Seòmar agus comataidhean

Three public inquiries for which a report has not yet been received have been established by the Scottish Ministers under the Inquiries Act 2005: the Fingerprint Inquiry established to investigate the steps taken to verify the fingerprints associated with the case of H.M Advocate v McKie in 1999 and related matters, the Penrose Inquiry established to investigate Hepatitis C/HIV acquired infection from NHS treatment in Scotland with blood and blood products, and the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry established to investigate the occurrence of C. difficile infection at the Vale of Leven Hospital from 1 January 2007 onwards.

On 16 December 2009 Sir Anthony Campbell announced that the Fingerprint Inquiry now enters a new phase of work in which the chairman will consider the evidence and begin drafting his report. The chairman intends to give any individual or organisation who might be the subject of criticism in the report an opportunity to respond to that potential criticism. Where he plans to make recommendations, he also intends to give any individual or organisation likely to be affected by those recommendations an opportunity to comment on them. It will therefore be some time before the Inquiry report is finalised and published; Lord Penrose stated in the February 2010 Penrose Inquiry bulletin that We are currently in the first phase of our work and this phase will culminate with the publication of my preliminary report. I intend to publish my preliminary report during 2010. We will then seek a response to its findings before proceeding to hold public hearings into the issues that have been identified as requiring further investigation; the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry website reports under ˜frequently asked questions'' that The Inquiry is required to make recommendations to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing by 31 May 2011. An extension may be granted by the Cabinet Secretary.

Regular progress reports for each Inquiry are available on the Inquiry websites, which may be found respectively at:

Fingerprint Inquiry: http://www.thefingerprintinquiryscotland.org.uk .

Penrose Inquiry: http://www.penroseinquiry.org.uk/.

Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry: http://www.valeoflevenhospitalinquiry.org/.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-32942 on 9 April 2010. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

Approximately, 2,036 prisoners have raised proceedings against the SPS in the sheriff courts or Court of Session since May 2007. A prisoner may raise actions in respect of more than one matter, and the total number of actions raised is 2,080. The outcome of those actions can be found in the following table:

	Total
Number dismissed following settlement or otherwise	190
Number sisted	1,887
Number under offer	3

 

The majority of these actions relate to detention in slopping out conditions.

The Scottish Government will continue to look at all aspects of operation of the Government Car Service to ensure efficiency.

Three of the present members of the Scottish Funding Council are qualified accountants. They are John McClelland (Chair), Ian Adam and Robin Crawford.

The abolition of the eight public bodies listed in my answer to question S3W-35089 on 27 July 2010 will deliver estimated net savings of around £1.4 million by 2013 and recurring net savings of around £1.5 million per annum thereafter. A detailed breakdown of the costs and savings for each body is set out in the Financial Memorandum to the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 which is available at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/26-PubSerRef/index.htm.

Creative Scotland expects that there will be 33 fewer posts as a result of the merger of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen. There are no staffing implications for the other six public bodies abolished on 1 August 2010.

The accountable officer reflects the different Scottish Government budget lines which supported Homecoming Scotland 2009 and The Gathering 2009.

The council tax freeze relative to income benefits those council tax payers on lower incomes the most. The average total saving over the three year period of the freeze in each council tax band in the City of Edinburgh is given in the following table. The figures take account of discounts and exemptions but do not take account of council tax benefit.

City of Edinburgh “ Average Saving Per Dwelling from Council Tax Freeze

Council Tax Band	Average Saving
Band A	£119
Band B	£140
Band C	£165
Band D	£188
Band E	£236
Band F	£283
Band G	£335
Band H	£406

Notes:

Figures show effects on bills “ the figures do not take account of council tax benefit.

Exempt dwellings are excluded.

The figures take account of discounts.

The figures are based on the distribution of dwellings as at September 2009.

The figures are based on assuming 3 per cent rises without a council tax freeze each year.

None.

Commercial discussions with potential investors are on a commercially confidential basis and as such it would not be appropriate at this point to provide further details. The process of securing substantial private sector investment rightly requires careful consideration of a range of issues by all parties concerned and we are working hard to bring these discussions to a positive conclusion as soon as possible.