Report of the Chief Executive to the SPCB Covering December 2007 and January 2008

OVERVIEW

1. This is my first report of 2008 and I am pleased to update the SPCB on the varied work which took place throughout the Parliament during December 2007 and January 2008.

2. I have been considering whether, as a Parliamentary service, we are sufficiently focussed on understanding and meeting Members’ needs in respect of their Parliamentary duties. In section 1 of my Report this month, I have provided further information on how I plan to take this forward.

3. Freedom of information requests continue to create a great deal of work for staff throughout the organisation. During 2007 the Parliament dealt with 450 FOI requests, 75% of which were received from the media. We continue to develop our approach to FOI and one of the measures which has been considered is moving the disclosure log on the website. More details on this can be found in section 2 of this report.

4. This report also contains information about the pilot St Andrew’s Day visitor offer, which saw guided tours being offered free of charge. Both visitor numbers, and the number of people going on guided tours, was up on the same period in 2006. It is proposed that this offer is repeated in 2008 and a further paper will come to the SPCB in the coming months.

5. January saw the launch of the Procurement Responsible Purchasing Strategy which aims to bring together separate policies, principles and initiatives into a single policy which will then be integrated throughout all procurement procedures. The launch of the policy was attended by over 100 people and further details can be found in the report.

6. Due to the timing of this month’s report, there are two financial updates which cover period 8 and period 9. As can be seen, we have implemented several measures to improve our payment processes over the course of this financial year and the results are showing through in our payment performance trend. 94% of invoices were paid within terms in period 9. This is a positive step in the right direction although clearly, we need to sustain this improvement.

7. In addition to the above, this month’s report contains details of:

• The work of the Clerking and Reporting directorate in supporting business in the Chamber and the work of Committees

• The re-establishment of the Art Advisory Group

• A request which has been received for an image of the Parliament to be included in the new ‘Monopoly Here and Now world Edition’

Section 1 - Providing Effective Support to MSPs in Undertaking Their Parliamentary Functions

Understanding Members Needs

1. Over recent weeks I have been consulting with senior colleagues on whether, as a Parliamentary service, we are sufficiently focussed on understanding and meeting Members’ needs in respect of fulfilling their Parliamentary duties.

2. We have a range of performance measures aimed at informing on service delivery in respect of plenary/committees – they tell us that service level is high. Feedback on services to support POs/Bureau/SPCB is informal but direct and, so far as I can ascertain, positive. However, evidence from individual MSPs tends to be anecdotal. I would like a more comprehensive picture of their views, for example on services such as:

• Parliamentary business support (motions/amendments, PQs, NEBU etc) • Personnel support • IT • Catering • Health/wellbeing issues • Events/visits • Research/information

3. Just as importantly, I would like their views on potential changes to services/service levels in a context which helps them understand the resource implications.

4. I therefore plan to undertake an exercise to gather information on how Members feel about the services we provide or, as importantly, that we don’t provide. The overriding objective is to help us focus on those services which are most helpful to Members in discharging their duties. It is also central to our efforts to focus finite resources as effectively and efficiently as possible.

5. The plans for this exercise are still in the early stages and I will update you further in due course once the way forward has been finalised. In the meantime I would, of course, welcome any thoughts the Corporate Body may have on this initiative.

Clerking and Reporting Directorate

Clerking

6. During the month of December, Clerking supported 34 committee meetings (including 1 meeting outside Edinburgh). Clerks arranged for the attendance of 102 witnesses.

7. Highlights from the clerking teams included:

PBT

8. The Business Team have been busy in December and January with business in the Chamber, including Stage 1 of the Budget Process which required cover for a long sitting day. There have been several other extensions to business which have called for extra resources from the team and from elsewhere in the office. In addition, the team provided advice on a number of complex procedural issues to all members and responded to requests for detailed procedural information from the Bureau.

Legislation

9. The legislation team provided procedural support and advice during amending stages of two government Bills (on Bridge Tolls and the Graduate Endowment) and has been doing its usual behind-the-scenes work on the pre-introduction of Bills. It also provided a detailed briefing to the Presiding Officer in relation to his approach to financial resolutions.

SPPA

10. The Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee clerking team dealt with a first request for a direction on an inquiry into alleged misconduct from the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner. Also on the Standards side, clerks continue to support the Committee's inquiry into section 8 of the code of conduct. They also continue to be kept busy dealing with queries on the correct interpretation of the code of conduct and on the registration of members' interests. On the procedural side, clerks are currently focussing on the Committee's inquiry into Points of Order in the Chamber and scoping the remit of the inquiry into the budget process, which is likely to be a major piece of work this session.

NEBU

11. Work to assist the Scottish Parliamentary Pension Scheme Committee in taking oral evidence has continued. A drafting contract has been agreed and initial instructions for what will be a large Bill issued. Clerks held a drop-in session for members to comment on the consultation in December and, with the closure of the consultation period, responses have been collated and summarised.

12. Work continues on instructing the drafting of Bills and accompanying documents. In January, two draft proposals along with consultation documents were successfully launched by members with assistance and support provided by NEBU. Inquiries from members on introducing Bills have been steady with several arranged meetings taking place where advice and guidance has been given.

Public Petitions

13. The Public Petitions Committee team continued its current workload in supporting four committee meetings that considered 29 new and 53 current petitions. The Clerk hosted a three-day study visit from senior clerks in the Sri Lankan

Parliament, met a delegation of Canadian political interns, supported the Convener in his meeting with the President of the Australian Senate and attended an e- government conference in Vienna where he gave a presentation on the Parliament's e-petition system. The Clerk also met with a researcher from the German Bundestag over two days to discuss the Parliament's petitions process and met, to discuss similar issues, with a researcher from the University of Wales.

Chamber Desk Re-Engineering Project

14. A project is being undertaken jointly with BIT on re-engineering the chamber desk’s processes for handling motions, parliamentary questions and other material. A workshop involving the whole team was held on 25 January and face-to-face interviews with members and researchers have been held with a view to inform the interim report to be published at the end of January.

Subordinate Legislation

15. The Subordinate Legislation Committee clerking team has facilitated the taking of evidence from Session 2 Committee members and from the Minister for Parliamentary Business about possible changes to subordinate legislation procedures and is now drafting the Committee's report to Parliament.

Audit

16. The Audit Committee Clerking Team organised a meeting of the Audit Committee in the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Chamber, Western Isles, on 11 January 2008 as part of the Committee’s inquiry into the Auditor General report on the Western Isles Health Board and secured the attendance of the present and former CEO and Chair of NHS Western Isles and the Director General of Health as witnesses. The meeting was attended by over 60 members of the public.

17. The team also supported consideration of several reports from the Auditor General including an evidence session on a report on offending by young people. In January the clerk to the Audit Committee also delivered a presentation on the work of the Committee to officials from the Parliament of Sri Lanka.

Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee

18. The main task for the Committee and clerking team was to complete the process of scrutinising the draft budget. The Committee's report was completed within the timetable required. The Committee is now in the middle of its inquiry into tourism, with the clerks supporting the planning of this work. Throughout December 2007 and January 2008, the members and the clerking team were heavily involved in preparations for the 4th Business in the Parliament Conference that will be held on 21-22 February 2008.

Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture

18. The clerks supported three meetings of the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee during December. Staff supported members in the conclusion of

evidence taking on the draft budget, taking evidence from COSLA on 5 December and on agreeing and publishing the report to the Finance Committee. The clerks also supported the committee in agreeing and publishing the stage 1 report on the Graduate Endowment Abolition (Scotland) Bill against a very tight timescale. The Committee also took evidence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning on a petition on class sizes.

Equal Opportunities

20. The clerking team supported the Committee in the preparation of its report on the draft budget. The team also worked with the Convener to draft a number of articles for journals and on-line discussion forums.

21. On a broader note, one member of the team had her first meeting as a ‘maternity mentor’, while another resumed BSL training, which is a skill that can be exploited as a corporate resource for the Parliament. The clerk also took part in a discussion with key stakeholders, at the headquarters of the Scottish Government, on a major report which outlines a new definition of ‘equality’ and which may have widespread implications for Government, the Parliament and other key bodies.

European and External Relations

22. The clerking team supported 3 committee meetings which included evidence taking sessions on the inquiries into EU Directives and International Engagement. As part of the EU directives inquiry the team met with officials from other regional parliaments and governments in Brussels. The team published two further editions of the Brussels Bulletin. The team has also contributed to a number of conferences during this period including the Europa Institute's conference to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Treaty of Rome and a British Council conference on Scotland's Place in the World.

Finance

23. The Finance Committee held an external meeting in Dundee as part of its scrutiny of the draft budget on 10 December. The team organised a series of workshops with local organisations so that local reaction to the draft budget could be gauged. They drafted briefing materials for workshop participants and also for school groups who were attending the meeting explaining the budget process in detail. Staff also held briefing sessions on the day with the school groups attending.

24. The team was also responsible for ensuring the publication of the Committee’s report on the draft budget on 16 January. Due to changes in the budget timetable as a result of the delay in the publication of the UK Spending Review, the report had to be agreed over the course of only two committee meetings and the team arranged for publication overnight.

Health and Sport

25. In December 2007, the Health and Sport Committee team facilitated the Committee’s consideration of the draft budget, with special focus on the cross-cutting

theme of alcohol and drugs. To ensure that the Committee was able to report to the Finance Committee by the required deadline an additional committee meeting on a Tuesday lunchtime was organised at short notice.

26. The team wrote on behalf of the Committee to a range of organisations and individual experts seeking specific written evidence on the Public Health etc. (Scotland) Bill, to supplement information received in response to an open call for evidence. The team subsequently pulled together, at short notice, several panels of experts on various aspects of the Bill and a round-table discussion on the Bill as a whole. Positive feedback was received from both members and round-table participants.

Justice

27 The Justice Committee clerking team supported the preparation and publication of two committee reports: Report to the Finance Committee on the Draft Budget 2008-09; and Report on Inquiry into the Effective Use of Police Resources. The clerks worked closely with MRO colleagues to ensure that the inquiry report, which contained significant recommendations for changes to police management and governance, received extensive media coverage. The team also made preparations for the introduction of the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Bill at the end of January.

Local Government and Communities

28. In December, the team gave a presentation to COSLA staff on the work of the Committee and its staff. A similar session was also given to senior staff of Communities Scotland. The team prepared for consideration of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games Bill by meeting the Bill Team and supported the committee through taking evidence at Stage 1. The team supported the Committee in discussing and agreeing its report to the Finance Committee on the draft budget and in reviewing its programme of work. Considerable support was given to the Committee in its inquiry into the planning processes surrounding the Menie Estate application from the Trump organisation including making arrangements for the appearance of the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth as witnesses.

Rural Affairs and Environment

29. In December the clerking team ran a seminar on rural housing in Aviemore. As well as making practical arrangements for the event, the clerks organised the programme for the day, acted as note-takers in workshops, and converted the results into a draft remit for the inquiry (approved by the Committee in January). The clerks were also busy drafting and finalising a budget report to extremely tight timescales, and preparing for a review of the work programme.

30. In January, the priority has been in setting up a sequence of evidence sessions on flooding, including making arrangements for a meeting to be held in Elgin in February. There has also been some correspondence and a report to be drafted in connection with subordinate legislation scrutiny.

Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change

31. In December 2007, the team supported the Committee’s scrutiny of the draft budget and the Abolition of Bridge Tolls (Scotland) Bill at Stage 2.

32. The clerking team has developed proposals and obtained approval for external Committee meetings in Oban and Shetland; fact-finding visits to Arran, Gourock and Mallaig; and a video-conference with Lewis - all in relation to the Committee’s inquiry into ferry services in Scotland. The team also arranged for the publication of a leaflet publicising the inquiry call for evidence which will be widely distributed at ferry terminals, on vessels and in partner libraries. The leaflet has both English and Gaelic text. The team also developed an interactive response form in conjunction with SPICe colleagues that can be accessed from the Committee’s web page.

33. The team has organised a visit by members to London and Brussels in February to discuss climate change with MPs and MEPs.

34. The clerks supported a session on questioning techniques for members on 28 January. They also facilitated an informal briefing for members on 30 January with the Competition Commission in relation to an inquiry it is undertaking into the operations of the British Airports Authority.

Reporting

35. In December the official report supported business in the chamber by reporting six meetings of the Parliament, the reports of which were published by 8 am on the following working day. The official report supported committee business by reporting 34 committee meetings, including the Finance Committee meeting in Dundee. All reports were published at least one working day before the committee’s next meeting and all reports were published within seven working days. The average publication time for committee reports was 2.94 days.

Contract Variation Letters

36. As part of the last Chief Executive Report to the SPCB, the SPCB was informed that the Personnel Office had issued individual support packs to all Members, comprising of, amongst other things, a contract variation letter and revised staff handbook for those staff employed on a one-to-one basis prior to the 2007 Election.

37. At the date of producing this report (Wednesday 16 January), 62% of Members have returned a signed copy of their staffs' contract variation letters to the Personnel Office, with 8% of Members partially completing the process. On 15 January, the Personnel Office issued a reminder to those Members who have yet to complete the exercise. The Personnel Office is confident that they will receive signed copies of all of the contract variation letters issued to MSP staff.

38. The Personnel Office will keep the SPCB informed of progress via this report.

Staff Employed under an MSP Pooling Arrangement

39. The SPCB will recall that the Parliament passed a resolution to amend the Members Support Allowances Scheme (MSA) to permit MSP staff to be employed by "a member or members". To assist Members to establish (or continue) pooling arrangements in accordance with the MSA scheme, the SPCB agreed to act as the Members' agent to develop a framework setting out the relationship between MSP joint employers ("the employment pool").

40. At the date of producing this report there were 35 employment pools in place. Since my last report to the SPCB, the Personnel Office has rolled out the recommended framework to 23 employment pools. To date, 100% of those MSPs who have been contacted have decided to use the framework to formalise their pooling arrangements; 4 employment pools have returned a signed copy of their agreement to the Personnel Office; 8 pools have circulated their agreement for signing; and 11 draft agreements have been produced and the Personnel Office will send the draft agreements to the appointed solicitor firm once they have obtained authorisation from the members of the respective pools to do so.

41. The Personnel Office will keep the SPCB informed of progress of the roll out of the frameworks with other pools via this report.

