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As an agency of the Scottish Executive, Historic Scotland is directly responsible to Scottish ministers for operational matters affecting the built heritage in Scotland. Applications which the act requires to be notified to ministers are in practice sent by planning authorities to Historic Scotland.

When dealing with proposals for demolition, Historic Scotland considers each application against Government policy on the subject, as set out in the Memorandum of Guidance on Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas, the document to which all planning authorities are directed by Scottish Office Development Department Circular No.13/1998 in their consideration of applications for listed building consent. If a proposal appears to conflict with that policy Historic Scotland may advise Scottish Ministers to call in the case for their own determination. The decision on whether or not to call in the application rests with ministers and will be taken with the benefit of the advice offered by Historic Scotland. If a case is called in, the recommendation made by the independent Inquiry Reporter is considered by the Scottish Executive planning divisions, who then offer advice to the Deputy Minister for Communities who makes the decision on whether consent should be granted.

Government policy is that no worthwhile building should be lost to our environment unless it is demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that every effort has been exerted by all concerned to find practical ways of keeping it.

The memorandum advises planning authorities, when processing applications for consent to demolish, always to presume in favour of the retention of listed buildings and to consider demolition only where, after a full assessment by the authority of the importance, conditionand potential for re-use of the building by the present owner or another party, the case remains strong. The memorandum emphasises that careful assessment of all three of these issues is essential and reminds planning authorities that the fact that a strong case can be made in relation to one or two of them does not necessarily justify the loss of the building.

Historic Scotland, the agency of the Scottish Executive with responsibility to Scottish ministers for operational matters affecting the built heritage, is aware of, and fully supports, the proposal to salvage remnants of the school, and in the course of discussions with the planning authority, the City of Edinburgh Council, will actively encourage their appropriate re-use.

The final decision on whether a child should be placed in secure accommodation is made at a local level. Directors of social work are required to take into account the best interests of the child. They must also take into account the children’s hearing’s recommendation and any other factors.

Secure care is part of a range of services available through the children’s hearings system, which is currently the subject of a wide review aiming to improve its efficiency and effectiveness.

No specific allowance is made in this formula for the level or trend of land and property prices in health board areas.

When considering the re-provision of healthcare services it is for NHS boards to identify a wide range of options including different locations and to undertake a financial appraisal to demonstrate that the new accommodation is affordable. Scottish ministers can assist by using compulsory purchase powers when clearly necessary in the public interest and the identified property cannot be acquired by agreement.

Scottish ministers are firmlyof the view that James Boyle, who is highly respected by the cultural communityand has brought impressive initiative and leadership to the Scottish Arts Council,is uniquely qualified to lead the commission. The other commission members willrequire to be highly experienced people who understand Scotland’s richand complex cultural landscape. The members have been selected by the chair of the commission and formally appointed by Scottish ministers today. Membershipof the commission will be publicised in a separate announcement.

James Boyle will receive remunerationwhich is, in effect, the same rate of remuneration as he received as Chair of ScottishArts Council: £359 per day, which will increase to £366 per day with effect from1 August 2004. His term of officewill be 12 months.

On the recommendation of theCommittee on Standards in Public Life, all applicants for a public appointment mustanswer a standard question on political activity.Neither activity nor affiliation is a criterion for appointment. James Boyle declared no political activity in thefive years to March 2004 in connection with his post as Chair of the Scottish ArtsCouncil. We will ask the other commission members to answer the standard questionon political activity.  

The remit for the commissionwas set out in the Scottish Executive’s Cultural Policy Statement issued on 22 April 2004. It providesthat the commission will: explore the notionof cultural rights for the Scottish citizen, and those of its creative communityand define how these might be translated into a scheme of entitlements, and redefinethe institutional infrastructure and governance of the Scottish cultural sectorto enable it to deliver the entitlements that spring from rights.

The budget for the commissionhas been set provisionally at £478,000. This will be confirmed subject to the commission’swork plan. This modest budget is designed principally to cover the costs of staffing,administration, and consultation.

The Cultural Commission willreport to Scottish ministers. There is no direct relationship between the commissionand Scottish Arts Council.

Also at 16 May, approximately24,000 applications were being processed by Disclosure Scotland. In addition, therewere approximately 21,500 applications where staff were pursuing the correctionof errors in the application form, clearance of payment and enquiries to policeforces for any relevant non-conviction information. Disclosure Scotland hasassigned additional staff to complete the processing of these outstandingapplications.

Local authorities and otheremployers are best placed to make decisions about the appointment ofindividuals to posts which involve working with children and vulnerable adults.Appointments to such positions need to be considered very carefully and a rangeof pre-employment checks, including a criminal record check, should be carriedout.

Where, in exceptionalcircumstances, an employer feels it is essential to appoint an individual tosuch a post pending receipt of a disclosure from Disclosure Scotland, but afterall other pre-appointment checks are completed, the employer should considerappointing the individual on a temporary contract and ensure that the personconcerned does not work unsupervised when dealing with children or vulnerableadults.