Chamber and committees

Grampian Police is responsiblefor maintaining law and order on Scottish North Sea offshore installations.

There are no plans to update the McCrone paper. The Executive’s existing annual publication Government Expenditure & Revenue in Scotland (GERS) provides a comprehensive picture of Scotland’s current fiscal position.

The Blue Badge Scheme is a European-wide disabled parking scheme. Reciprocal arrangements exist between EU countries whereby EU badges are recognised in the UK. If a visitor is from a non-reciprocal country, then it is at the discretion of the local council as to whether they would be happy to recognise the disabled persons’ badge.

There is currently no national scheme for the issuing of temporary Blue Badges for the use of temporarily disabled people. Blue Badges are currently issued for three years only. I am pleased to advise that temporary badges will be introduced for people with a clearly defined temporary mobility impairment which is deemed to last at least 12 months, but less than three years. This is as a result of the review of the Blue Badge scheme which the Department for Transport (DfT) has been leading and the Scottish Executive is currently working in partnership with DfT on a legislative timetable to introduce the changes at the earliest available opportunity.

No estimates have been made by the Executive of how long employment will continue in the oil industry.

Current employment levels within the oil industry are directly related to the economic life of production which depends on a broad range of factors, including the price of oil.

The Department of Trade and Industry estimate that that oil production in the North Sea could be sustained at significant levels to at least 2035. Employment relating to production of oil should therefore continue to at least this date.

However, as Aberdeen is a global centre of excellence, employment within the oil industry should continue even after production ceases from the North Sea.

Responsibility for immigrationand asylum issues, including the detention and deportation of unsuccessful applicantsfor asylum, rests with the Home Office and the Immigration Service. The Executiveis in regular dialogue with the Home Office on a wide range of issues.

The original capital budget for developing and installing the Scottish Intelligence Database (SID) system was £5.8 million, excluding vat. Annual running costs were estimated to be £1.3 million. Expenditure to December 2004, when SID was operational across Scotland was £5.9 million capital and £0.8 million revenue excluding vat.

There is currently no provision for the issue of temporary Blue Badges. However, following the Blue Badge Review of 2002, I am pleased to advise that temporary badges will be introduced for people with a clearly defined temporary mobility impairment which is deemed to last at least 12 months, but less than three years. We are committed to introducing this legislation at the earliest opportunity.

A comprehensive review of the options for the redevelopment of Parliament House has been underway since December 2004, when the project was halted. The Scottish Court Service has now agreed an interim approach, which involves criminal appeal business moving from Parliament House to the nearby building at Lawnmarket, and other criminal business being accommodated in Lawnmarket and Edinburgh Sheriff Court. This will ensure better security arrangements for criminal business in the short term, and will enable backlog maintenance and upgrade work to continue in Parliament House itself. An announcement on the long-term plan for Parliament House will be made in due course.

The building contract for the Parliament House redevelopment project was procured under the SBCC Scottish Management Contract (Phased Completion).