Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-10918 on 4 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.

I have asked Tony Cameron,Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is asfollows:

The evaluation conducted aspart of the procurement and subsequently examined by the Auditor General comparedthe costs and benefits of the contract with those of the public sectorcomparator developed to represent the existing method of service provision.This evaluation confirmed that the contract offered better value for money overthe period of the contract by a margin of about £20 million.

I have asked Tony Cameron,Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

Kilmarnock Prison ServicesLimited subsequently advised SPS that they had obtained and placed insurancecovers.

The Criminal Confiscation Unit was established in January 2003. Its direct costs, which includes staff costs and case-related expenditure, in 2002-03 were £90,930 and in 2003-04 £559,196.

In June 2004 the Financial Crime Unit was established by combining the CriminalConfiscation Unit with the financial crime elements of the International andFinancial Crime Unit. The Financial Crime Unit investigates serious fraud andmoney laundering cases as well as raising confiscation proceedings. The directcosts of the Financial Crime Unit so far in 2004-05 (end July figures) are£462,395.

The Civil Recovery Unit was established in January 2003. Its direct costs in 2002-03 were £50,320 and in 2003-04 £525,901. The direct costs of the Civil Recovery Unit so far in 2004-05 (end July figures) are £161,555.

The Scottish Executive has no plans to commemorate the inauguration of King Robert I. However, I would wish to consider this significant anniversary in the context of those planned for 2005 and 2007. We are currently working with a range of partners including Stirling Council, VisitScotland and Historic Scotland etc to develop an appropriate programme of events to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the death of William Wallace which will fall in August 2005. We are also looking to replicate the scale and type of events for the Union of the Crowns Anniversary in 2003 for the Union of the Parliaments Anniversary which will fall in 2007.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

The Scottish Prison Service.

The Scottish Executive actively supports the international promotion of Scottish arts and culture, working through its cultural non-departmental public bodies. In 2003, significant financial support was given to help showcase Scotland’s living cultural traditions in a major programme within the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and the Executive also contributed funding to the first independent presentation of Scotland’s contemporary visual arts, Zenomap, at the Venice Biennale. In partnership with the Lighthouse Scottish Architecture has been promoted abroad at a number of international events, including Venice’s Architecture Biennale. The successful “Scotland In” events, along with a rolling programme of international promotions undertaken by the Executive with a range of partners, serve to showcase the uniqueness and high quality of this country’s cultural output. Where our co-operation agreements include cultural objectives, they provide a framework for exchanging good practice and encouraging international partnerships. Recognising the importance of this area and building upon successful joint initiatives, the Scottish Arts Council and The British Council Scotland have recently appointed a Head of International Art who will deliver a strategy for promoting Scotland’s arts abroad.

Partnerships UK (PUK) has always had a team based in Scotland, headed up by the Director Scotland. One member of the team will shortly be seconded to the Executive’s Financial Partnerships Unit. The Scottish team is able to call on all of PUK expertise. It is important for the Executive to have access to the full range of PUK’s expertise so that all partnership developments occurring in the UK can be shared.

This information is not held centrally. Fire Service training can take place at a number of facilities but this is arranged by Brigade Development Officers according to the needs of the brigade and the firefighter.

Since the beginning of the dispute in 2002 some training courses at the Scottish Fire Services College, Gullane and the Fire Service College, Gloucestershirehave been postponed. These courses were rescheduled for periods when no industrialaction was planned. Following ratification of the June 2003 Pay Agreement by thelocal authority employers and the Fire Brigades Union at a National Joint Councilmeeting on 26 August 2004, it is not anticipated that further postponements of training courses will be necessary in the next six months.