- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 10 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-26257 by Stewart Stevenson on 13 August 2009, whether it will guarantee that the setting of the reimbursement rate payable to bus operators will not result in any adverse changes in the eligibility criteria for the free bus travel scheme in the future for those reaching the age of 60 in each of the next 10 years.
Answer
We have been clear that the eligibility criteria for all those who currently benefit from the scheme will not be affected by the setting of the reimbursement rate payable to bus operators.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 10 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what the salary scales are for each Scottish Futures Trust post advertised in Scotland on Sunday on 21 June 2009.
Answer
I have asked Barry White, Chief Executive of the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) to respond. His response is as follows:
The salary scales will be made public pending appointments in accordance with SFT''s publication scheme.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 9 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what topics the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing discussed with the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police at their meeting on 21 July 2009.
Answer
When I met with the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police on 21 July 2009 we discussed progress on increasing the number of police officers in the Strathclyde police area; alcohol-related crime, and the change in the pattern of violent crime. There are increasing levels of violence indoors and less in public places, although serious violence as a whole is going down.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 8 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what further communication it has had with ASIApharm following the First Minister’s recent trip to China.
Answer
Following the visit by the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Fiona Hyslop, to China in April, Ms Hyslop met with a delegation from Asiapharm and the Shandong Provincial Government Science and Technology Department to Scotland on 2 June to discuss future opportunities in life sciences
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 8 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what further communication it has had with Hong Kong Electric International regarding investment opportunities in Scotland following the First Minister’s recent trip to China.
Answer
Following the First Minister''s visit to China in April Scottish Development International facilitated a teleconference between Hong Kong Electric International Ltd, the Energy Technology Partnership, Scottish Power, Scottish and Southern Electric on 6 July to discuss future investment opportunities in offshore grid connections.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 8 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what further communication it has had with the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine Science following the First Minister’s recent trip to China.
Answer
The signing of the partnership agreement between Neogen Europe and the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quaratine (CAIQ) on 19 May to create a jointly funded laboratory followed the First Minister''s visit to China in April.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 August 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Tricia Marwick on 8 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body for what reason it is not permitted to print the name of Members’ spouses on Scottish Parliament Christmas cards.
Answer
: The Scottish Parliament Christmas card, for members'' use in their capacity as elected representatives, features the Scottish Parliament logo. There are specific rules in place relating to the Parliament''s logo which is an armorial bearing. These state that
Members should not allow other people to use the logo. Any permitted use is for use by the member only and not by any other person.
¦and the logo is subject to heraldic, copyright and Trade Mark laws and that misuse of the logo or of Parliamentary stationery bearing the logo may result in legal action or may constitute a breach of the Code of Conduct.
Members'' names can be included in the cards, but not names of specific family members such as spouses.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 August 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 4 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual cost is of renting rooms at Dover House in London and on how many occasions Dover House has been so used by (a) the Permanent Secretary, (b) the First Minister and (c) other ministers since May 2007.
Answer
Dover House is operated by the Scotland Office, and the Scottish Government pays a percentage share of the overall running costs incurred by the Scotland Office in relation to Dover House. The percentage is based on the proportion of floor area of the rooms that is allocated to the Scottish Government against the total running cost for the building. For 2008-09 this equated to £201,871.
Funding for the Scotland Office is provided from the total Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) for Scotland. Scotland Office costs therefore have first call on Scotland''s block budget from Westminster. In 2009-10, the Scotland Office''s total budget is £7.5 million, out of the total DEL for Scotland of £29,141 million.
Officials from across the Scottish Government make use of Dover House facilities. In addition, a breakdown of the number of times the facilities have been used by those named in your question is listed in the following table:
| Name | Number of Times Used |
| Permanent Secretary | 761 |
| First Minister | 3 |
| Minister for Parliamentary Business | 2 |
| Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution | 3 |
| Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture (Linda Fabiani) | 7 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth | 5 |
| Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism | 3 |
| Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change | None |
| Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning | 1 |
| Minister for Schools and Skills | None |
| Minister for Schools and Skills (Maureen Watt) | 1 |
| Minister for Children and Early Years | None |
| Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing | None |
| Minister for Public Health and Sport | 3 |
| Minister for Housing and Communities | None |
| Minister for Housing and Communities (Stewart Maxwell) | None |
| Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment | 2 |
| Minister for Environment | None |
| Minister for Environment (Mike Russell) | None |
| Cabinet Secretary for Justice | 1 |
| Minister for Community Safety | None |
Note: 1. The Permanent Secretary attends weekly meetings with other UK Permanent Secretaries, chaired by the Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil Service, Sir Gus O''Donnell, as part of the senior management team of the UK Home Civil Service, and as such uses Dover House regularly.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 3 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how it reconciles freezing council tax with its guarantee to increase police numbers and maintain law and order, when Scotland’s biggest police force is reporting a cash shortfall of up to £34.7 million.
Answer
This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0903-01.htm
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 August 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 3 September 2009
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what estimate it has made of the cost of the further examination of the MSP expenses system by Sir Neil McIntosh.
Answer
Sir Neil McIntosh is conducting the examination of the Reimbursement of Members'' Expenses Scheme on a non-payment basis, although the SPCB will meet any travel expenses incurred by Sir Neil.
There may also be some costs associated with gauging public confidence in the Scheme and with the publication of a report, but we would expect these to be minimal. Any administrative support required by Sir Neil will be provided by the SPCB.
