- Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 2 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what standards in respect of document creation and retention it requires of external bodies undertaking audit work in the public sector.
Answer
This is a matter for Audit Scotland. Audit Scotland was established under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 to provide audit services on behalf of the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission. Audit Scotland is therefore responsible to them for the performance of these duties.
Section 69 of the Scotland Act 1998 provides for the appointment of an Auditor General for Scotland. Section 69 (4) provides that the Auditor General for Scotland shall not, in the exercise of any of his functions, be subject to the direction or control of any member of the Scottish Executive or of the Parliament.
- Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 2 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how much ABC Electronic was paid to conduct the audit of visits to www.scotland.gov.uk referred to in an Executive news release dated 2 January 2006.
Answer
ABCe received a fee of £6,408 (exc VAT) for conducting the audit referred to in the news release dated 2 January, 2006.
- Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 2 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it held on visits to www.scotland.gov.uk prior to the audit conducted by ABC Electronic referred to in an Executive news release dated 2 January 2006.
Answer
Information on the number of visits to
www.scotland.gov.uk prior to the audit referred to in a news release date 2 January, 2006, shows:
November 2004 – 585,123
November 2003 – 493,997
Source: ABCe.
- Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 2 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-22245 by Mr Tom McCabe on 20 January 2006, whether it monitors the cost effectiveness of its expenditure on websites and, if so, what measures it uses.
Answer
The purpose of the Executive’s main website –
www.scotland.gov.uk – is to provide an online presence which fulfils the ministerial commitment of open and accountable government.
The increase in web traffic since 2003, confirmed by independent audit, shows visits per month up from 585,123 to 752,865. This is regarded as an indication that the site is operating efficiently as a principal source of information about the Executive.
Executive marketing campaigns are supported by a number of websites which are located under the separate URL www.infoscotland.com. These sites are continually monitored and evaluated as part of the on-going measurement of campaign effectiveness.
Used mainly as a repository of information the infoscotland sites also provide access to linked sites and on occasion act as a response mechanism. Regular statistics are produced and the sites use search engine optimisation techniques to ensure they can be found easily.
- Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 31 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total number of full-time equivalent staff was in all non-departmental public bodies in each year from 1999-2000 to 2005-06.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-22518 on 31 January 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.
- Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 31 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total budget has been for all non-departmental public bodies in each year from 1999-2000 to 2005-06.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-22518 on 31 January 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.
- Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 31 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many non-departmental public bodies there have been in each year from 1999-2000 to 2005-06.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-22518 on 31 January 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.
- Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 31 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to update its 2002 publication, A Guide to Public Bodies in Scotland.
Answer
There are no plans to update this publication at this time. The Public Bodies and Appointment pages of the Scottish Executive website provide a wide range of current information on all non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) in Scotland, including details of the various classification of bodies, financial and staffing data and a comprehensive list of current NDPBs.
The site is regularly updated and is the main source of publicly available information on NDPBs in Scotland. The site’s address is http://www.scotland.gov.uk/government/publicbodies/.
Prior to the website’s establishment, information on NDPBs was published in the annual Cabinet Office document Public Bodies. Copies of this document are available at:
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/the_future_of_the_civil_service/agencies_and_public_bodies/index.asp.
- Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 31 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a list of all non-departmental public bodies, broken down by (a) budget and (b) full-time equivalent staff numbers, in each year from 1999-2000 to 2005-06.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-22518 on 31 January 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.
- Asked by: Derek Brownlee, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 31 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to influence or set levels of financial reserves in local authorities.
Answer
The Executive currently has no specific powers to influence or set levels of financial reserves in local authorities.
