Chief Executive's Report to the SPCB Covering February 2008

Chief Executive’s Report to the SPCB Covering February 2008

OVERVIEW

My report this month covers February 2008 and, despite the recess period, areas throughout the organisation remained busy.

The Clerking and Reporting directorate continue to support meetings of the Parliament and the Committees. Their work this month included supporting the Committee as it gave consideration to 46 current petitions in order to tackle a growing backlog. The Committee's clerking team also took on, for the first time, responsibility for the day to day monitoring and running of the Parliament e-petitions website, previously managed by external contractors.

Other Committee work supported this month included the Local Government and Communities Committee’s inquiry into the planning processes surrounding the application from the Trump Organisation. This included negotiating arrangements for the appearance of representatives of the Trump Organisation as witnesses. Coverage of the Committee’s work has been widely broadcast.

I am pleased in this report to be able to update SPCB members on the work to update mobile phone coverage throughout the Holyrood complex. The delay in taking this forward has been frustrating, but as members will see from this report, installation of the solution will commence on 24 March.

In addition to the above, this month’s report also contains information about:

• The on going work of the Personnel Office in supporting MSPs which this month has included putting in place arrangements for staff employed under a pooling arrangement.

• The successful Business in the Parliament and Our Environment, Our Future events.

• The on going work of the Finance Office to improve the payment performance processes. 89% of invoices were paid within terms in period 10, still slightly below the quarter 4 target of 90%, but well above the average of 75% achieved for the first 9 months of the year.

• Improvements in access to the Dewar Room. It is intended that this will take effect from the beginning of April, and revised guidance on the use of the room will be issued nearer the time.

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

Clerking and Reporting Directorate

1. During the month of January, Clerking supported 36 committee meetings (including 1 meeting outside Edinburgh). Clerks arranged for the attendance of 147 witnesses.

2. Highlights from the clerking teams included the following:

Standards Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

3. Clerks to the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committees have been kept very busy this month with a wide range of inquiries on standards issues, including involvement in preparing responses to a number of FOI requests. Clerks have also been helping prepare a Parliamentary response to the Public Appointments Commissioner's consultation on promoting diversity in the appointments process.

NEBU

4. The Scottish Parliamentary Pension Scheme Committee formally agreed witnesses from whom to take oral evidence, which has involved the clerks in preparing for those evidence-taking sessions. The clerks have also collated and summarised the consultation responses, allowing the Committee to discuss various outstanding policy issues which will be considered during oral evidence. Work on the draft Bill has continued with a number of exchanges between the clerks, legal services and the drafters as the policy evolves.

Public Petitions Committee

5. The Public Petitions Committee team continued its current workload in supporting the Committee. The Committee held one meeting in February at which, at the prompting of the clerks, it gave consideration to 46 current petitions in order to tackle a growing backlog. The Committee's clerking team also took on, for the first time, responsibility for the day to day monitoring and running of the Parliament e-petitions website, previously managed by external contractors. The Clerk to the Committee gave a presentation on the petitions process to a delegation of honours year students from the University of Strathclyde.

Parliamentary Business Team

6. The Business Team continues to support parliamentary business including the progress of the budget. The team were involved in the organisation of Stage 3 and the following debate on the budget held on 7

2 February 2008. Earlier in the month the team had to react quickly to deal with the withdrawal of a Scottish Government motion and to advise on a significant number of points of order in the Chamber as a result of the withdrawal.

Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee

7. The clerking team was responsible, along with their counterparts in the Scottish Government, for the delivery of a high-profile event in which MSPs engaged with representatives of the business community from across Scotland. The Business in the Parliament Conference, now in its fourth year, brings together over 200 business people to meet with MSPs and Scottish Government ministers and discuss the challenge of growing the economy. The team supported the members of the Committee to start the evidence- taking part of their inquiry into Scottish tourism, with a dozen or so high-profile witnesses coming to the Committee, including leading hoteliers, B&B owners and restaurateurs, such as the owners of the Witchery in Edinburgh and the Three Chimneys in Skye.