Catering

42. I am pleased to inform the SPCB that our catering team have achieved Hospitality Assured for all the catering provision at the Scottish Parliament. This is after months of preparation by our catering partner (Sodexho), followed by an independent audit by Marketing Quality Assurance. Hospitality Assured is the Standard for Service and Business Excellence in the hospitality industry. The standard has been endorsed by the British Quality Foundation and Quality Scotland Foundation as meeting the criteria in the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Business Excellence Model. The award criteria ensure the team are meeting the very stringent standards, which examines every aspect of the catering service provided at the Scottish Parliament and the catering team will continue to build on this excellent achievement.

WRITTEN PQs DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE SPCB ANSWERED FOR THE PERIOD 29 OCTOBER to 23 NOVEMBER 2007:

3W-8707 - Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind) (Date Lodged 21 January 2008) : To ask the SPCB what investigations it has initiated into the cause of the ingress of water around the windows of the MSP block.

Answered by Alex Johnstone (25 January 2008): Following the heavy rain and water ingress experienced recently in the MSP building, investigations were carried out on Sunday 20 January to identify possible sources of water ingress. A potential solution has been identified, a trial of which is planned to be undertaken as soon as possible.

S3W-8705 - Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind) (Date Lodged 21 January 2008) : To ask the SPCB whether the cost of repairs to the foundations and structures of the building in the area adjacent to the garden level restaurant will be borne by it or the relevant contractors.

Answered by Alex Johnstone (25 January 2008): We are determined to pursue recovery of the costs of the works undertaken from the original trade package contractor.

S3W-8704 - Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind) (Date Lodged 21 January 2008) : To ask the SPCB when it will be able to determine the nature and extent of the water penetration in the foundations and structures of the building in the area adjacent to the garden level restaurant.

Answered by Alex Johnstone (25 January 2008): Water penetration and associated work in the area adjacent to the garden level restaurant relates to ongoing car park leaks. Investigations, both desk top and physical, are ongoing into the water ingress and we hope to identify an acceptable solution by the end of February. Works will be undertaken thereafter.

S3W-8386 - Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP) (Date Lodged 11 January 2008) : To ask the SPCB, further to the announcement of the appointment of MSPs to the Art Advisory Group, which MSPs applied for membership but were unsuccessful; whether unsuccessful applicants were notified prior to the announcement being made; what the process was for selection; what criteria were used to make the selection, and whether those selected have any background or expertise in design or fine art.

Answered by Tricia Marwick (16 January 2008): The Art Advisory Group was first established in 2005. Its membership included MSPs and three experts. The three experts have agreed to be members of the new group. The SPCB invited expressions of interest from MSPs on 8 October 2007 for the remainder of positions but did not require members to provide details of background or expertise in design or fine art.

The following members expressed their interest:

Labour (4): Patricia Ferguson MSP, Ken Macintosh MSP, Frank McAveety MSP, Cathy Peattie MSP

SNP (4): Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Christine Grahame MSP, Ian McKee MSP, Mike Russell MSP

Liberal Democrats (3): Alison McInnes MSP, Jeremy Purvis MSP, Jamie Stone MSP,

Conservative (1): Ted Brocklebank MSP

Other (1): Robin Harper MSP.

The matter was considered by the SPCB on 7 November 2007 and given the level of interest in membership SPCB asked officials to discuss membership of the group with the parties to establish a practical number of members. The outcomes of these discussions with parties was presented to SPCB and approved by them at their meeting on 19 December 2007. There was no formal communication back to individual members who were not selected in advance of the confirmation of membership by the SPCB.

WRITTEN PQS LODGED OUTWITH BUT ANSWERED WITHIN THE ABOVE PERIOD ARE:

S3W-8706 Margo MacDonald: To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what retentions in respect of the Holyrood complex are still being held.

S3W-8709 Margo MacDonald: To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what discussions it has had with personnel at the Palace of Holyroodhouse or Our Dynamic Earth regarding the attraction of greater numbers of visitors on Sundays.

S3W-8708 Margo MacDonald: To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body by what process it decided to close the Parliament building to members of the public, other than those who are accompanied by pass holders, on Sundays.

Section 2: Encouraging Public Engagement with the Parliament

Freedom of Information

1. In 2006, we received 244 requests including 107 from the media. During 2007 we received 450 FOI requests of which 75% were received from the media. The majority of media requests were sought by two Sunday newspaper journalists. While the number of FOI requests to the SPCB increased as a whole during 2007, the number of requests from the public decreased as did the variety of media requesters. Interestingly, this set of circumstances is not true of the Scottish Government where the number of requests to the FOI Unit from journalists has decreased from 940 in 2005 to 279 in 2007.

2. We are considering possible developments to our approach to dealing with FOI requests including moving the disclosure log to a new position on our website.

Parliament Shop

3. During consideration of the 2008-09 budget, the SPCB considered a range of measures to increase the income of the shop.

4. Retail staff have introduced a number of promotions and changes to stock during 2007/08, for example the ranges of Scottish foods and quality gifts, including jewellery and textiles. These have proved extremely popular and have gone a long way towards addressing the issue.

5. At the end of Period 9 (December 2007), shop income is showing an increase of £10,000 over the forecast to this date. Taking this into account, together with allowing for reduced income during the quieter months of January and February, and allowing for the introduction of closing on Sundays and for maintenance, this means that the shop is on track to meet the income target and may slightly exceed it.

6. Expenditure on stock is slightly up at the end of Period 9 also; the increase is in proportion with the increase in income however, reflecting the fact that the shop is achieving the 40% gross profit margin target.

7. Other operating costs, including staff costs, have been contained and will be reduced as a result of the decision to close on Sundays which means that the part- time Retail Officer post is not required.

Public Affairs Group

8. The Scottish Parliament image has been requested by Hasbro the company authoring a number of family friendly games called "Monopoly Here and Now World Edition" based on what Monopoly would look like if it were first invented today. In the course of the project more than 200 individual landmarks will be featured in the Monopoly range of games. While the game will be launched in September 2008, landmarks will be featured on an online voting web site (earlier in the year) where

several cities will be competing to secure a spot on the famous board. Members of the public will decide which of their favourite landmarks will be featured on the actual play area of the board. The remaining contesting cities will be featured in the centre of the board.

Parliamentary Events

Craft in the Highlands Exhibition

9. This exhibition of work by contemporary craftspeople based in the Highlands opened to the public on Thursday 6 December and ran until Sunday 6 January. Developed in partnership with the Highland Year of Culture project team and the Highland Council Touring Exhibitions Unit, many of the works on display were new works created as part of the art programme for the 2007 Highland Year of Culture.

10. As outlined in the SPCB Gaelic Language Plan, the interpretation for this exhibition was a mixture of Gaelic and English language exhibition text. In addition, one of the artist interviews undertaken for display on the Exhibitions pages of the Parliament website was with a Gaelic-speaking artist. Some of the exhibiting artists also had works available for sale in the Parliament shop. The number of visitors to the exhibition was 15,186.

Dewar Arts Awards

11. On Monday 10 December, to mark the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the awards, the Presiding Officer hosted an event in the Debating Chamber that showcased the talents of a number of young people who have received Dewar Arts Awards. Following the Chamber event there was a reception for all guests and performers in the Garden Lobby which illustrated the work of award winning designers and photographers. Exhibits included sculptures, fashion, jewellery, photography, drawings and film making.

