Chamber and committees

The First Minister has madeit clear that the purpose of his new administration is to focus government andpublic services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities forall of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable growth.The five strategic objectives which will underpin this are working to create:

a wealthier and fairer Scotland

a healthier Scotland

a safer and stronger Scotland

a smarter Scotland;and

a greener Scotland.

They will structure ourdecision making on all issues, including publicservice reform, and give the clear focus to our government that isessential to deliver for the people of Scotland

The work of the General RegisterOffice for Scotland and Registers of Scotland is essential to Scotland.

I expect the General RegisterOffice for Scotland to continue, on behalf of the Registrar General for Scotland,to arrange for the registration of life events (such as births and deaths), to maintainthe NHS Central Register and to prepare and publish demographic and household statisticsabout Scotland’s population. In particular, I expect them to continue to modernisethe registration service using the new powers in the Local Electoral Administrationand Registration Services (Scotland) Act 2006; to improve services for family historians(in particular by opening a new family history centre in Edinburgh inMarch 2008); to improve statistics on migration, and to prepare for the nextcensus.

The objective of the Registersof Scotland is to provide Scotland’s citizens and institutions with the social and economicbenefits that flow from a publicly guaranteed system of rights in land and property.Registers of Scotland will continue to develop the registers for which the Keeperof the Registers of Scotland is responsible, ensuring their accuracy, integrityand accessibility. In doing this, I expect the department to meet the financialtarget set annually by Scottish ministers for its operations and the registrationperformance targets set by the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland, and for thedepartment to take forward a range of initiatives to develop its services and todeliver them electronically.

I am currently considering thefuture arrangements for reaching decisions on the locations of public bodies, inlight of the experience of previous relocation policy, the findings of the Financeand Audit Committees of the Scottish Parliament and our wider commitment to reviewthe cluttered landscape of public bodies. An announcement will be made when appropriate.

The First Minister has made itclear that the purpose of his new administration is to focus government and publicservices on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotlandto flourish, through increasing sustainable growth. The five strategic objectiveswhich will underpin this are working to create:

a wealthier and fairer Scotland

a healthier Scotland

a safer and stronger Scotland

a smarter Scotland,and

a greener Scotland.

They will structure our decisionmaking on all issues, including public service delivery,and give the clear focus to our Government that is essential to deliver for thepeople of Scotland

The First Minister has made itclear that the purpose of his new administration is to focus government and publicservices on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotlandto flourish, through increasing sustainable growth. The five strategic objectiveswhich will underpin this are working to create:

a wealthier and fairer Scotland

a healthier Scotland

a safer and stronger Scotland

a smarter Scotland,and

a greener Scotland.

They will structure our decisionmaking on all issues, including local government,and give the clear focus to our government that is essential to deliver for thepeople of Scotland.

The agency’s objectives are todeliver a high quality, customer focussed and cost-effective service to its stakeholders.The agency’s 2005-08 corporate plan, which can be viewed at www.sppa.gov.uk, provides further details ofits key performance targets and work priorities.

The government’s objectives forcities are the same as for Scotland as a whole. We want cities to be wealthier andfairer; to be healthier; to be safer and stronger; to be smarter, and to be greener.

Our objectives for communityplanning are consistent with our ambitions for simpler, smaller government. Ourintention is to set out clear, strategic outcomes at national level but to leavelocal decisions to local decision makers. Community planning has a central roleto play in this, joining national policy outcomes together with a clear vision foreach local area to help deliver better services for local people.

We are committed to supportinglocal authorities and their community planning partners in this work, ensuring thatpeople and communities are better engaged in decisions about public services whichaffect them and helping public bodies work together more effectively to improvethe well-being of local communities.

The Executive’s immediate procurementobjective is to accelerate the programme of public procurement reform which is alreadyunderway. Two key themes underpin this programme. The first is to ensure effectivecollaboration amongst public sector bodies, to deliver best value for money forthe taxpayer. The second is to improve access to public contract opportunities forthe benefit of businesses.

Budget monitoring is carriedout within the Scottish Executive with the aim of producing information on a timelyand reliable basis, to monitor the financial position against budgets approved byParliament and to support decision-making and the application of financial resourcesin support of ministerial priorities.

In a statement to the Scottish Parliament on 31 May 2007 I set out our objectives for energy. These are:

the need to reduce carbon emissions,and so tackle climate change;

the need to ensure security ofenergy supplies by fostering a vibrant, diverse and competitive energy sector thatis rooted here in Scotland;

the need to deliver energy atan affordable price for both individuals and businesses,  and

ensuring that energy policy allowsthe energy sector to continue to make its vital contribution to economic growth.

I am confident that with cleancoal technology and renewables we can achieve these objectives without the needfor new nuclear power stations.

We are also committed to deliveringa Scottish Energy Strategy in coming months and will be consulting with a wide rangeof stakeholders.

Ministers specified a set ofrequirements for Scottish Water in February 2005 following a robust stakeholderled and evidence based process. These requirements cover the period 2006-14 andinclude a wide range of service and environmental improvements. Our objectivefor Scottish Water for 2006-10 is to outperform the regulatory settlement bydelivering these requirements within the level of resources determined inNovember 2005 by the independent economic regulator, the Water IndustryCommission.