Chamber and committees

Decisions on planning applicationscoming before the Scottish ministers are taken by the planning minister, or a nominee,on an individual basis, rather than by Scottish ministers collectively. In takinga decision the planning minister will have regard to the provisions of the developmentplan and the determination will be made in accordance with the plan unless materialconsiderations indicate otherwise. It is open to the planning minister to considerall matters that are drawn to his attention, provided they are of relevance, inland use planning terms, to the determination of the application.

Other ministers or Executivedepartments or agencies with a particular interest in a proposal, for example throughgrant aided work, should not attempt to influence the decision making process.Ministers may, however, draw the planning minister’s attention to the views of theirelectorate. Paragraphs 6.7 to 6.12 of the Scottish Ministerial Code are ofrelevance as is the guidance contained in paragraph 1.3 of the Guide to CollectiveDecision making.

Scottish ministers have a statutoryduty under the Electricity Act 1989 to consult the relevant planning authoritiesand also Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Environment Protection Agencyin relation to the Environmental Impact Assessment regulations. The Deputy Minister for Enterprise adoptsa similar role to that of the planning minister in determining applications madeunder the Electricity Act, having full regardto all the facts relating to the application including any advice offered by bothstatutory and non-statutory consultees.

The top six subjects raised weresentencing; family law; the Scottish Fingerprint Service; complaints against thepolice; antisocial behaviour, and the review of the law on knives.

The top six subjects between15 November 2005 and 14 November 2006 were:

1.Land use planning - casework (448)

2.Central Heating Programme and Warm Deal (284)

3.Ahmed Family campaign (241)

4.Housing Association Activities (129)

5.Planning Bill (107)

6. Asylum Seekers and refugees(84).

This information is not heldcentrally. Decisions to deploy armed police officers are an operational matter forChief Constables.

This information is not heldcentrally. The purchase of police equipment, including firearms is a matter forthe relevant Chief Constable.

This information is not heldcentrally. Chief Constables are responsible for making decisions on the best useof the resources available to them.

The Scottish Executive has heldno meetings with Taser International in the last five years.

The funding to promote volunteeringrecently announcement by the UK Government Cabinet Office was allocated from existingresources and does not therefore result in any consequentials for Scotland.

We work with partners, includingVolunteer Development Scotland (VDS) to implement our volunteering strategy andattract people from socially diverse backgrounds to volunteering. VDS, togetherwith a number of volunteer centres, takes forward a range of training and providestargeted resources to promote best practice across volunteer engaging agencies,including the promotion of volunteering opportunities to harder to reach groups.In addition, the Scottish Executive funds MV Awards (previously Millennium VolunteerAwards) which, through a national network of youth development workers located inlocal volunteer centres, aims to promote volunteering to all young people whileprioritising harder to reach groups.

Project Scotland, whichalso receives Scottish Executive funding, offers full time volunteering placementsto young people aged between16 to 25. Project Scotland’s range of support, whichincludes a subsistence allowance, allows many young people, who would perhaps nototherwise be able to do so, to take advantage of these opportunities.

The Executive’s advertising campaignfor volunteering specifically targeted harder to reach groups.

Executive Departments also supporta number of voluntary community projects for hard to reach groups in pursuit oftheir policy objectives, many of which may include a volunteering element.

The Executive has had no suchdirect correspondence.