Festive Evening

12. On Wednesday 19 December, the Presiding Officer hosted the Festive Evening which was a great success. Over 300 people attended the event; Members, their staff, parliamentary staff along with residents, business people and community groups from the Holyrood community including pupils from Royal Mile Primary School who performed a number of festive songs. Guests were welcomed by Christmas carols sung by the Black Majority Choir from Glasgow before celebrating the festive season and Christmas in song and verse.

Our Environment Our Future

13. On Friday 1 February, the Education Service is held an event that sought to give young people an opportunity to discuss environmental issues and to learn how to become involved in the political process. 6 pupils from 16 schools (two from each parliamentary region) were selected as delegates plus 3 pupils each from 7 schools to be displayers / presenters. By relating processes such as the Parliament’s Committee system to school and community situations, it was hoped that young

people will become more active and responsible citizens. The environment was chosen as a suitable topic as it is something that many young people already have an awareness of and can relate to.

14. Members from 4 Committees - Transport, Infrastructure and Climate; Public Petitions; Rural Affairs and Environment; and Economy, Energy and Tourism Committees - agreed to take part in the afternoon committee sessions. The role of Members was to advise the young people on parliamentary procedures, to discuss their proposals, and to instigate questioning and analysis of the range of issues under consideration. Other participating organisations included the World Wildlife Fund, John Muir Trust, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Ecology Centre.

MSP Sponsored Events and Exhibitions

15. Between the Monday 3 December 2007 and Thursday 31 January 2008 there were 70 MSP sponsored receptions / briefings and 10 exhibitions. These were attended by more than 4,000 guests and provided briefing and networking opportunities for Members around a range of issues including: sport; food industry; Scotland’s Ferry Services; Highland Communities and Lancastria Association of Scotland, an organisation raising awareness of Britain’s worst ever maritime loss of life.

16. A week of themed seminars and a series of exhibitions arranged by the Scottish Trades Union Congress during trade union week was well attended and covered a wide range of issues including skills and life long learning; class sizes in Scotland’s schools; broadcasting in Scotland; the Scottish workplace; and productivity.

17. Feedback continues to be positive. For example, an exhibitor from the Long Term Conditions Alliance commented that “I think many of the MSPs recognise that the voluntary organisations that do exhibitions are investing a significant proportion of their time and make the effort to come and talk, receive information etc. It is an important part of the Parliamentary set up.”

Events - Forward Look

Scottish Environment Week

18. Scottish Environment Week runs from Monday 4 to Friday 8 February and creates an opportunity to focus on the importance of our environment and its value to the society and economy of Scotland. The Week aims to explore how Parliament, Government, business and the public can inspire others and facilitate change towards sustainable development, low impact lifestyles and the carbon neutral society. Over the Week the Parliament will host a number of events and exhibitions that will look at a number of issues including Scotland’s seas; healthy communities; and rural development funding.

19. There are currently 39 MSP sponsored events and receptions and 4 exhibitions scheduled to take place in February that aim to support Members in their parliamentary roles dealing with a number of issues ranging from sport through to

children’s issues. Exhibitions sponsored by MSPs include Parallel Lives, a National Galleries of Scotland project showing works from young people across the city, and Community Health Exchange, a group promoting issues and solutions to tackling health inequalities in Scotland.

Business in the Parliament

20. The fourth Business in the Parliament Conference will take place on Thursday 21 and Friday 22 February 2008. These events aim to facilitate engagement between Scotland's businesses and politicians, and form part of a regular and ongoing Parliament and Government programme of engagement with business organisations and senior business leaders across Scotland. The aim of this unique partnership event is to engage Scottish business in continuing to grow Scotland's economy. The Conference itself will take place over a day and a half, with the opening event taking place on the evening of Thursday 21 February with pre-dinner drinks in the Parliament's Main Hall followed by dinner in the Garden Lobby.

External Liaison Unit

21. The Parliament has welcomed a range of international visitors since Parliament reopened for business in January.

22. Before then, in the first week of January, Deputy Presiding Officer Alasdair Morgan MSP represented the Scottish Parliament at the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth, held in Westminster.

23. Thursday 10 January saw a visit by Sr. Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira, Vice- President of the Government of Catalonia. Mr Carod-Rovira was in Scotland to promote the relationship between the two countries. While in the Parliament he paid a courtesy call on the Presiding Officer and met with the First Minister.

24. The same day a group of members of the Armed Services Committee of the US House of Representatives visited the Parliament

25. The Presiding Officer also received courtesy calls in January from Hon. Alan Ferguson, President of the Australian Senate, the Italian Ambassador to the UK, HE Giancarlo Aragon, and the new Swiss Consul General in Edinburgh, Mr. Reto Regnelli.

26. The New Zealand High Commissioner to the UK, the Rt. Hon Jonathan Hunt, presented a gift of traditional kete basketwork from the New Zealand Parliament to the Scottish Parliament, in recognition of the special relationship between the two countries.

27. On 24 January a delegation of politicians from the Sámi Parliament in northern Sweden visited the Parliament as part of an EU funded project to examine devolution. This was part of a study by the Swedish government to examine the possibility of devolving more power to the Sámi Parliament. The group met with MSPs and viewed FMQs.

Art Advisory Group

28. The Art Advisory Group has been re-established to continue to provide advice to the SPCB on the development of the Scottish Parliament Art Collection. The Group comprises 5 MSP members – Ted Brocklebank MSP, Patricia Ferguson MSP, Robin Harper MSP, Ian McKee MSP and Jeremy Purvis MSP. The 3 external experts who will be continuing as members of the Group are Richard Calvocoressi, former Director of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and currently Director of the Henry Moore Foundation, Alison Watt, artist, whose work is represented in the permanent art collection, and Liz Lochhead, poet and playwright. The first meeting of the group is scheduled for Thursday 7 February 2008 and a second meeting will be held shortly thereafter.

Visitor Services & Outreach

29. Bòrd na Gàidhlig have approved the SPCB’s application for funding towards implementing the recommendations in the Gaelic Language Plan. The SPCB has been awarded £57,470 to be spent in the 2007/08 financial year. This will be allocated to the approved projects for the purchase of simultaneous translation equipment; producing the visitor survey in Gaelic; corporate identity re-design with updated guidance; re-design of lanyards; public information publications; Gaelic URL for the website; improvements to signage and artworks captions; Gaelic awareness training for front of house staff. Officials are progressing the practical arrangements to ensure that these projects are completed this financial year.

Education Programme

30. In December, 12 schools visited (364 pupils) the Parliament. 25 MSPs took part in sessions. In January, 607 young people attended 21 visits with 32 MSPs attending.

31. A seminar was held in December with 19 teachers in attendance; this was the first of a new series of seminars linked to the Citizenship theme of the curriculum and aimed at Secondary teachers who want to broaden their general knowledge about the Scottish Parliament and/or get ideas for Personal and Social Education (PSE) or Citizenship projects. The seminar was well received; a further course will be run in May.

32. In December, there were 12 sessions with MSPs under the MSPs in Schools programme. In January, 15 sessions were delivered in schools.

