Chamber and committees

John Spencely’s report to the SPCB on the Holyrood Project was produced on 24 March 2000, five days prior to Mr Miralles’ surgery in America. The SPCB learned of Mr Miralles’ ill health on 4 April and therefore had no information to offer Mr Spencely about Mr Miralles’ medical condition or expected recovery time while he was compiling his report.

No; it is for Midlothian Council as local roads authority to take whatever action it considers necessary in developing its proposals to upgrade the A701.

There are no such plans. However, Donaldson's College administer a course to train tutors of lip reading. Students enrolled on the course usually fund themselves or are sponsored by employers. Local authority staff are eligible for funding from the £5 million budget provided by the Scottish Executive for in-service special educational needs staff development and training.

Consistent information is not currently available. Statistics on delayed discharges and the reasons for them are now routinely collected on a quarterly basis. Information on the first quarter will be analysed in July and published shortly thereafter.

It is important that the Parliament’s management is able to exercise its judgement in allocating resources to support committees and the many other areas of parliamentary business, to help maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of that support. That judgement is exercised under the overall authority of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body.

SPCB Report No 4 of 30 March 2000 to MSPs made clear that, based on the latest design proposals, the project can be delivered for £195 million. The Quantity Surveyor's "Stage D" cost report for June 2000 is consistent with that figure. The Holyrood Progress Group would advise MSPs if there were any change to that position.

The procedures for the appointment of clerks and support officers to service the committees of the Parliament are the same as those in place for the appointment of other staff in the Parliament.
The SPCB is an equal opportunities employer and all external recruitment to fill permanent vacancies is undertaken by fair and open competition. Where a vacancy arises, a decision will be taken, in consultation with the Personnel Office, whether to advertise the post externally or limit the field to existing staff. A job description, including the skills, knowledge and experience required, is drawn up and made available to applicants. A shortened version of this appears in an advertisement. Applications received are considered and the selection of those applicants worthy of an interview is determined by reference to the criteria previously agreed and published. Job interviews take place before a panel of three parliamentary staff. The panel is chaired by a member of staff from the Personnel Office and where the post is in the Clerking Directorate, the other two members are drawn from appropriately qualified staff in that Directorate. The interviews are structured and all applicants are assessed against the skills, knowledge and experience required to fulfil the job description. The applicant who achieves the highest score, providing this is on or above the pass mark, will be appointed to the post. For posts in the Clerking Dirctorate, which comprises the Committee Office and the Chamber Office, appointments are made to the Directorate as a whole, except where a post requires specialist skills and/or knowledge and experience. Staff are thereafter deployed as required to meet the business needs of the Directorate. In exceptional circumstances, however, the Clerk reserves the right to make appointments to particular posts from within the ranks of the parliamentary staff group.

With the assistance of the clerk, the SPCB as the legal client for the Holyrood Project is overseeing any necessary changes.

John Gibbons, with support from existing members of the Project Team, will take on the responsibilities of the Project Director until such time as a permanent appointment is made.

The Parliament's commission for the design of the Holyrood building is with the joint venture company EMBT/RMJM, who have been working on the project continuously. The lead architect Enric Miralles has remained involved throughout his treatment and recuperation in America, and will shortly be returning to his office in Spain.