Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-12307

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on legal aid in preparation for trials that had to be rescheduled in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S4W-12304

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost has been of providing court support services for trials that did not take place in each year since 2007.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

23 January 2013

Index Heading: Learning and Justice

Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what the cost has been of providing court support services for trials that did not take place in each year since 2007.

(S4W-12304)

Kenny MacAskill: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the chief executive of the SCS who will reply in writing within twenty days.

Question reference: S4W-12301

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many High Court cases have been cancelled due to a lack of court time in each year since 2007.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

23 January 2013

Index Heading: Learning and Justice

Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many High Court cases have been cancelled due to a lack of court time in each year since 2007.

(S4W-12301)

Kenny MacAskill: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the chief executive of the SCS who will reply in writing within twenty days.

Question reference: S4W-12295

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many court cases have been cancelled in each year since 2007 and how many were cancelled due to lack of court time, also broken down by sherrifdom.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

23 January 2013

Index Heading: Learning and Justice

Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many court cases have been cancelled in each year since 2007 and how many were cancelled due to lack of court time, also broken down by sherrifdom.

(S4W-12295)

Kenny MacAskill: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing within twenty days.

Question reference: S4W-12305

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost has been of providing court support services for trials that did not take place due to lack of court time and had to be rescheduled in each year since 2007.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

23 January 2013

Index Heading: Learning and Justice

Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what the cost has been of providing court support services for trials that did not take place due to lack of court time and had to be rescheduled in each year since 2007.

(S4W-12305)

Kenny MacAskill: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the chief executive of the SCS who will reply in writing within twenty days.

Question reference: S4W-11922

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 22 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-10877 by John Swinney on 18 December 2012, which of the companies awarded contracts by (a) it and (b) its agencies since 2007 have been named by the Information Commissioner’s Office as subscribing to the Consulting Association; on what basis it concluded that there is no evidence of the use of blacklisting in relation to these contracts, and how it ensures that companies that are awarded such contracts maintain high standards of business and professional conduct when delivering them.

Since 2007, the Scottish Government and its agencies have awarded contracts to the following companies named by, or associated with companies named by, the Information Commissioner's Office as subscribing to the Consulting Association: Amec Group Limited; Amey OW Limited; Amey Infrastructure Services Limited; Amey Roads (North Lanarkshire) Limited; Bailey Maintenance; Balfour Beatty Construction Limited; Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Limited; BAM Nuttall Limited; Carillion Construction; Laing O'Rourke; Morrison Construction; Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors joint venture; Skanska Construction UK Limited; Sir Robert McAlpine Limited; Norwest Holst Limited. We are not aware of any evidence to suggest that blacklisting has been used in connection with the performance of any of these contracts. Companies are required to comply with standards of business and professional conduct as specified in the contract.

Question reference: S4W-12303

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S4W-12151

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 15 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-03616 by Keith Brown on 7 November 2011, what its position is on the findings regarding the Glasgow to Edinburgh via Shotts railway line that were set out in Network Rail’s recently-published strategic business plan and whether the Office of the Rail Regulation is still expected to publish its determination on the route in October 2013.

We note Network Rail’s publication of their strategic business plan for Scotland, which contains its proposals for a range of improvements, including the electrification of the Edinburgh to Glasgow via Shotts railway line. The publication represents an important industry milestone and the inclusion of the electrification of the Shotts route is consistent with the requirements as set out in our high level output specification, published in June 2012.

As this is just one step in the regulatory process, we look forward to the Office of Rail Regulation’s review and challenge of these overall plans. In the meantime, we will continue to work with our industry partners to ensure that effective delivery plans are in place and that the cost for these plans are robust and affordable.

The Office of Rail Regulation will publish its final determination of the outputs, funding and wider regulatory framework for control period 5 in October 2013.

Question reference: S4O-01681

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 January 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the educational attainment of pupils from the poorest backgrounds.

Question reference: S4W-11740

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 18 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the companies listed on the recovered Consulting Association's database (a) are engaged in or (b) have been awarded Scottish Government contracts or subcontracts since 2007 and what the value is of any such contracts.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-10877 on 18 December 2012. Information is not held centrally on the award and value of subcontracts awarded to companies named by the Information Commissioner’s Office as companies which subscribed to the Consulting Association.

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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Chamber and committees