Chamber and committees

The G8 Summit is a UK Government event. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, working with colleagues in the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs, is looking at the environmental impact of the summit and will work with the Scottish Executive to minimise this.

The Scottish Executive and its agencies are working closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to promote the interests of local businesses. They are identifying local suppliers and keeping businesses informed of procurement and sponsorship opportunities.

Plans for the First Minister’s involvement at the G8 summit are under discussion and announcements will be made in due course.

Development constraints are not imposed by Scottish Water, they arise where water infrastructure requirements are greater than was either envisaged or planned at the time of approving Q & S II.

Information about constraints on development was assembled from returns provided by all 32 Scottish local authorities to Scottish Water. It is therefore broken down by local authority area, but not by parliamentary constituency.

This information was assembled by Scottish Water into a report which was given to the Scottish Executive and to all Scottish local authorities last year. A copy of this report is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34015)

Chapter 4 of the current consultation document Investing in Water Services 2006-2014 (Bib. number 33325) explains that further work is ongoing to consider a number of issues that may influence the figures given in the 2003 report and in the consultation document.

The Executive is committed to ensuring that the summit at Gleneagles and the surrounding area is safe and secure. Scottish police forces have considerable experience of managing large-scale events and are well equipped to cope with the security operation. Tayside Police is responsible for co-ordinating security arrangements in the area and will have support from other law enforcement agencies as necessary.

The Scottish Executive and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are jointly exploring the issues raised by residents and businesses in Perth and Kinross. We expect the position to be clarified well before the summit in July 2005.

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with a broad range of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in its daily work. In advance of next year’s G8 summit officials have made specific contact with the following organisations to explain the role Scottish ministers and the Executive will be playing in activities around the summit:

Scottish Civic Forum

Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations

Association of Churches Together in Scotland

British Council Scotland

Scottish Trades Union Congress

WWF Scotland

Friends of the Earth Scotland

RSPB Scotland

Scottish Environment Link.

The UK Government will begin a formal consultation with NGOs throughout the UK on the summit themes in January.

The Scottish Executive is liaising closely with the main business representative organisations including CBI Scotland, the Institute of Directors, Scottish Chambers of Commerce, the Scottish Council for Development and Industry and the Federation of Small Businesses. We are also working closely with Perth and Kinross Council to help them prepare for the summit. In addition, the enterprise networks are working at national and local level to provide information and assistance to Scottish business on the G8 Summit as planning for the summit progresses.

The G8 Summit in Gleneagles is a tremendous opportunity for the people of Scotland to showcase all aspects of Scottish talent and expertise. It is also a very good opportunity to bring together those in Scotland who wish to debate the themes of the summit, namely climate change and Africa.

We are planning a number of activities around the summit with a range of partners. These activities are still at the development stage. There may be opportunities for ministerial involvement in some of these events. We will make information about specific events available as plans are confirmed.

The Scottish Executive is working closely with the UK Government, the Scottish Enterprise Networks, Perth and Kinross Council, VisitScotland and the main business representative organisations to ensure Scottish businesses benefit from the economic and presentational benefits of the G8 Summit.

Direct procurement opportunities for the summit itself will be advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union. Scottish companies will be able to tender and contracts will be awarded on a competitive basis according to Public Procurement Guidelines.

In addition, there will be significant opportunities for Scottish businesses in provision of goods, services, accommodation and marketing and tourism opportunities for the large number of delegates and media who will come to Scotland for the summit. There will also be national and local opportunities and events aimed at showcasing Scottish businesses and products and raising the profile of Scotland internationally. 

The Scottish Executive has had contact with the Department for Work and Pensions on matters that could impact on the Scottish economy, and any loss of jobs in Scotland is a matter of extreme regret.

I will ensure the contents of the Finance Committee’s recent report on the relocation of public sector jobs will be made available to the Department for Work and Pensions so that they can be made aware of the opinions that have been expressed by the Scottish Parliament.