Chamber and committees

Discussions with the UK Cabinet, on any issue, would be a matter for the Head of the Home Civil Service, not the Permanent Secretary. The Permanent Secretary has discussed the question of the devolution of the civil service with the Head of the Home Civil Service, senior colleagues in the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) and the Trade Unions, in line with the manifesto commitment to seek early discussions on the creation of a devolved civil service along the lines of the NICS model. There are no current plans to report to the Parliament.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

The information requested is not recorded centrally.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12833 on 21 May 2008. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12833 on 21 May 2008. 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.

The Scottish Government is clear that a long-term strategy is required for the management and conservation of Bute House and confirms that it will publish plans for any major redevelopment or refurbishment once these have been established. Decisions will be taken in due course supported by work commissioned under the previous administration; no architectural work on the long-term development of the building has been commissioned since May 2007. There have been no detailed discussions on Bute House with the National Trust for Scotland since May 2007 but discussions are likely in the near future.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12833 on 21 May 2008. 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.

We are providing the police with record resources. It is an operational decision for Chief Constables to allocate those resources. In addition, the Scottish Government provides dedicated funding for counter terrorism to ensure that Scotland is at least as well protected as the rest of the United Kingdom.

This information is not held centrally.

The Scottish Police College is one of the police support services provided by the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA). SPSA is funded through grant-In-aid from the Scottish Government. The breakdown of budgets between the individual services it provides is an operational matter for SPSA. The Scottish Government has not therefore allocated any additional money specifically to the Scottish Police College in the current financial year.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

Full details of the proposed prison development programme and sources of funding are available in the Scottish Government''s Infrastructure Investment Plan 2008.

HM Prison Bishopbriggs and HM Prison Grampian will be funded from the SPS capital budget.