Outreach Programme

33. As the education and outreach review has reported, the community outreach programme has ended with only a few outstanding commitments to complete. One talk was delivered in each month.

Visitors

34. There were 18,003 visitors in December – this represents an increase of over 2,000 people on the same period in both 2006 and in 2005.

35. The total for the calendar year 2007 was 352,454 compared to 327,445 in 2006 (an increase of 7.5%).

36. In the first two weeks of January, there have been 9,059 visitors (an increase of 13% on the same period in 2007).

37. The Shop held a successful Christmas shopping evening for Members, staff and guests at the Highland craft exhibition on December 5th. Income for December increased over 2006 and was at the same level as 2005.

38. Three Members booked tours in December and two in January.

St Andrew’s Day

39. SPCB asked in December 2007 for an analysis of the pilot St Andrew’s Day visitor offer. Overall the offer of free tours plus special shop promotions did generate an increase in all areas over the equivalent day in 2006 and 2005.

40. The number of visitors was up on 2004 (even though that year saw better figures overall). Visitor and tours numbers were also up on the other Fridays in November 2007; the shop was up on the 1st three Fridays but had had a good trading day on the previous Friday also so was slightly down on that day.

Visitor number 1498

Same Friday in 2006 517 Same Friday in 2005 906 Same Friday in 2004 1179

Other Fridays in November 2007 1124 630 825 744

Tour numbers 340

Same Friday in 2006 133 Same Friday in 2005 279 Same Friday in 2004 448

Other Fridays in November 2007 211 156 135 156

Shop takings £1175

Same Friday in 2006 £450 Same Friday in 2005 £1000 Same Friday in 2004 £2100

Previous Fridays in November £1400 £400 £700 £900

Visitor profile (from entries to prize draw)

Edinburgh and Lothians 80 England 35 South of Scotland 18 Central Scotland 9 Mid Scotland and Fife 9 North East Scotland 5 Highlands and Islands 5 Glasgow 4 Wales 3

41. It is recommended that the SPCB consider marking St Andrew’s Day 2008 in a similar way; officials will bring forward proposals in due course. There is an opportunity to build on this in 2009 to fit with the Year of Homecoming and other themes that year.

Public Information

Public Information Enquiries

42. Performance indicators for the switchboard show that it handled just over 5,100 incoming calls in December. Of these, 92% were answered in less than 5 seconds and the average time taken to answer calls was just around 2.5 seconds. The main reason for the drop in the number of calls in comparison to previous months is likely to be the closure of the switchboard for several days during the holiday period. The total number of calls received in December 2007, however, was up slightly (3%) on the number for the same period in 2006.

MONTH Telephone Email Letter FOI December 2007 356 217 215 2

43. In comparison to November, the number of enquiries and pieces of correspondence handled by the Public Information Service fell by around 27%. The most significant factor contributing to this decline was the sharp fall in the letter- based campaigning on various issues that has been evident over the previous few months.

44. Topics concerning enquirers in December 2007 and January 2008 were:

December

• The new slogan/welcome message for Scotland greeting travellers to Scottish airports.

• Donald Trump’s golf course plans.

• The Parliament’s Festive Evening/Carol Concert.

January

• Problems accessing broadband – correspondence with the Parliament stimulated by the Scottish Government’s initiative to encourage people to register if they are unable to get broadband.

• Legislation concerning dormant bank accounts.

45. The information in the leaflet How the Scottish Parliament Works was produced in British Sign Language and is now available on the Scottish Parliament website on the Language pages or through the following link http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/publicInfo/hspw/LeafletIndex.htm#BSL A small number of DVDs have been produced to widen accessibility. These DVDs have either subtitles or voiceover to enable them to be watched by people with different requirements and by mixed audiences. They are available from Public Information free of charge.

46. User groups are currently giving feedback on an Easy Read version of How the Scottish Parliament Works, which is due for publication in February.

47. Work is also ongoing on the review of The Scottish Parliament’s Language Policy and responses have been sought from Members and SPCB staff by Monday 18 February. Please see link to SPEIR notice: http://intranet/organisation/offices-h-z/publicinfo/notices20081.aspx

Corporate Publications

48. Working with Gaelic Services, Corporate Publications ensured the production of a consultation document and the design and printing of a promotional flyer in time for the launch of the SPCB’s consultation on the Parliament’s Gaelic Language Plan. The team also ensured production of ‘promotional flyer’ for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee’s inquiry into ferry services in Scotland

49. Work is also well underway on updating the Gaelic versions of public information leaflets – MSPS and their Work, Representing the People of Scotland, Work of Committees, Debating Chamber and Official Report. These publications will be printed for the first time in line with the Gaelic Language Plan

Broadcasting and Production Services Office

50. The monthly video highlights programme is now also available via an RSS feed and is available to external users to download and as a podcast.

51. The office have also set up a page on You Tube where viewers can watch monthly video highlights of business and events which have taken place at the Parliament. In the few days the page has been live there has already been 600 viewers.

52. The website www.holyrood.tv film archive is currently being reorganised and in future all main pages - Chamber, Committees, Highlights and Events will have drop down menus for accessing archive video footage.

53. Filming is now complete for the Education Office’s general information film and editing has begun. Work is also progressing on a series of video postcards which will show various buildings and locations within the Parliamentary complex and explain their function. These short films will also be available for download and podcasting.

54. The broadcast unit travelled to Stornoway in January to provide audio and record the Audit Committee’s remote meeting. Despite serious travel problems they managed to reach Ullapool to catch the ferry and get all the necessary sound and recording equipment across to the island the day before the meeting on Friday 11 January.

55. The Cable Public Affairs Channel, (CPAC), in Canada, broadcast First Minister’s Question Time before Christmas and are now going to show this on their channel in a regular weekly slot.

56. The Scotsman have twice taken video footage of the Local Government Committee taking evidence on the process relating to the Trump organisation’s planning application re the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire. The newspaper is also possibly going to take some of FMQT each week for their web page.

57. The Broadcasting and Production Services Office are currently in discussion with community radio channels, Jubilee and Leith FM who are keen to take the audio from FMQT live and following Mark Thomson’s, the Director General of the BBC speech in Westminster announcing the BBC’s digital democracy project - a multi- media portal for all Parliaments and Assemblies in the UK, we are in discussion with BBC Interactive about how to take this forward.

Media Relations

58. Media briefings for the Budget report and debate were undertaken to ensure the process of consideration and the ‘reasoned amendments’ were understood.

59. During December and January, two Stage 1 reports were published by Committees, and four Committee events (in Stornoway, Aviemore and two at

Holyrood) were promoted. A news release was issued to promote the launch of the Rural Housing Inquiry. The Local Government Committee’s ongoing evidence sessions on the calling in process of planning applications has resulted in high levels of media coverage of the meetings.

60. A trial of centralising Committee agendas and papers for members of the media began on 3 January and will run until the February recess. The aim is to reduce the number of hard copies of the papers and encourage the media to use the internet as the primary source for papers. A limited press cuttings service was rolled out to nine Conveners during December on a trial basis until the end of the financial year.

70. The Futures Forum continued to receive positive coverage over the reporting period. The Evening News, Press and Journal, The Herald and the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland ran stories on the Forum’s seminar on drug and alcohol addiction held on 6 December. December also saw the launch of February’s environmental event for young people, which will take place in the Chamber.

