Chamber and committees

Duringthe debate on 14 June 2007 the Scottish Parliament showed clear opposition to the UK Government’s plans to replace Tridentand support for the Scottish Government’s vision of a Scotland without nuclear weapons.

As part of the National Conversation withthe Scottish public on the options for constitutional change and the way we governourselves, we will be holding a summit in October with a range of people and organisationsto discuss what Scotland might look like without nuclear weapons and consider theirimpact on Scotland and the Scottish Government’s devolved responsibilities.

A number of organisationshave been approached informally to ascertain if they would be prepared to attendthe summit if invited to do so. Invitations will be issued shortly.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-4058 on 13 September 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.

The Scottish Governmentplans to issue Scottish Planning Policy 11 (SPP 11) in the near future. The dateof publication is not yet confirmed. Ministers are currently considering the textof the document and have made no final decisions in this regard.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-3874 on 13 September 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.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-3874 on 13 September 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.

I refer themember to the answer to question S3W-3306 on 12 September 2007. 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.

The practice of successivegovernments, reflected in the Scottish Ministerial Code and the provisions of theFreedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, is that the fact and content oflegal advice is not revealed. We consider it entirely proper for the Scottish Governmentand Scottish Parliament to discuss the constitutional future of Scotland, and invite the people of Scotland to express their views.

Choosing Scotland’sFuture says (at paragraph5.11 and paragraph 3 on page 35), that as far as legislative competence is concerned,a referendum could be held under the authority of an act of the Scottish Parliament,depending on the precise proposition in the referendum bill, or any adjustmentsmade to the competence of the Parliament before the bill is introduced.

The cost of producingand translating the document is around £35,000 (including the web version, the design,printing and the summary in eight languages and a full Gaelic version). Distributionof the document cost a further £5,000, and the cost of the launch event was £8,000.The total cost of launching the national conversation to date is therefore £48,000.

The costs of carryingout the conversation will depend on how its structure develops, in light of responsesfrom the people of Scotland as to how they wish to be involved. The workis being carried out within existing resources from the government’s constitutionalpolicy and communications teams.

The government willconsider the response to the national conversation in deciding how to proceed withthe draft bill. However, the level of support for any particular proposals couldbe only properly determined by a vote in a referendum.

The white paper invitespeople to sign up for the national conversation, and indicate how they wish to contribute.The paper also invites people to suggest how the conversation would best be structuredto ensure the greatest possible involvement of the people of Scotland. The exact form of the national conversation will dependon the responses received, but the government is determined to support a conversationthat ensures that all sectors of Scottish society have the opportunity to contribute.