Chamber and committees

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 SPCB is not aware of what is meant by political pressure.

In any event, the legislation establishing the various offices provides that Crown appointees are not subject to the direction or control of the SPCB, any member of the Scottish Executive or any member of the Parliament.

To ensure their independence and to protect them from any political pressure the legislation establishing the various offices provides that crown appointees are not subject to the direction or control of the SPCB, any member of the Scottish Executive or any member of the Parliament. 

Crown appointees are independent officeholders and should be able to deal with any such approaches by having a robust policy in place.

Provision does exist in the legislation establishing the various offices for officeholders to lay annual reports before Parliament. It is open to the office holders to determine what is included in the reports, subject to the statutory provisions.

There are no specific avenues provided for under the legislation for appointees of the Crown nominated by the Parliament to refer to the Parliament for assistance.

Provision does, however, exist in the legislation establishing the various offices for officeholders to lay annual reports before Parliament. It is open to the office holders to determine what is included in the reports, subject to the statutory provisions.

 

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has a statutory responsibility to keep under review and to develop its qualifications portfolio. SQA has developed a set of criteria for reviewing “low uptake” subjects – this policy has been endorsed by the National Qualifications Steering Group which is made up of representatives from across the educational sector. A summary of this policy is available to download from SQA’s website (www.sqa.org.uk) – this outlines the criteria and sets out the position on retaining courses which have particular cultural, economic, social or political value.

The SQA has not yet made any announcement concerning the withdrawal of specific National Courses. However, it is anticipated that SQA will shortly be communicating with all centres which deliver courses to provide an update on the development of the catalogue of national courses. This letter will explain how SQA intends to develop a dynamic portfolio of qualifications which meet the needs of Scottish learners.

The current system of National Qualifications was introduced by the Higher Still Development Programme in 1999, and involved extensive consultation with stakeholders from across the educational spectrum. The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has not yet made any announcement concerning the withdrawal of specific National Courses. However, it is anticipated that the SQA will shortly be communicating with all centres to provide an update on the development of the catalogue of National Courses. This letter will explain how SQA intends to develop a dynamic portfolio of qualifications which meet the needs of Scottish learners.

The Scottish Public Finance Manual sets out details of project management responsibilities for major investment projects. The precise management of capital projects post procurement will vary depending upon the nature of the individual project. For example, each IT capital project will have a project manager responsible for post procurement management whereas trunk road contracts are managed by a hierarchy of professional supervision provided by the contractor and an engineer appointed by the client, all under a quality assurance scheme. Professional engineers within the department provide the highest level of supervision to ensure adherence to contracted price, quality and delivery time.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority’s (SQA) low uptake policy has been agreed by key strategic groups (such as the National Qualifications Steering Group, the SQA Qualifications Committee and the SQA Advisory Council) which include representatives from industry and the further education sector. The SQA has not yet made any announcement concerning the withdrawal of specific National Courses. However, it is anticipated that the SQA will shortly be communicating with all centres to provide an update on the development of the catalogue of National Courses. This letter will explain how the SQA intends to develop a dynamic portfolio of qualifications which meet the needs of Scottish learners.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-18233 on 2 September 2005, in which I explained that the figures are not held in the format requested. 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.