71. The consultation process for the SPCB Gaelic Language Plan received media coverage during December in Scotland on Sunday, BBC Radio nan Gaidheal and the Press and Journal. There was also local media coverage of the Highland Craft Exhibition, which was hosted by the Parliament and the Evening News ran coverage encouraging people to attend the Dewar Arts concert at the Parliament.

72. MRO worked with BBC Scotland on a media enquiry regarding the Parliament’s efforts to reduce energy consumption. A positive piece ran in early January on the website and in Reporting Scotland.

73. Following heavy and continuous rain, several leaks were reported across the campus. Several media outlets made enquiries about this and were provided with up to date information. The announcement of Sunday closing of Holyrood on 19 December received low level coverage in the media with only two newspapers reporting on the subject.

SPICe

74. Progress is being made on the IS stream of the parliament’s IMS Programme. Documents will be available on SPEIR shortly and include a ‘master data register’ which shows the most important information held and used across different areas of the parliament. SPICe indexers are working with BIT staff on understanding indexing and the added value it provides to the IMS programme.

75. SPICe staff have been job shadowing the OR, chamber desk and business team, to augment workshops being held to gather information for the OR project.

76. Researchers continue their support to committees including briefing for an Economy, Energy, and Tourism Committee round table event hosted by the STUC on 15 January. SPICE has been supporting the Scottish Elections 2007 enquiry, and a presentation on climate change has been given to the environmental management working and steering groups. On 6 January 2008 the Office of the

Scottish Information Commissioner and SPICe jointly hosted a Freedom of Information seminar to inform Members of their rights and responsibilities when responding to FoI requesters.

77. Staff are involved in supporting a number of surveys including those of BIT staff, the language policy review, OR and equalities surveys, as well as updating the survey policy.

78. Briefings have been provided to House of Commons colleagues, either for publication as Commons standard notes, debate briefings or for inclusion in papers. SPICe research is hosting two student placements at the moment, from the Hansard Society and from the National Environment Research Council, and IS have a Library and Information Studies student working with them.

79. In November 2007, 715 reference enquiries were answered; 565 from the SPICe desk and 150 by the Enquiries Team. This is the largest monthly for a year and compares with 625 in November 2006. In December 2007, 353 reference enquiries were answered: 282 from the SPICe desk and 71 by the Enquiries Team; there were 420 in December 2006. The trend of short turnaround times for enquiries continues.

80. SPICe continues to work on the Session 2 statistics volumes; Session 2, parliamentary year 1 work was completed to deadline. SPICe e services team is working towards the further development of the SCAN database, which should be live beginning February.

81. A URL has been purchased and a contract agreed between an external host and SPICe for the IPRIN (inter-parliamentary research and information network) website. Linked to this, SPICe management team this month attended an IPRIN training session and visited colleagues in Cardiff to discuss services, resources and training.

82. SPICe is exploring web strategies including evaluating Members’ websites and benchmarking websites, web publishing processes and editorial responsibilities in other public sector organisations. The project to procure a new Library Management System has started.

Security

Public Entrance: Retained Items

83 Some 155 items, including 138 knives, were retained at the Public Entrance over December and January. These figures are relatively low compared to previous months but are not surprising due to the recess and holiday period and the corresponding lower number of visitors.

Provision of First Aid

84. Qualified security staff administered first aid on 8 occasions over the two month period.

CCTV Monitoring

85. Control Room staff monitoring CCTV reported 2 external incidents to Lothian and Borders Police resulted in 3 detentions. Coincidentally these are the same figures as reported for November.

Photographic Passes and Security Clearances

86. For obvious reasons the number of photographic passes issued (75) in December was low and 75% were renewals, mainly to SG staff. Forty-five security clearances were achieved. Ninety-nine photographic passes were issued in January, mainly to contractors and to MSP staff interns. Seventy-one security clearances were achieved.

Section 3: Maintaining an Efficient, Innovative and Effective Organisation

Finance Report – 2007/08 Period 08

General Financial Activity

1. This report is to inform the SPCB of general financial activity and expenditure trends in 2007-08.

2. Following the publication of the annual accounts, Audit Scotland has now issued its formal reports to management on the 2006-07 audits of the SPCB and SPCPF. These will be reviewed by the AAB at its meeting in late January 2008.

3. As previously reported, we have been evaluating various development options for the SPCB’s finance systems and will report to the Project Board shortly with recommendations. We are also actively pursuing the resolution of outstanding system configuration issues with the SEAS development team.

4. A further forecast exercise has been completed to review planned outturn against the budget position. The results of this exercise have been reflected in the period 8 figures and are commented on in more detail within the report.

5. Reconciliations are up to date for the current financial year for all bank accounts, CASE SEAS expenditure accounts and fixed asset reconciliations. Under the agreed action plan between Finance and Personnel, both teams are working to bring the payroll reconciliations up to date for the current year. Good progress is being made on achieving this target with data now prepared for two of the three main control accounts.

6. We have implemented several measures to improve our payment processes over the course of this financial year and the results are showing through in our payment performance trend. 88% of invoices were paid within terms in period 8 (this compares to 63% of invoices paid within terms in the first quarter, 77% in the second quarter and 78% in period 7). We are continuing to investigate causes for late payment and re-enforce payment procedures to improve performance towards our target of 90% for the last two quarters of the year.

Financial Overview (Schedule 1)

7. The SPCB’s net revenue expenditure for the 8 months ended November 2007 is £41.9m, which is £3.1m (7.0%) under the approved budget. As reported above, this incorporates the results of the forecast outturn exercise undertaken in late November / December 2007.

8. The level of underspend is expected to reduce towards the end of the financial year. However, the recent forecast exercise has confirmed that the SPCB will not require all of its approved 2007-08 budget allocation. Accordingly, we have proposed a reduction of £1.5m in the SPCB’s current year budget, to be effected in

the Spring Budget Revision. This will be shown in the period 9 Finance Report as a reduction in the SPCB’s budgeted central contingency.

9. The key revenue expenditure variances to date are detailed below in paragraphs 10 to 24. Capital expenditure is considered in paragraph 25.

Revenue Expenditure – 8 Months to 30 November 2007

Parliamentary Service Costs (Schedule 2)

10. The cumulative revenue expenditure for the Parliamentary Service, at £24.3m, is £1.8m (7.0%) under budget for the year to date.

11. The actual cost of £14.1m for Staff Pay, including agency and overtime costs, is £54k or 0.4% below budget. Several offices took the opportunity of the forecasting exercise to re-assess their 2007-08 staffing budget requirement and this has helped to bring Year to Date (YTD) budgets closely into line with actual expenditure. As a result of this exercise, the YTD Staff Pay budget has been reduced by approximately 3%, reflecting the impact of staffing vacancies in the first eight months of the year.

12. Staff related costs are £858k, £207k (19.4%) below budget. Training costs (both Corporate and Job Related) account for 51% of the overall variance. Travel and Expenses (which are often linked to training activity) account for a further 36% of the variance. A number of business areas have attributed the current under spend to the fact that plans to get Job Related Training courses undertaken were delayed as a result of the election and subsequent recess. Expenditure on Contractors of £372k is now closely in line with the YTD budget of £374k.

