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-04092

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Donald Dewar on 24 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline the tendering processes that were used to ensure the best value in the production of Making it Work Together: A Programme for Government.

Question reference: S1W-04091

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Donald Dewar on 24 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a list of all individuals and companies who were involved in the production of Making it Work Together: A Programme for Government and how much each was paid.

Ministers, Officials and Special Advisers worked together on all aspects of the preparation of the text of Making it Work Together: A Programme for Government and on plans for its presentation.Tactica Solutions was awarded the contract for the provision of design, print and publication services to the Scottish Executive based on best value for money and following a tendering process which complied with the European Procurement Directive. The production of Making it Work Together: A Programme for Government, for which Tactica was paid £34,667.78, was subcontracted out, in respect of design work, by Tactica to Navy Blue Design, who in turn further subcontracted out photography work to Nesbitt and Wyllie the preferred supplier.

Designers and photographers are selected on a project-by-project basis based on their suitability for the job. As the production timetable was short the project did not go out to tender. This is permitted under the procurement rules which allow the use of a sole supplier when it is recognised that that supplier is the best for the job.

Assistance with the launch was provided by the following companies (costs in brackets):

Scottish Power	(£383.99)
Sound & Vision AV Ltd	(£2, 219.57)
Photobition Scotland	(£72.73)
ADS Visual Group Ltd	(£2, 115.00)

Question reference: S1W-04090

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Donald Dewar on 24 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-1394 by Mr Jack McConnell on 21 September 1999, whether it will provide a full and detailed breakdown of the costs associated with the publication and launch of Making it Work Together: A Programme for Government.

Question reference: S1W-04093

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Donald Dewar on 24 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what role Special Advisors played in the production and publication of Making it Work Together: A Programme for Government.

Question reference: S1W-04041

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 22 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been top-sliced from local authority budgets this year; whether the sums top-sliced are to be distributed to local authorities in line with the advice of the comprehensive spending review and when such distribution will take place, and whether it considers these instances of top-slicing to be consistent with the recommendations of the Macintosh Commission Report which stressed local authority competency.

The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2000-01 allows for total local authority current spending to rise by 3.7% in line with the plans contained in the Comprehensive Spending Review. The distribution is discussed with CoSLA. Within the settlement for 2000-01, £784 million has been included for local authorities' loan charges support, £24.9 million to recognise the specific needs of island communities, £530 million for specific grants, of which £365 million is for the Police specific grant and £20.6 million has been distributed to support those authorities with the highest level of deprivation and poverty.

Question reference: S1W-04253

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by David Steel on 18 February 2000

To ask the Presiding Officer what measures are in place to prevent discrimination against people with epilepsy who apply for jobs within the Parliament.

We have a number of measures in place to prevent discrimination of any kind against people who apply for jobs in the Parliament.

First and foremost, the Scottish Parliament is an equal opportunities employer. We are firmly committed to providing equal opportunities for all of our staff irrespective of age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, race, colour, religion, nationality, ethnic or national origin.

This commitment is reflected in our recruitment practices which provide that all eligible people will have equality of opportunity for employment on the basis of their suitability for the work.At no point in the recruitment process is a candidate required to disclose any information about their health, including epilepsy, to anyone directly involved in the recruitment process. Health declarations are required after the interview stage, but these are considered by the health advisers to the Parliament and the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) and are passed in sealed envelopes between the individual and the respective health advisers.

Question reference: S1W-04252

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by David Steel on 18 February 2000

To ask the Presiding Officer what questions are asked on application forms for jobs within the Parliament about an applicant's health and why any such questions are asked.

We ask applicants two question relating to health on our application forms. Firstly, whether they have a disability within the meaning of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Secondly, if they have a disability/health problem which affects the work they can do. There is space on the form for applicants to provide further details. Applicants are advised that they need not answer these questions unless they wish to do so.

The questions are asked to determine if an applicant's disability is relevant to their ability to do the job - after a reasonable adjustment, if necessary. Asking about the effects of a disability is important in deciding what adjustments might need to be made.

Question reference: S1W-04096

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 15 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3813 by Mr Jack McConnell on 24 January 2000, whether it will give a commitment to continue to update any economic or statistical information published on its web site in the interests of academic research and public scrutiny during the period of the customer review.

We are committed to making information available to all those with an interest in economics and statistics in ways they find helpful and appropriate, by releasing formal publications in paper and electronic forms and responding to ad-hoc enquiries. All these arrangements will continue during the customer review.As part of this commitment, we are introducing a new series of economic publications. The first Scottish Economic Report was released on 24 January.

Question reference: S1W-04095

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 15 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3813 by Mr Jack McConnell on 24 January 2000, when it will make available on its website or by publication full production timetable details for 1997 and 1998 pending the customer review.

Forthcoming statistical releases are currently pre-announced at least one month in advance on the Scottish Executive Website and through the UK-wide arrangements co-ordinated by the Office for National Statistics. These arrangements will continue.Many statistics for 1997 and 1998 have already been published, both in hardcopy and on the Scottish Executive Website. The arrangements for the dissemination of economic statistics will be significantly enhanced by the release on 21 February of Scottish Economic Statistics 2000, the first in a new series of annual volumes.

Question reference: S1W-04097

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 15 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3813 by Mr Jack McConnell on 24 January 2000, whether it will rule out any form of privatisation of statistical information prior to the completion of the customer review.