- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to questions S2W-21582 by Cathy Jamieson on 22 December 2005, why there have been no discussions with representatives of the US Government, given that the allegations involved pertain to their agencies.
Answer
No reliable and credible information has been provided to any Scottish law enforcement agency to support the allegations that US flights carrying alleged terrorist detainees overseas to be tortured have stopped to refuel at Scottish airports. In light of this, the Scottish Executive has not discussed such allegations with representatives of the US government.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by John Scott on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide a breakdown of the other running costs referred to in Table 2 on page 10 of the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner’s 2004-05 Annual Report.
Answer
A breakdown of the other running costs referred to in table 2 on page 10 of the Scottish Parliamentary Standard’s 2004-05 Annual Report are as follows:
| Other Running Costs | 2003-04 (£) | 2004-05 (£) |
| Conferences/training | 320 | 745 |
| Printing/translation | | 2,577 |
| Travel and Expenses | 1,360 | 2,938 |
| Capital Costs (Transcription equipment and printer) | 1,465 | |
| Transcriptions | 437 | 989 |
| Consumables (stationery, ink cartridges) | 130 | 320 |
| Accounting adjustments | | -901 |
| Total | 3,712 | 6,668 |
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the sickness rate in each of the last five years in the (a) Scottish Criminal Records Office and (b) fingerprint bureaux in (i) Glasgow, (ii) Aberdeen, (iii) Dundee and (iv) Edinburgh.
Answer
The information available for sickness rates in the Scottish Criminal Record Office and the four fingerprint bureaux is shown below:
Scottish Criminal Record Office – All Staff, including Fingerprint Officers
| Year to 31 March 2005 | 7.29% |
| Year to 31 March 2004 | 8.39% |
| Year to 31 March 2003 | 6.67% |
| Year to 31 March 2002 | 6.24% |
Fingerprint Bureaux
Aberdeen
| Year to 31 March 2005 | 1.3% |
| Year to 31 March 2004 | 1.7% |
Dundee
| Year to 31 March 2005 | 4.10% |
| Year to 31 March 2004 | 2.80% |
Edinburgh
| Year to 31 March 2005 | 8.0% |
| Year to 31 March 2004 | 7.9% |
Glasgow
| Year to 31 March 2005 | 13.63% |
| Year to 31 March 2004 | 11.13% |
It has not been possible to separate out the figures for sick leave in the four fingerprint bureaux prior to April 2003.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by John Scott on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide a breakdown of the legal costs referred to in Table 2 on page 10 of the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner’s 2004-05 Annual Report; whether the external use of lawyers was subject to a competitive tendering process, and for which of the cases referred to in the annual report external lawyers were required.
Answer
Following a competitive tendering process in 2003, the SPCB approved the commissioner’s determination to appoint Anderson Strathern as his legal advisers. In one case, a separate firm, Simpson and Marwick were used because of a potential conflict of interest. A breakdown of the legal costs referred to in table 2 of the commissioner’s Annual report is below. To maintain confidentiality, the invoices processed by the SPCB for individual cases are anonymised and we are therefore unable to identify which cases referred to in the annual report required external advice from lawyers.