Equal Opportunities

8. The clerking team helped to set up an informal meeting between committee members and Harriet Harman MP, Minister for Equality in the UK Government. Ms Harman provided an overview of the Government’s Discrimination Law Review, which could radically overhaul existing discrimination law in the UK, and other topical equal opportunities matters.

9. The team also provided options for the committee to take forward its discussions on age-related issues, female offenders in the criminal justice system and the issues faced by carers in Scotland.

10. Staff also devised a programme of meetings with key stakeholders, in which they will receive briefings on topical equal opportunities issues and also discuss informally existing consultation mechanisms with the committee.

Finance

11. The Finance Committee team supported Stages 2 and 3 of parliamentary scrutiny of the Budget (Scotland) Bill. This involved responding to a high level of public interest in the budget scrutiny process - producing a range of detailed briefing materials for different audiences, including specific briefings for members and the media and updating web pages.

12. The team has worked with the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee team to develop options for taking forward a review of the budget process - implementing the resolution of the Parliament of 8 November 2007, and also recognising the central role in the process of the Written Agreement between the Finance Committee and the Scottish Government. The team has also developed options for taking forward an inquiry into methods of funding capital investment projects, preparing a

3 presentation and background briefings with SPICe colleagues and an expert adviser.

Health and Sport

13. The Health and Sport Committee team continued to facilitate the Committee's stage one evidence-taking on the Public Health etc. (Scotland) Bill, culminating in an oral evidence session with the Minister for Public Health on 20 February. Clerks are currently preparing a draft stage one report.

14. During the same period, the team made preparations for a number of evidence sessions involving prominent Scottish sportspeople, in the first phase of the Committee's Pathways into Sport Inquiry. The Committee will take evidence from Rhona Martin, Olympic gold medal-winning curler, on 27 February. Arrangements are also in hand for an evidence session with Liz McColgan, former distance runner and from high achievers from the worlds of sailing, judo and rugby.

Local Government and Communities

15. The team supported three meetings of the Committee. Following the Committee’s conclusion of consideration of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games Bill at Stage 1, staff drafted the Committee’s report, which was considered and agreed. The report was published in time for the Stage 1 debate to take place in the Chamber.

16. The main focus for the team’s work was continued support for the Committee in its inquiry into the planning processes surrounding the Menie Estate application from the Trump Organisation. This included negotiating arrangements for the appearance of representatives of the Trump Organisation as witnesses, analysing the written and oral evidence and drafting a report for the Committee to consider.

17. The team arranged for the attendance of central heating contractors as witnesses at a meeting of the Committee, which is considering the Scottish Government’s Central Heating Programme and the Warm Deal scheme as part of its work on fuel poverty.

Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change

18. The team organised an evidence session with the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change as a first step in the Committee's scrutiny of the Scottish Government's Climate Change Bill. The team also arranged for an evidence session with the Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland.

19. Two members of the team accompanied five committee members to London and Brussels in late February to discuss climate change with MPs, MEPs and senior officials in the European Commission.

4 20. The team continues to make arrangements for the Committee's inquiry into ferry services in Scotland, including committee meetings in Oban and Shetland, and visits to Arran, Gourock and Mallaig.

Official Report

21. In January the official report supported business in the chamber by reporting eight 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 Audit Committee meeting in Stornoway. 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 2.5 days.

Contract Variation Letters

22. The SPCB will recall 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.

23. At the date of producing this report (Tuesday 26 February), 69% of Members have returned a signed copy of their staffs' contract variation letters to the Personnel Office, with 6% of Members partially completing the process.

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

Staff Employed under an MSP Pooling Arrangement

25. The SPCB will also 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").

26. At the date of producing this report there were 31 employment pools in place. Since the 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. At present 26% of Employment Pools have sent a signed copy of their Rules of Association to the Personnel Office.

27. At the second stage of the project the Personnel Office are required to facilitate in producing Contracts of Employment and Staff Handbooks tailored to meet the needs of the Associated Employers. The Personnel Office has assisted one Employment Pool to complete this stage of the project.

