Chamber and committees

Since May 2007 to 3 January 2008, theFirst Minister has received 72 gifts. Under the terms of the Scottish MinisterialCode, the First Minister may retain gifts of a value less than £140. Sixty-eightgifts fall into this category. Of these, 12 were alcohol, four were food, twowere glass or crystal ware, three were ornaments, one was jewellery, seven wereart, 16 were books, three were china, five were clothing and 15 were outsidethese categories. Of these 68 gifts, 39 are on display or have been sent to theHuman Resources Directorate while 29 have been retained for private use. Fulldetails of all Ministerial gifts will be published annually in the usualmanner.

Details of the four gifts valued above £140 are set out in the followingtable.

Organisation	Date Received	Gift Type	Description	Gift Status
Philips	June 2007	Ornament	Lladro Gas Lamp Lighter	On Display
John Lowrie Morrison	16/06/2007	Art	JoLoMo Painting	On Display
Scottish Power	06/12/2007	Commemorative Plaque	Silver plated commemorative plaque	On Display
Sabhal Mor Ostaig	19/12/2007	Art	Tom MacIntosh Print	On Display

 

The Scottish MinisterialCode details the arrangements for the conduct of affairs by ministers andprovides guidance by listing the principles and the precedents which may apply.The code is not a rule book, nor does it include or imply a complaints process.However, where a member, or any other party, writes to the First Minister todraw his attention to matters relating to the code, they will receive a formalreply from him or his office. The First Minister has received five letterssince May 2007 which make reference to the code and are expressed in terms thatmake clear the correspondent wishes to draw his attention to matters of ministerialconduct. All have been received from members of the Scottish Parliament. Afterproper consideration of each case the First Minister has confirmed that heconsiders ministers had acted appropriately.

The information requested islisted below.

Minister	Air	Rail	Ferry	Bus	Taxi
Alex Salmond	5(R) 11(S)	0	0	0	0
Nicola Sturgeon	6(R)	0	0	0	5
John Swinney	6(R) 1(S)	2(S)	0	0	4
Fiona Hyslop	2(R)	1(S)	0	0	0
Kenny MacAskill	2(R)	2(R)	0	0	7
Richard Lochhead	7(R) 1(S)	4(S)	0	0	5
Bruce Crawford	0	0	0	0	10
Linda Fabiani	10(R)	2(R) 2(S)	0	0	11
Shona Robison	1(R) 2(S)	0	0	0	0
Stewart Maxwell	4(R)	0	0	0	2
Jim Mather	2(R)	4(S)	0	0	2
Stewart Stevenson	1(R) 2(S)	3(R) 5(S)	0	4	12
Maureen Watt	3(S)	8(S)	0	0	11
Adam Ingram	0	2(R)	0	0	1
Fergus Ewing	0	0	0	0	1
Michael Russell	2(R) 4(S)	0	6(S)	0	4
Elish Angiolini	8(R)	1(R)	0	0	0
Frank Mulholland	3(R)	1(R)	0	0	1
Total	58(R) 21(S)	29(R) 7(S)	6(S)	4	76

 

Neither Scottish Enterprise,Scottish Development International nor the Scottish Government has budgeted,offered or committed any support to this project.

This information is not heldby the Scottish Government.

The Christmas message and theNew Year message were produced by the Scottish Government’s Video Production Unitin conjunction with the Communications Directorate’s Website Team as part of theirnormal duties. There was no separate budget allocation.

This is an operational matterfor Scottish Water and the PFI contractors, and I have asked the Acting Chief Executiveof Scottish Water to reply to you.

Support for local authority roads,including winter safety measures, will be provided through the core local governmentfinance settlement and it will be for the local authorities themselves to determinethe level of spending for roads in their area.

Generally it is the responsibilityof each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to iton the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled its statutoryobligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities includingthe Scottish Government’s key strategic objectives and manifesto commitments. Itis, therefore, for local authorities to make any contingency arrangements for dealingwith winter roads maintenance from within their allocated resources.

Transport Scotland willspend over £7.5 million on winter maintenance on Scotland’s trunk roads and motorwaysthis winter.

I refer the member to the answerto question S3W-8225 on 15 January 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Although precise estimates are not available, VOSA (Vehicle and Operator Services Agency) Area Managers have indicated that over 1,100 police officer days would be saved if policeofficers were no longer required to undertake roadside checks in Scotland, asis already the case in England and Wales.