Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive, throughits trade and investment arm Scottish Development International (SDI), has had part-timerepresentation in Australia since 2003.

In January 2006 SDI appointeda full-time country manager for Australia and New Zealand to increase Scotland’s involvement in the Australian market and to encourageAustralian companies to do business in and with Scotland.

SDI is currently engaging withmajor Australian companies at executive level to explore opportunities for investmentin Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-28577 on 4 October 2006. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-28568 on 4 October 2006. 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.

Responsibility for assistingindividuals wishing to start a new business rests with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands andIslands Enterprise. In the Scottish Enterprise area, Business Gateway can provideaccess to information and advice, including on aspects relating to funding.

In the Highlands andIslands area, access to business support is through Highlands andIslands Enterprise’s network of nine Local Enterprise Companies (LECs).

Scottish Enterprise andHighlands and Islands Enterprise undertake promotion events to encourage individualsto start-up in business. Details on the funding spent on this activity is an operationalissue for the Enterprise Networks.

The Scottish Executive offersa range of support to migrant workers in Scotland. This includes workers’ information guides in Polishand English, which reflects the fact that over 65% of workers from the new accessionstates are Polish. The guide is available online, at www.szkocja.eu and www.scotlandistheplace.com or in hard copy,from various public, private and voluntary sector sources, including banks. It containsinformation about opening bank accounts as well as a range of other informationabout living and working in Scotland. We are currently looking at also producing this guidein other languages. We recognise that someindividuals have experienced difficulty in opening bank accounts and this is anissue which has been raised with the Committee of Scottish Clearing Bankers (whichrepresents all four Scottish clearing banks) on a number of occasions, most recentlyin July of this year. Scottish banks all have policies on this issue and have openedmany thousands of bank accounts for migrant workers over recent years. Any individualexperiencing a problem should be encouraged to use the selected bank’s complaintsor enquiries process.

Scottish Executive ministershave not written to the Home Office regarding the impact of immigration and asylumlegislation and Home Office practice on their responsibilities under the MentalHealth (Care and Treatment) (Scotland)Act 2003.

Local authorities generally havethe same powers to assist asylum seekers under the 2003 act as they do to assistany other person under the act. Local authorities have a number of functions inrelation to persons who are not in hospital and who have or have had a mental disorder.These are outlined in chapter 2 of part 4 to the 2003 act and include functionsfor making or securing provision for care and support services (section 25), providingor securing the provision of services designed to promote well-being and socialdevelopment (section 26) and providing or securing the provision of facilities for,or assistance with, travel (section 27) for such persons. Local authorities alsohave a duty under the act to inquire into individual cases in certain circumstanceswhere they believe that a person in their area who is aged 16 years or over hasa mental disorder (section 33).

No. Section 115 of the Immigrationand Asylum Act 1999 provides that certain persons who are subject to immigrationcontrol are not entitled to specified benefits. Provision is made in regulation14 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 (ConsequentialProvisions) Order 2005 that no services shall be provided by local authorities undersections 25 to 27 of the 2003 act to a person to whom section 115 of the Immigrationand Asylum Act 1999 applies solely because he is destitute or because of the physicaleffects, or anticipated physical effects, of his being destitute. However, thoseprovisions do not disapply the local authorities’ powers to provide services tosuch a person under the 2003 act.

I am not aware of any impedimentto the Scottish Executive meeting its obligations under the Nature Conservation(Scotland) Act 2004 as a result of a lack of geographical information system data.