Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S1W-28616

Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2002
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 17 September 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive why the #40,000 annual training grant previously paid under the Further Education (Approved Associations) (Scotland) Grant Regulations 1989 has been terminated.

Question reference: S1W-28624

Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2002
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 17 September 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive for what purpose the former #40,000 annual training grant paid under the Further Education (Approved Associations) (Scotland) Grant Regulations 1989 is now being used.

Question reference: S1W-27942

Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 July 2002
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 22 August 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive who has the power to move the head of an Executive Agency to another post or to remove him or her from office.

Heads of Executive Agencies are civil servants and subject to normal career management within the Scottish Executive. This covers postings and other career decisions, which would be the subject of discussion between the individual and senior management.Removal from office would be the subject of discussion between the individual and senior management and would be dealt with under the terms of the individual contracts held by the Heads of Executive Agencies.

Question reference: S1W-27943

Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 July 2002
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 22 August 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive whether (a) it or (b) individual ministers have the power to give instructions to the head of an Executive Agency.

Ministers retain the right to intervene in the operations of an Executive Agency if it is considered to be operating outwith its agreed framework or where service delivery is falling below acceptable levels.Ministers do not expect to be involved in the day-to-day activities of an agency. The success of the agency model has been based on giving Agency Chief Executives freedom to organise service delivery in customer responsive ways.

Question reference: S1W-27941

Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 July 2002
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 22 August 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive to whom the head of an Executive Agency is accountable.

Question reference: S1W-27141

Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 June 2002
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 13 August 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-3541 by Ms Margaret Curran on 6 June 2001, what independent monitoring will be put in place to ensure that any transfer of Scottish Homes properties in the Central Scotland parliamentary region fully complies with its Code of Practice for Tenant Participation in Stock Transfers.

Question reference: S1W-27371

Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 July 2002
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 12 August 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what duties of disclosure of information civil servants have to the Parliament or to individual MSPs.

Question reference: S1W-27370

Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 July 2002
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 12 August 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what duty civil servants have to the Scottish Parliament other than "They should not deceive or knowingly mislead.... Parliament" as stated in The Civil Service Code.

The Civil Service Code makes it clear that civil servants owe their loyalty to the administrations in which they serve and are accountable to ministers, who are in turn accountable to the Parliament. Guidance has been issued to Scottish Executive staff on information and accountability, including Evidence and Responses to Committees of the Scottish Parliament, Guidance on Contacts with MSPs/SPICe and the Protocol between Committee Clerks and the Scottish Executive, all of which are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

Question reference: S1W-27369

Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 July 2002
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 12 August 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive how it interprets and applies the statements made in The Civil Service Code that "civil servants owe their loyalty to the administrations in which they serve" and "the term administration to mean.... the Scottish Executive".

Question reference: S1W-27372

Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 July 2002
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 8 August 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive whether The Civil Service Code applies to employees of executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies and health boards and trusts and, if not, what rules of accountability apply to these bodies and what plans it has to make any changes to the position.

The Civil Service Code applies to all civil servants, which includes the staff of Scottish Executive agencies. As non-civil servants, the staff of non-departmental public bodies, health boards and trusts are not subject to the code.Non-departmental public bodies have a model code of conduct for staff which they adopt to suit their individual circumstances. Staff are accountable to the board of the body in which they serve. Boards are accountable to their minister and the minister responsible for the body is ultimately accountable to Parliament. Similar arrangements apply to health boards and trusts. There are no plans to make changes to this position.