Chamber and committees

The murder of Marion Ross inKilmarnock in 1997 has been investigated by Strathclyde Police. However, they willexamine any further information that becomes available.

The Executive reached a settlementwith Ms McKie on the basis that the misidentification had been made in good faithand was not malicious.

The term “world city” was usedby the IOC and is not a term used by the Scottish Executive to classify cities.

The use of the term “world city”by the IOC, is a matter for the IOC.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2O-9110 on 2 March 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Extradition arrangementsbetween the UK and Italy are now governed by the EU Council FrameworkDecision of 13 June 2002, which is in force for both the UK and Italy.Requests from Italy for extradition are made under the European ArrestWarrant (EAW) procedure which was introduced in that Decision. This procedurewas implemented for the UK by the Extradition Act 2003. If the Scottishauthorities receive an EAW from Italy, they may certify it, and it is thereafter sent tothe police for execution. The matter would then proceed before the ScottishCourts.

I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-21936 on 23 January 2006. It is Executive policy not to disclose the amount ofcompensation paid to individual applicants without the express permission of theapplicant. Accordingly, because the number of cases is small, providing the requestedinformation on an annual basis could lead to the identification of individual claimants.

In determining the amount ofcompensation due to a claimant, the assessor will take into account any expenses,legal or otherwise, incurred by the claimant in reversing his conviction, or pursuingthe claim for compensation to enable these to be included in the final assessment.The Executive has incurred no additional cost for legal expenses in relation tothese settlements beyond payments of appropriate fees of £815.46 to the assessorsfor their work.

All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The First Ministerlaunched a new Diaspora Strategy and hosted two events for Diaspora in Toronto and Guelph whilst in Canada inOctober 2005. The strategy aims to encouragethe diaspora’s active participation and engagement in promoting Scotland as a greatcountry to visit, live, learn, work, do business and invest, as well as consideringreturning to Scotland themselves.the Scottish Executive is involved with individuals and groups around the world throughnetworks such as Global Friends of Scotland and Global Scots. These groups are providedwith information about contemporary Scotland which enables them to promote Scotland andfurther Scottish interests internationally. We use websites such as www.scotlandistheplace.com, www.friendsofscotland.gov.uk andwww.globalscot.com/public/index.aspxto communicate, in a cost effective manner, key messages about modern, dynamic Scotlandbeing a great place to visit, live, learn, work, do business and invest in.

TheExecutive is currently working on production of an e-magazine which will assistour engagement with our worldwide diaspora, and encourage individuals and groupswithin that body to actively participate in promoting modern Scotland as thebest small country in the world.

Ministerial visits overseas arealso used to promote positive messages about modern Scotland and,where possible, events for a diaspora and expatriate audience are included in theprogramme. Events such as the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne are being used bythe Executive to enable ministers to meet a diaspora audience.

This information is not collectedcentrally.

The Home Office and ScottishExecutive have worked constructively together on a range of initiatives regardingFresh Talent, the Scottish Executive’s wide ranging initiative aimed at attractingbright, talented and hard-working individuals to come and live, work and study inScotland. Fresh Talent has a number of different strands, some related to immigrationwhich is a reserved matter and dealt with by the Home Office. On these strands the Executive continues to work closely and productively with the Home Office on facilitatingsome of the administrative procedures for those who want to live and work in Scotland.

Notablesuccesses in this area include the launch last June of the Fresh Talent: Workingin Scotland scheme which gives international students graduatingfrom a Scottish university or college the opportunity to stay on and work for upto two years without requiring a work permit. The Scottish Executive and the HomeOffice have also worked together on a range of measures within the new system formanaged migration that was announced by the Home Secretary on 7 March when he launchedA Points-Based System: Making Migration Work for Britain (available on theHome Office website). These new specific Scottish flexibilities will build on theFresh Talent initiative and help to attract and, crucially, retain the skills andtalent to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Scottish economy and society.

There have been no discussionson devolving immigration to the Scottish Parliament. I am confident that the bestway forward for Scotland is to work in conjunction with the Home Office to achievesolutions that meet Scottish needs.