Seòmar agus comataidhean

I can confirm that I have had no discussions with the Home Secretary on the introduction of ID cards.

It is government policy that all procurement of goods and services should be based on value for money, having due regard to propriety and regularity. Value for money is defined as the optimum combination of whole-life cost and quality (or fitness for purpose) to meet the user''s requirement.

In addition to this, local authorities are subject to a duty of best value under the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003. An organisation which adopts best value will be able to demonstrate that they have a strategy for procurement and the management of contracts and contractors to ensure that it treats procurement as a key component in achieving its objectives, including those relating to sustainable development, equalities, and health and safety, as well as a means of finding the most cost effective method for securing the quality of assets and services it needs. It will ensure that the framing of specifications and the vetting of suppliers is consistent with these objectives. Also, that when competitive tendering, procurement procedures place the minimum possible burden on suppliers consistent with the achievement of best value through effective competition.

We do not hold records on attendance by officials in the Scottish Government Financial Partnerships Unit to corporate functions organised by or on behalf of PPP/PFI consortia. Any attendance by officials at these events would have been in the interests of furthering infrastructure investment and PPP policy, and would have been undertaken in the normal course of business. Any costs incurred in attending such events would not have been met by the Scottish Government other than, if relevant, those costs which would come under the government''s travel and subsistence rates.

No officials in the Scottish Government Financial Partnerships Unit have attended the PPP: PFI Challenge sailing regatta organised by Britannia Events, and no officials will attend in 2008.

Current legislation provides a framework for local authorities to put in place their own schemes for the establishment of community councils, to take account of local needs and geographical circumstances. The Scottish Government plays no direct role in the day-to-day operation of community councils and does not provide any direct funding to them.

The government is committed to encouraging rural and urban community councils throughout Scotland to work to their full potential. We will shortly be consulting on a model Community Council Scheme, and a Code of Conduct for Community Councillors. These documents have been developed in partnership with the Community Council Working Group, which includes representation from the Highlands, Islands and Scottish Borders, and we are confident that they will provide the tools required for all community councils to represent their communities in the most effective way.

It is the responsibility of every public sector procuring body, when entering into a contract, to ensure all payments committed through that contract are affordable. This applies to all contracts and not just PPP contracts. In a PPP contract, the total costs, including the whole life costs, under the contract are agreed locally and parcelled up into manageable, affordable, annual payments all agreed in advance. This applies whether the procuring body is the Scottish Government, local authorities or NHS boards.

The total costs in a PPP contract are usually modelled by financial advisers to the project in a financial model. This involves such calculations as sensitivity analyses on key variables within the model.

Table 1 provides median annual earnings and average house price from 1979-2006 which is the most recent whole year that data is available for. 2007 data is due to be available in April.

The preferred source for earnings estimates is the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), which is carried out by the Office for National Statistics. ASHE was developed to replace the New Earnings Survey (NES) from 2004, which included improvements to the coverage of employees. NES data for 2003 back to 1998 has been reworked using the ASHE methodology in order to provide a consistent time series from 1998 onwards. However, the data does not take account of the improved coverage. Data prior to 1998 is from NES and is not directly comparable with ASHE data. Data relates to full-time employees only.

Average dwelling price has been drawn from the Regulated Mortgage Survey. Data up to and including 1992 was based on returns from building societies only. Data from 1993 onwards are based on returns from all mortgage lenders. From September 2005, data are collected via the Regulated Mortgage Survey (RMS) of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML)/BankSearch.

Table 1

Year	Median Annual Earnings	Average  House Price
1979	£4,550	£19,371
1980	£5,585	£21,754
1981	£6,344	£23,014
1982	£6,942	£22,522
1983	£7,504	£23,818
1984	£8,096	£25,865
1985	£8,622	£26,941
1986	£9,183	£28,242
1987	£9,771	£29,591
1988	£10,634	£31,479
1989	£11,513	£35,394
1990	£12,688	£41,744
1991	£13,796	£48,772
1992	£14,908	£50,010
1993	£15,434	£49,568
1994	£15,642	£50,651
1995	£16,297	£53,143
1996	£16,895	£56,674
1997	£17,514	£57,883
1998	£16,318	£63,585
1999	£17,108	£69,312
2000	£17,597	£69,961
2001	£18,465	£73,570
2002	£19,328	£77,655
2003	£19,828	£103,641
2004	£20,301	£118,932
2005	£21,247	£129,631
2006	£22,261	£137,192

 

No, there are no such circumstances.

This information was the subject of a Freedom of Information request in November 2007 and is still current. The response provided can be accessed on the Scottish Government Financial Partnership Unit''s website under the sub-heading PPP miscellaneous. www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Finance/18232/FOI.

on 13 December 2007, what categories of information about PFI/PPP contracts entered into by (a) the Scottish Government, (b) local authorities and (c) NHS boards are held centrally.

(S3W-09428)

John Swinney Categories of information about PFI/PPP contracts in general can be found within the standard PPP contract documentation which is available on the Scottish Government Financial Partnerships Unit''s website under the heading publications. www.scotland.gov.uk/ppp.

Scottish Government specific PPP contracts can be found on this website under the heading FOI. This is also the place to find PPP contracts for local authorities and NHS boards, where we hold this information. Information on the contract for Kilmarnock Prison is available from Scottish Prison Service''s website at www.sps.gov.uk/Default.asp?menuid=231.