13. Property costs for the 8 months at £4.0m are £111k or 2.7% under budget (reducing from 7.1% last month). £108k of the year to date under spend is attributable to maintenance. Facilities Management confirms that this is due to budget phasing, relating principally to Planned Fabric Maintenance and Planned Mechanical and Electrical budgets, and that these budgets will be fully utilised by the end of the financial year.

14. Running costs total £4.7m, £701k (13.0%) under budget. Following the forecasting exercise, Printing continues to show a significant year to date under spend (£111k, or 17.2% of the YTD budget). However, we are assured by Corporate Publications that they expect the majority of this variance to disappear by the end of the financial year. Business Support will continue to monitor this closely. Restaurant Services is £67k (15.5%) below budget, largely due to a one-off £40k VAT refund. The Consultants budget now shows a year to date under spend of £56k.

15. The Events costs for the year to date are £655k, £2k (0.4%) over budget. This is in contrast to the £44k overspend reported last month. As previously reported, Finance has been working with Events & Exhibitions to identify their procedures for putting purchase orders on SEAS and receipting them correctly, as well as their general coding policy. This has resulted in the correction or removal of several purchase orders, which had been erroneously receipted to the Events and

Exhibitions Team’s costs up to period 7, to provide an accurate recording of event costs at the end of period 8.

16. Revenue Projects are analysed on Schedule 5 and show an actual spend of £268k to date against a YTD budget of £998k and the full year budget of £1,375k. The annual budget figures for 2007-08 include transfers of £997k from contingency made at the end of period 8 to cover (amongst others) FM Change Projects, the Vehicle Entry System, HR Change Programme costs, the Chicane at Holyrood Road and various other security related projects. Part of this represents acceleration of project expenditure previously attributed to the 2008-09 financial year. Pending receipt of project expenditure phasing profiles, the bulk of the new budgetary provision was temporarily allocated to Period 8 and we will refine the accuracy of the phasing in Period 9. However, as budget was only transferred for approved projects with a high likelihood of taking place prior to 31st March 2008, we expect the reported underspend to reduce significantly as we approach the end of the financial year.

Members’ Pay and Costs (Schedule 3)

17. Members’ costs are detailed on Schedule 3, which shows £13.9m reported costs for the 8 months, representing an under spend of £1.1m (7.0%) against budget. We have not yet had to make any transfer from contingency in respect of members’ winding up allowances, while overall expenditure remains within the original budget phasing. This will be monitored closely over the final months of the financial year.

Commissioners & Ombudsman Costs (Schedule 3)

18. The SPCB’s funding cost for Commissioners and Ombudsman (Officeholders) in respect of the 8 months, amounted to £4.0m, which is £268k (6.3%) below budget. We will review the monthly phasing of the approved funding budgets for the remainder of 2007-08 with the Officeholders and will reflect this in the Quarter 3 report. It is expected that c £900k of the budget for the Human Rights Commission as well as the £250k of Officeholder’s contingency will remain unused at the end of the financial year.

Release of Reserves – Central Contingency

19. We effected a net transfer of £128k to the SPCB’s central contingency in period 8 and the balance now stands at £1,949k to cover the remaining 4 months of the financial year. The net transfer resulted from the budget savings of £1,125k identified in the forecast exercise, offset by the transfer of £997k to revenue projects as noted above.

Forecast Outturn

20. The Forecast Outturn position shown on the schedules reflects where Business Areas believed there may be significant changes to their outturn compared with their original budget but were not completely certain of this.

Income (Schedule 3)

21. The total income of £288k is £3k (1.2%) above the revised phased budget.

22. Shop income of £171k is £4k (2.5%) above the revised budget. This represents an improvement on the equivalent figure for last year of £148k, when visitor numbers had been adversely affected by the closure of the Chamber.

23. The income from guided tours of £109k is lower than projected by £9k (7.4%), but, as for shop income, it is significantly higher than the equivalent figure last year of £76k. The associated cost of tour guides, at £152k, is £7k above budgeted expenditure for the year to date.

Trading Accounts

24. Annual trading accounts have been prepared for 2006-07 and trading accounts to the end of Quarter 2 for 2007-08 have been prepared and discussed with Visitor and Outreach Services. The trading position of both the shop and guided tours shows a marked improvement compared with the same period last year, when the Chamber closure reduced the number of visitors.

Capital

25. Capital expenditure for the year to date is £304k against the full year approved budget of £1.6m. Projected capital expenditure across the Parliament for 2007/08 is expected to be in the region of £650k, of which £290k has been set aside for the IMS project.

Finance Report – 2007/08 Quarter 3 / Period 09

General Financial Activity

26. This report is to inform the SPCB of general financial activity and expenditure trends in 2007-08.

27. Planning is underway for the financial year end and drafting of the 2007-08 annual accounts timetable will begin shortly.

28. As previously reported, we have been evaluating various development options for the SPCB’s finance systems and will report to the Project Board shortly with recommendations. We are continuing to actively pursue the resolution of outstanding system configuration issues with the SEAS development team.

29. Reconciliations are up to date for the current financial year for all bank accounts, CASE SEAS expenditure accounts and fixed asset reconciliations. Under the agreed action plan between Finance and Personnel, both teams are working to bring the payroll reconciliations up to date for the current year. Progress is being made on achieving this target with data prepared for two of the three main control accounts and outstanding reconciliations being prepared for other payroll accounts

for this year. The data from Personnel to prepare the reconciliation for this year’s CASE SEAS payroll control account is still outstanding.

30. We have implemented several measures to improve our payment processes over the course of this financial year and the results are showing through in our payment performance trend. 94% of invoices were paid within terms in period 9, bringing the average for the quarter up to 87%. (this compares to 63% for the first quarter and 77% for the second quarter). We are continuing to investigate causes for late payment and re-enforce payment procedures to improve performance towards our target of 90% for the final quarter of the year.

Financial Overview (Schedule 1)

31. The SPCB’s net revenue expenditure for the 9 months ended December 2007 is £47.3m, which is £2.4m (4.9%) under the approved year to date budget. The level of underspend is expected to reduce towards the end of the financial year.

32. As reported in Period 8, we proposed a reduction of £1.5m in the SPCB’s annual budget to be effected in the Spring Budget Revision. The budget reduction is reflected in this Finance Report as a reduction in the SPCB’s budgeted central contingency.

33. The key revenue expenditure variances to date are detailed below in paragraphs 9 to 23. Capital expenditure is considered in paragraph 24.

Revenue Expenditure – 9 Months to 31 December 2007

Parliamentary Service Costs (Schedule 2)

34. The cumulative revenue expenditure for the Parliamentary Service, at £27.5m, is £1.3m (4.6%) under budget for the year to date.

35. The actual cost of £16.0m for Staff Pay, including agency and overtime costs, remains very close to budget at just £46k (0.3%) below budget.

36. Staff related costs are £969k, £227k (19.0%) below budget, with job-related training and the associated staff travel and expenses budgets continuing to account for the bulk (£147k) of this underspend. The Directors Group has commissioned a review of the budget levels set by offices for training compared to their eventual expenditure to ensure that this is being managed appropriately across the organisation. Contractors expenditure is £21k (5.0%) above budget due to IT contractors being used to cover staff vacancies.

