Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive has had no discussions with Her Majesty’s Government about the possibility of transferring control of North Sea oil to the Executive.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-23751 on 14 March 2006. 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.

The Scottish Executive recognises that demographic change is of profound importance to the economy of Scotland. The challenge of an ageing population, which results from falling birth rates and higher life expectancy, is common throughout the developed world, particularly in Europe. In order to better understand the trends and implications of demographic change for Scotland, the Executive has jointly commissioned, with the Economic and Social Research Council, six research projects covering three important facets of demographic change – fertility, ageing and migration. These projects, each being undertaken by leading Scottish academics (including Professor Robert Wright), are due to publish their findings by spring 2007. The Executive will study the findings of its commissioned research alongside any other relevant research.

The Scottish Executive is addressing pressing demographic issues through policy initiatives such as Fresh Talent and through seeking to provide suitable child care and general family friendly policies.

The decision as to whether it is necessary to apply to the court for a search warrant is taken in the context of a criminal investigation, having regard to all of the available information. I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-23747 on 14 March 2006. 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.

The police are responsible for conducting investigations into criminal offences and the police will act if and when there is information to justify such action. At present, no credible and reliable information exists to justify an investigation by the police.

Speculation does not constitute a basis for a criminal investigation. To date, the police have received no credible and reliable information that any individual has been unlawfully conveyed through a Scottish airport. Procurators fiscal and the police will act if and when the information available justifies such action. Any person who has information that a crime has been or is to be committed in Scotland should take that information to the police.

The Scottish Executive does not generally disclose the legal advice it may have taken on any particular matter. Any such advice would, in any case, be confidential.

The information is available from the British Geological survey and can be found at: http://www.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsuk/statistics/occ/home.html.

We have measures in place to minimise the impact of the 2012 Olympic Games on the availability of technicians and construction workers in Scotland. Current industry research indicates that the overall size of the construction activity needed for the 2012 Olympics will be at its highest in 2010. It will account for 3.7% of the total Greater London construction output for that year and the share of the Olympics construction employment for 2010 is 2.7% of the total Greater London employment.

In Scotland, the volume of public sector work forecast within the Executive's Infrastructure Investment Plan over the next 10 years and the increasing awareness of this within the construction industry should encourage the private sector to develop additional capacity to ensure that they can respond effectively to Scotland's requirements.

In addition, Scottish Enterprise has designated construction as a priority industry and are leading on the Construction Skills Action Plan which is supporting the industry’s efforts to alleviate skills shortages.

Across the UK, CITB-ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council for the construction industry, has been tasked by Government to identify the skills needs facing the sector and to work with employers, stakeholders and Government to effect change to meet those needs. CITB-ConstructionSkills completed work developing their Sector Skills Agreement (SSA) in September 2005 and are now implementing the action plans contained within it. The SSA sets out plans to assess current and future skills needs to meet the demand placed on the sector in the light of the 2012 Olympic Games.

The question as to the classification of an aircraft as either military or civilian aircraft will depend upon the application of the relevant domestic or international law to the particular facts.

As I stated in my answer to question S2W-22352, “military aircraft” is defined in law. Section 92 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 defines military aircraft as an aircraft of the naval, military or air forces of any country; or any other aircraft in respect of which there is in force a certificate issued by the Secretary of State in accordance with any Order in Council in force under the Act that the aircraft is to be treated for the purposes of that Order in Council as a military aircraft.