| Invoice Date | Invoice Number | Amount (inc VAT) |
| 26/04/2004 | PSC0001.14 | £148.05 |
| 26/04/2004 | PSC0001.4 | £27.00 |
| 21/07/2004 | PSC0001.13 | £2,231.33 |
| 21/07/2004 | PSC0001.14 | £521.70 |
| 21/07/2004 | PSC0001.15 | £587.50 |
| 05/8/2004 | SC040173/1 | £881.25 |
| 05/11/2004 | PSC0001.1 | £1,165.60 |
| 05/11/2004 | PSC0001.13 | £1,623.85 |
| 05/11/2004 | PSC0001.2 | £1,903.50 |
| 14/01/2005 | RIM/75/04 | £2,474.55 |
| 14/01/2005 | RIM/126/04 | £2,245.43 |
| 10/01/2005 | PSC0001.12 | £712.05 |
| 10/01/2005 | PSC0001.13 | £573.40 |
| 14/04/2005 | PSC0001.12 | £1,943.45 |
| 14/04/2005 | PSC0001.13 | £1,043.40 |
| 14/04/2005 | PSC0001.16 | £5,157.67 |
| 14/04/2005 | PSC0001.17 | £536.98 |
| 14/04/2005 | PSC0001.18 | £1,128.00 |
| 18/04/2005 | SCO40173/2 | £1,762.50 |
| Total | £26,667.21 |
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of students in secondary schools and in post-secondary institutions are enrolled in science and engineering courses; what the trends have been in such enrolments in recent years, and what specific measures are being considered to increase the proportion of these enrolments.
Answer
Information on entrants to National Qualifications science courses in Scottish secondary schools from 2000 to 2005 (figures for 2005 are pre-appeal); enrolments in science and engineering courses at Scottish colleges from 1999-2000 to 2003-04 and entrants to science and engineering courses at Scottish higher education institutions (HEI) from 1999-2000 to 2003-04 have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers 38613 and 38614). These are the latest available figures held by the Scottish Executive for each sector.
The general trends over the periods indicated are that entries to National Qualifications courses in secondary schools has declined slightly at higher level in some subjects but increased at Intermediate 2; enrolments in science and engineering courses at colleges has slightly declined and Scottish entrants to science and engineering courses at HEIs has slightly increased. However, the variations are so small that there needs to be caution over drawing general conclusions from the figures.
The Scottish Executive’s Science Strategy commits the Executive to ensuring that enough people study science to a standard which will enable Scotland’s future needs to be met. There is no reliable information available at present to suggest that this aim is not being met but the Executive is working with FutureSkills Scotland to develop a more informed analysis of the supply and demand for scientists in the economy. The Executive’s policy is to ensure that pupils, students and parents are provided with high quality information to enable them to make informed career choices rather than to attempt to control the uptake of particular subjects.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any information that it will be making available to the European Parliament’s Temporary Committee of Inquiry into allegations of CIA activity in Europe.
Answer
Any request by the European Parliament’s Temporary Committee of Inquiry will be made directly to the UK Government. Should such a request be received, the Scottish Executive will assist in providing any information required to contribute to the UK Government response.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21304 by Tavish Scott on 15 December 2005, whether companies are always invited to tender or whether applications are also considered from uninvited companies.
Answer
Candidates are always invited to tender for such contracts.
Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has given consideration to the comments of Rosemary Burnett of Amnesty International who was reported in The Herald on 16 December 2005 to have stated “the Scottish Executive should investigate these illegal transfers as a matter of urgency. Not to do so is to aid and abet torture” in respect of the allegations that US agencies have used Scottish airports to refuel for flights in which it is alleged terrorist suspects are being transported against their will and without recourse to legal representation to countries where they may be tortured for the purposes of interrogation.
Answer
Torture is a crime under Scots law. Where specific, credible information exists to support allegations that such crimes have been committed within or facilitated through Scottish jurisdiction the police will be responsible for conducting appropriate investigations and reporting such cases to the Procurator Fiscal.
At present, however, we are not aware that any individual has been unlawfully transported through a Scottish airport for the purpose of torture. To date no specific, credible information supporting such an allegation has been brought to the attention of the police.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21286 by Tavish Scott on 15 December 2005, whether this indicates that it has no plans to build roads for which it is responsible around Kilsyth to improve links from the town to the rest of Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is not responsible for building local roads around Kilsyth. This is the statutory responsibility of North Lanarkshire Council.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 December 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty’s Government in relation to the European Parliament’s Temporary Committee of Inquiry into allegations of CIA activity in Europe.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has not had any discussions with the UK Government in relation to the European Parliaments Temporary Committee of Inquiry into allegations of CIA activity in Europe.
