Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24152 on 2 June 2009. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 contain minimum timescales for procurement processes for certain high value contracts. For all other procurement processes, the timescales will vary according to the value, scale and complexity of the requirement. It is for individual public bodies to decide what is appropriate on a case-by-case basis, bearing in mind the need to allow bidders a reasonable time to submit tenders. Guidance on tendering processes is available from the Scottish Procurement Directorate website:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk./Topics/Government/Procurement/Resources.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24152 on 2 June 2009. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The Scottish Government has established the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce, which I chair, to tackle the threats posed by organised criminals. The taskforce, which includes members from all the relevant law enforcement agencies published its Serious Organised Crime Strategy “ Letting our Communities Flourish on 2 June 2009. Copies will be available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 48213).

As part of this strategy we are increasing funding to the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency by around £4 million over two years. This extra funding will help create a Scottish Intelligence Coordination Unit which, amongst other things, will provide advice to local authorities, health boards and other public sector agencies to make sure they have all the information they need in order to avoid awarding major contracts to organisations with links to organised crime.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with the police and public bodies to ensure that organised criminals cannot profit from public contracts. It would be inappropriate to comment on any ongoing investigations. Arial;

I know Stewart Maxwell has been a strong advocate of the benefits of using anonymised injury data collected in hospitals to inform local police action. This approach, based on groundbreaking work in Cardiff, is one we fully support and the Scottish Government has been working in partnership with the National Violence Reduction Unit to introduce it more widely throughout Scotland. Initial pilots in hospitals such as the Glasgow Royal Infirmary have shown the approach can be labour intensive, diverting clinicians from their primary tasks. That is why we are supporting a fully electronic system in the NHS Lanarkshire area, which will overcome these issues.

The review of Architecture and Design Scotland (A+DS) is now complete and the outcomes and recommendations of the review have been received in report format and are as follows:

1. There is a clear role for a national body such as A+DS in promoting good quality design; both the Commission for Architecture and Built Environment (CABE) in England and the Design Commission for Wales (DCfW) are seen as successful bodies and A+DS can build on its strengths to perform the same role in Scotland.

2. Going forward, A+DS needs to focus on a limited number of key priorities “ ensuring better focus on its role, acknowledging the limits of resources available and targeting them accordingly. Those priorities must be aligned with government''s purpose of sustainable economic growth, and recognise the importance of supporting the aims of planning reform “ to deliver and be seen to deliver better outcomes more efficiently.

3. This will require a change in governance structure and arrangements of the functions the organisation carries out to meet its objectives. The choice of functions should follow from their potential contribution to achieving the organisation''s key priorities. In particular, if design review is to continue, it should be re-engineered to better deliver the key priorities.

4. There needs to be a clearer understanding of the organisation''s relationship with government and the boundaries of its relationship with other built environment organisations.

A copy of the A+DS Policy and Financial Management Review is available in Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 47928).

This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0312-01.htm

£1.2 million of public money has been spent on implementing theaction plan for youth football.

I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-32343 on 28 March 2007.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.