37. Property costs of £4.5m for the 9 months are £117k or 2.5% under budget. £172k of the year to date under spend is attributable to maintenance. Some of this underspend will be taken up by work already scheduled for the February recess, and FM has confirmed that it expects maintenance expenditure to be in line with budget by the year end. Year to date expenditure of £74k on property advisors, for which no annual budget is shown, is offset by an equivalent underspend on FM’s consultants budget. This is due to a re-categorisation of the expenditure.

38. Running costs total £5.4m, £861k (13.8%) under budget. Printing continues to show a significant year to date under spend (£112k, or 15.3% of the YTD budget). However, Corporate Publications reduced their annual budget for printing by £89k as part of the forecast outturn exercise which was carried out in November/December, and they expect the majority of this variance to disappear by the end of the financial year. Business Support will continue to monitor this closely. Restaurant Services is £111k (22.7%) below budget, which incorporates the VAT refund reported last month. The Consultants budget shows a year to date under spend of £88k (43.2%), which is largely attributable to the re-categorisation of expenditure noted above.

39. Events costs, including the Events and Exhibitions Team itself, are reported in Schedule 4. The year to date net expenditure on events totals £430k, £9k (2.1%) below budget.

40. Revenue Projects are analysed in Schedule 5 and show an actual spend of £319k to date against a YTD budget of £378k and a full year budget of £1,375k. The project expenditure phasing profiles have now been updated to present a more accurate position than was available for Period 8 and the reported underspend has reduced accordingly.

Members’ Pay and Costs (Schedule 3)

41. Members’ costs are detailed on Schedule 3, which shows £15.5m reported costs for the 9 months, representing an under spend of £1.1m (6.6%) against budget. We have not yet had to make any transfer from contingency in respect of members’ winding up allowances, while overall expenditure remains within the original budget phasing. This will continue to be monitored closely over the final months of the financial year.

Commissioners & Ombudsman Costs (Schedule 3)

42. The SPCB’s funding cost for Commissioners and Ombudsman (Officeholders) in respect of the 9 months, amounted to £4.5m, which is £16k (0.3%) below budget. We have reviewed the monthly phasing of the approved funding with Officeholders and amended the phasing to reflect actual budget drawdown for the 9 months. In addition we have reviewed the predicted outturn with Officeholders and forecast figures have been updated to reflect revised positions for the SPSO, SCCYP and the HRC.

Release of Reserves – Central Contingency (Schedule 12)

43. The central contingency budget stood at £1,949k when the position was last reported in Period 8. As reported in paragraph 7 above, we have effected a reduction of £1.5m in the SPCB’s current year budget and the central contingency budget has therefore been reduced to £449k. There were no other movements to /from contingency during the period.

Forecast Outturn

44. The Forecast Outturn position shown on the schedules reflects where Business Areas believed there may be significant changes to their outturn compared with their original budget but were not completely certain of this.

Income (Schedule 3)

45. The total income of £320k is £7k (2.4%) above the revised phased budget.

46. Shop income of £199k is £10k (5.3%) above the revised budget. and continues to show an improvement on the equivalent figure for last year (£173k), when visitor numbers had been adversely affected by the closure of the Chamber.

47. The income from guided tours of £113k is lower than projected by £11k (8.6%), but, as for shop income, it is significantly higher than the equivalent figure last year of £83k. The associated cost of tour guides, at £168k, is £2k above budgeted expenditure for the year to date.

Trading Accounts

48. Annual trading accounts have been prepared for 2006-07 and trading accounts to the end of Quarter 2 for 2007-08 have been prepared and discussed with Visitor and Outreach Services. The trading position of both the shop and guided tours shows a marked improvement compared with the same period last year, when the Chamber closure reduced the number of visitors. Trading accounts for Quarter 3 will be prepared and discussed with Visitor and Outreach Services and reported next month.

Capital

49 Capital expenditure for the year to date is £386k against the full year approved budget of £1.6m. Projected capital expenditure across the Parliament for 2007/08 is expected to be in the region of £650k, of which £290k has been set aside for the IMS project.

Responsible Purchasing

50. The formal launch of the Responsible Purchasing strategy was attended by over 70 guests and feedback received was extremely positive.

60. Good progress is being made on the action plan and all action deadlines that are passed have been met.

70. A press release and coverage of the event by WWF on their website have contributed to raising the profile of the SPCB’s approach to sustainability. Invitations from the Society of Procurement Officers (SOPO) and Remploy to Procurement Services to present case studies have ensued.

HR Change Programme

71. The functional and structural review of the Personnel Office, one of the key projects of the HR Change Programme, will commence on 4 February 2008, five months earlier than previously planned. The review will collect and analyse the views of a wide range of stakeholders across the Parliament and is due to be completed in early April. The second realignment activity (grievance) is nearing completion.

SPCB Contract Details

List of current SPCB contracts, over £10,000 (excluding VAT), let solely by the SPCB, (except for those we consider may have security, commercial or confidentiality sensitivities), providing details of the type of contract, its duration, to whom it was awarded and on what date, the overall contract value or estimated contract value (e.g. framework agreements), together with an outline of the work involved.

On-going Contracts

Type of Contract Supplier Contract Duration Current Estimated Contract Outline of work involved Commenceme Completion Total Expenditure To nt date Contract Date Value (including all available extensions) Maintenance of SirsiDynix Ltd 1 January 2000 9 years 31 December £93,000 £75,027 Maintenance of Library information Electronic Library 2008 management system System Off-site Document Iron Mountain UK 1 February 5 years + 2 31 January £70,000 £49,887.50 Provision of Off-site Document Storage Storage Services Ltd 2003 annual 2009 Services extensions Electronic till equipment Morris M Lapsley 1 October 2003 9 years, 2 31 December £12,500 £15,984 Electronic till equipment and software and software Ltd months 2012 Mail Screening Royal Mail Group 2 August 2004 3 years 6 01 February £950,820 £619,164.90 Off-site screening of mail to the Services months + 2 2009 Parliament annual extensions

Equal Opportunities Challenge 17 January 3 years + 1 16 January £144,000 £94,669.76 Provision of bespoke equal opportunity Training and Consultancy 2005 annual 2009 training, staff audit and consultancy Consultancy Services Limited extension

E-Distribution of News News Distribution 18 January 1 year + 2 17 January £20,000 £7158 Distribute news releases to regional and Releases Service 2006 annual 2009 national news organisations. extension

Type of Contract Supplier Contract Duration Current Estimated Contract Outline of work involved Commenceme Completion Total Expenditure To nt date Contract Date Value (including all available extensions) Off-Site IT Support SCC Plc 01 August 2006 18 months 31 July 2009 £240,000 £63,195.22 Hardware & Software manitenance to + 3 x 18 MSP Local Offices and other sites outwith months Holyrood. extensions Main Hall Exhibition StudioArc 11 January 3 months + 31 March 2008 £56,000 £0 Design, maintenance and installation of Design, Maintenance 2008 3 annual the Main Hall Exhibition and Installation extensions Taxis Computer Cab 14 January 2 years + 2 28 August 2009 £150,000 £0 Taxi services for MSP’s, MSP’s staff and 2008 annual Parliamentary staff extensions