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

Data Protection

29. We recently renewed the SPCB's 12 monthly data protection notification with the UK Information Commissioner's Office. This involves setting out the major categories of personal data that we process. As part of this work, Members have also been reminded that they are also required to notify with the Information Commissioner's Office as data processors.

WRITTEN PQs DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE SPCB ANSWERED FOR THE PERIOD 25 JANUARY TO 22 FEBRUARY 2007:

S3W-8707 - Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind) (Date Lodged Monday, January 21, 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 (Friday, January 25, 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-8706 - Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind) (Date Lodged Monday, January 21, 2008): To ask the SPCB what retentions in respect of the Holyrood complex are still being held.

Answered by Alex Fergusson (Friday, February 01, 2008):

The SPCB is still holding the following balances in respect of the Holyrood Building Project:

Construction Manager £509,429 Architect £479,010 Trade Contractors £1,987,010 Retention Bonds £249,985

These balances are being held pending the discharge by the relevant parties of all their responsibilities under their contracts.

S3W-8705 - Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind) (Date Lodged Monday, January 21, 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 (Friday, January 25, 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 Monday, January 21, 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 (Friday, January 25, 2008): Water penetration and associated work in the area adjacent to the garden level restaurant relates to on-going 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-09514 George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it has incurred any costs in respect of the opinion provided by Queen’s Counsel to the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner on the issue of the Wendy Alexander leadership campaign and, if so, what costs were incurred and from which Queen’s Counsel the opinion was sought.

Answered by Mike Pringle: In undertaking his functions the Commissioner has his own separate budget which for 2007/08 is £90,000, included within which is £23,340 for professional fees. Under the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Act 2002, investigations must be conducted in private and it is therefore not appropriate to comment further.

S3W-09438 Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the total cost has been of repairs and alterations to the Holyrood building since its opening in October 2004 and whether it will itemise these costs; whether there have been any snagging costs, and whether it will itemise the estimated costs of all planned repairs and alterations.

Answered by Alex Johnstone: The information is not available in the exact form requested and the cost of itemising individual repairs and alterations would be disproportionate. The total cost of maintenance and alterations to the Holyrood building since its opening in October 2004 is £3,343,621.86 as shown in the table below. These figures include alterations to the building made to take account of occupants’ needs.

Fabric Mechanical & Landscape Maintenance Electrical and change Maintenance projects 2004/2005 £0.00 £0.00 £223,562.56 2005/2006 £133,628.80 £713,157.52 £243,285.66 2006/2007 £315,185.68 £558,197.95 £278,095.80 2007/2008 £218,379.13 £479,997.15 £180,131.61 Sub-total £667,193.61 £1,751,352.62 £925,075.63

The position on snagging and defects was fully explained in the Presiding Officer’s statement to MSPs of 21 February 2007 on the Holyrood Project Closure, where it was reported that, from October 2004, some 45,000 snags were identified by the Design Team. Most of these were minor in nature but it would not be practicable to itemise each one along with costs. Since responsibility for rectification of snags lay with the Trade Contractors, the cost was included within the final cost of the project, reported by the Presiding Officer in February 2007, of £414.4 million.

Estimates for costs of future maintenance have been made, but are considered to be commercially confidential as competitive tender exercises for future maintenance are currently underway.

S3W-09515 George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many recorded instances it is aware of when the legal requirements regarding gifts to MSPs has been breached since 1999 and, of these, how many have been referred to the Procurator Fiscal.

Alex Fergusson: Since 1999 the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee and its predecessor Committees have published one report (4th Report, 2005, Session 2) in which it agreed that the member had breached article 4(6) of the Members’ Interests Order by failing to register the receipt of a gift within the 30 day registration deadline provided for by the Members’ Interest Order. This report confirms that, under paragraph 14 of the Direction issued by the Scottish Parliament on 15 January 2003, the Standards Commissioner referred the complaint to the Procurator Fiscal on 17 February 2005.

As the Committee’s report did not recommend any sanctions be imposed, the Parliament was not required to consider a motion lodged under Standing Order rule 1.7.

