- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 9 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive when the tenure of the present Chairman of Caledonian MacBrayne expires; whether the post will be publicly advertised; whether there will be an opportunity for the users of Caledonian MacBrayne services to participate in any selection process for the appointment of a new chairman; what selection process will be used to decide which candidates will be interviewed for the post of chairman; what criteria will be employed to ensure that the selection process for an appointment is fair and impartial, and whether the criticism expressed by Dame Rennie Fritchie, the Commissioner for Public Appointments, regarding the appointment process of the present chairman will be taken into account in any new selection process.
Answer
The present Chairman of Caledonian MacBrayne was appointed for a three-year term from 1 August 1999. An announcement relating to the future arrangements for this post will be made in due course. The processes and procedures for public appointments, including the involvement of independent advisers, are set out in the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) Code of Practice. These procedures are strictly followed for all appointments to Caledonian MacBrayne. They were introduced to ensure the selection process for public appointments is fair, impartial and transparent. The commissioner's comments in relation to the 1999 appointment process have been borne in mind in all subsequent appointment processes, including those relating to Caledonian MacBrayne. One of the main conclusions of the commissioner's report was that the present chairman was appointed on merit.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 9 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the passing of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill, whether it will act as if the provisions of the bill were in force from 25 April 2002.
Answer
It will not be possible for the Executive to operate as if the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill were in force from 25 April 2002 because many aspects of the Freedom of Information regime to be established by the bill are not yet in place. Most notably, the Scottish Information Commissioner is yet to be appointed and will need to be in place before certain preparations begin, for example, the development of publication schemes.In the meantime, the Executive will continue to consider the disclosure of information in accordance with the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 9 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will meet MSPs representing constituents served by the A82 in order to discuss the need for upgrading the road and whether the A82 will be included in the next round of trunk road improvements, detailing the reasons behind is position on this matter.
Answer
Requests for meetings should be submitted directly for consideration by Ministers. The Executive will review the 1995 Route Accident Reduction Plan (RARP) for the A82 between Tyndrum and Inverness next year to identify priority schemes for inclusion in future motorway and trunk road programmes. Identified schemes will be considered against competing priorities across the Scottish trunk road network.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 9 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that there are no procedural or technical impediments to the grant of the Public Service Obligation application submitted on behalf of Highland Council in respect of the Inverness to Gatwick air links.
Answer
The Scottish Executive believes that the case submitted to the UK Government to secure Inverness' access to Gatwick Airport meets the required criteria set out in European Regulations.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 9 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will meet with, and make representations to, any interested parties, other than Her Majesty's Government and civil servants, in regard to the Public Service Obligation application for the Inverness to Gatwick air link and, if so, which organisations and individuals it intends to meet.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has no plans to meet with other interested parties at this time but will continue to liaise with local stakeholders on the securing of Inverness access to Gatwick Airport.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Elaine Murray on 7 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it will have in respect of the appointment of members to the Independent Advisory Panel which will scrutinise the bids from the United Kingdom to be European Capital of Culture in 2008.
Answer
The Independent Advisory Panel which will consider the UK's nomination for the European Capital of Culture 2008 competition is to be appointed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. At least one person from each of the four countries of the UK will be included on the panel. The Executive, like all of the devolved administrations, has been invited to make suggestions of possible panel members to the Secretary of State, and we have done so.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 7 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Scottish Water and the former North of Scotland Water Authority in connection with the provision of the public water supply for Glenborrodale.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has had no contacts with Scottish Water or North of Scotland Water Authority on the specific issue of a public water supply for Glenborrodale.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 February 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 7 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any additional element of surplus in the Scottish Transport Group pension funds which accrues in the current financial year will be made over in full to the members of the funds or whether any such sum will be paid to other persons or bodies.
Answer
The audited report and accounts for the Scottish Transport Group pension schemes in respect of the final accounting period are due to be received by the Executive shortly. The position as regards distribution of the surplus remains as I announced to Parliament on 29 November 2001 (motion S1M-2486).
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by David Steel on 3 May 2002
To ask the Presiding Officer, in light of the passage of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill, whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will now disclose information which was classified as confidential in answers to previous written parliamentary questions on the Holyrood Project, detailing the reasons for its position on this matter.
Answer
The Parliament's position on the disclosure of commercially confidential information has not changed, and is set out in my answer of 19 September 2000 to question S1W-9469. When the provisions of the Freedom of Information Bill come into force, claiming commercially confidential material will require to be judged in the context of the act's provisions on a case by case basis.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by David Steel on 3 May 2002
To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answers to questions S1W-19876, S1W-19886, S1W-20304 and S1W-21037 on 6 March 2002, whether the process of the evaluation of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body's rights and entitlements has been completed, or when it is anticipated that the process will be completed; against whom any litigation may be raised, and whether any of the parties against whom any litigation may be raised have had sight of any of the documents mentioned in questions S1W-19876, S1W-19886, S1W-20304 and S1W-21037.
Answer
The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has confirmed that the process is still under way and is being conducted in a manner consistent with achieving the key objective of the Holyrood construction programme. At this stage and subject to the evaluation of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body's rights and entitlements, litigation may be raised against the parent company. Parties to the contractual arrangements should be aware of relevant documents.
