Justice section of Building a Better Scotland Spending Proposals 2005-2008 will have jurisdiction over conditions in Dungavel House immigration removal centre.
Answer
The proposals for establishment of a Scottish Human Rights Commission which were published by the Scottish Executive in 2003 confirmed that the commission will be a devolved body, and that it would therefore not deal with those issues which are reserved to the UK Parliament and UK ministers. The exact nature of the commission’s devolved responsibilities will be defined in the legislation establishing the commission.
