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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S2W-00919

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2003
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 1 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make public the minutes of its cabinet meetings during the first session of the Parliament and all background papers relating to the decision to relocate the headquarters of Scottish Natural Heritage from Edinburgh to Inverness; what the reasons are for its position on this matter; what powers it has, where there are matters of public interest, to publish documents that would normally be kept confidential, and under what circumstances it would use any such powers

The Executive is committed to the release of factual information that informs ministerial decisions. Accordingly, the Executive's refinement and analysis of the discounted costs of the various relocation options identified in the DTZ Pieda study was placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre on 20 March (Bib number 27058).All decisions on whether to publish documents are taken in line with the provisions of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information. The general approach under the code is that information will be released except in cases where disclosure would not be in the public interest. The proceedings of the Scottish cabinet are exempt from disclosure under Part 2 of the Code. This is in line with the longstanding principle that it is not in the public interest to disclose private deliberations of government as disclosure would harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

Question reference: S2W-01315

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 31 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer how many of the 456 design drawings supplied by Flour City in respect of the contract for the MSP block have been used without any alteration by the contractors subsequently appointed to carry out the works.

The design work undertaken by Flour City has provided an important basis upon which further design requirements have been built. I understand that a separate audit, to properly determine the extent of alterations which may have been made to the design work, cannot be carried out at this stage. Such an audit would divert much needed resources onto a non-productive task, to the detriment of the construction programme, with significant cost implications.

Question reference: S2W-01313

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 30 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Holyrood building project construction managers have, at any time since the recommendation of January 2001 that Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd be awarded the wall-cladding and windows contract in respect of the MSP block, passed to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), or any other representative of the Parliament, any information relating to the financial position of the Flour City Group or any individual companies in the group; if so, when the construction managers passed the information on, and whether the construction managers have provided any information to the SPCB in relation to the recovery by it of losses relating to Flour City.

Question reference: S2W-01320

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 30 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer whether the decision not to publish documentation in relation to the Holyrood building project on the grounds of commercial confidentiality will now be reviewed and whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will give precise details of the legal basis of the decision.

Question reference: S2W-01312

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 30 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre unpriced copies of any contract documents between the Parliament and Bovis Lend Lease in respect of the Holyrood building project that existed before the signing of the main contract document in October 1999, including documents relating to the appointment of Bovis Lend Lease in January 1999.

Question reference: S2W-01318

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 30 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer, with regard to paragraph 19 of The 2001/02 Audit of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body by the Auditor General for Scotland, what companies other than Flour City were assessed; what points each such company scored, and, if it is not possible to disclose the names of the companies, whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will give the scores awarded to them.

Question reference: S2W-01454

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 23 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) invited the Auditor General for Scotland, in preparing his 2001-02 audit of the SPCB and, in particular, the consideration of the Flour City contract in respect of the Holyrood building project, to interview those companies and individuals that submitted tenders for the contract and those who were associated with the contract after it was awarded; whether the SPCB will make representations to the Holyrood inquiry being conducted by Lord Fraser of Carmyllie that these companies and individuals be interviewed, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter

Question reference: S2W-01316

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 23 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer, with regard to paragraph 16 of The 2001/02 Audit of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body by the Auditor General for Scotland, what legal provision entitled the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) to withhold payment to Flour City in respect of the claims submitted for payment in July and August 2001; whether the SPCB would have been entitled to withhold payments in respect of the previous claims paid out between February and July 2001, and, if so, what the reasons were for not doing so.

Question reference: S2W-01314

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 23 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre copies of the six contractual notices of failure in specified areas referred to in paragraph 13 of The 2001/02 Audit of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body by the Auditor General for Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-01319

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 23 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer whether Flour City satisfied the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) in relation to health and safety standards and whether the company breached any contractual obligations in respect of these standards.