WRITTEN PQS LODGED WITHIN THE ABOVE PERIOD BUT STILL AWAITING ANSWER ARE:

S3W-9754 Christine Grahame: To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when it will next meet and whether, at that meeting, it will consider whether Ronald Rae’s Lion of Scotland should be located outside the Parliament building.

Section 2: Encouraging Public Engagement with the Parliament

Events and Exhibitions Team

Parliamentary Events and Exhibitions

1. The 4th Business in the Parliament event took place on Thursday 21 and Friday 22 February. The event was well attended with more than 200 delegates attending a dinner in the Garden Lobby on the Thursday evening and a formal conference on the Friday. The Theme of the conference was “Opportunity Challenge; achieving sustainable economic growth”. Subjects covered in breakout sessions included, achieving sustainable economic growth in the life sciences and biotechnology industry; the energy industry; the financial industry; the tourism food and drinks industry, the creative industries; a discussion on the Climate Change Scotland Bill; and Challenging management conventions in business and government.

2. A week of themed seminars to mark Scottish Environment Week was well attended and covered a wide range of issues including; addressing the carbon challenge, rural development funding and the marine environment. As part of that week, the Events and Exhibitions Team supported the management of a major event, 'Our Environment - Our Future' organised by Visitor and Outreach Services. Pupils and staff were able to participate in the interactive exhibit Claystation.

MSP Sponsored Events and Exhibitions

3. Between Monday 4 and Friday 29 February 2008 there were 40 MSP sponsored receptions / briefings and 6 exhibitions attended by more than 3,500 guests which provided briefing and networking opportunities for Members around a range of issues. The exhibitions included a National Galleries of Scotland exhibition showing works from young people across the city, and Community Health Exchange, an exhibition on health inequalities in Scotland.

4. There are currently 46 MSP sponsored events and receptions and 8 exhibitions scheduled to take place in March 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 World Kidney Day, Co-op Development, the Eco Schools Quilt and the Scottish Disability Equality Forum.

Forward Look

Scottish Youth Parliament

5. This took place between Friday 29 February and Sunday 2 March. The event comprised a welcome reception and awards ceremony on the Friday evening hosted by the Presiding Officer for all Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MYSP) and MSPs. The formal opening and panel sessions took place between the Debating Chamber and Committee Rooms over the Saturday and Sunday.

6. On the Saturday Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning addressed the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP). This was followed by a panel session involving a number of MSPs from across the Parliament including Rhona Brankin MSP, Gavin Brown MSP, Robin Harper MSP and Margo MacDonald MSP.

International Women’s Day

7. The Parliament will once again host an event to mark International Women’s Day which will bring together a diverse range of women from all over Scotland in order to celebrate women’s achievements and increase the participation and involvement of women in influencing policy development. The event, chaired by the Deputy Presiding Officer, Trish Godman MSP, will enable women working in Scotland on policy issues to network and also meet with policy makers.

8. There will be speeches from a number of Members including Linda Fabiani MSP, Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture, Annabel Goldie MSP and Cathy Peattie MSP, along with Louise Plaatijes, UNI Global Women, Agnes Tolmie, Chairperson, Scottish Women’s Convention and Alison Fraser a pupil from Johnstone High School.

World Press Photo Exhibition

9. The Parliament will host this exhibition for the 3rd year running as part of the 2008 Festival of Politics programme. It will open to the public on Friday 8 August and run until Saturday 30 August. The overall winner of this year’s competition is UK photographer Tim Hetherington, for his image of an American soldier resting in Korengal, Afghanistan. The winner of the Portrait Stories category was also a UK photographer, Vanessa Winship.

Art Advisory Group

10. The Art Advisory Group met for the first time on Thursday 7 February and Robin Harper MSP was appointed as Chair. New members received their induction to the existing acquisition and disposal policy. Minutes of the meeting will be published on the web under the Parliament’s Publications Scheme.

Media Relations

11. There has been a strong focus on local media work during February, ahead of Committees going to Elgin, Oban and Shetland. The Rural Affairs and Environment Committee met in Elgin on 19 February to discuss their flooding inquiry and received prominent broadcast and print coverage. The meeting received preview coverage in the Press and Journal and Northern Scot while BBC Radio Inverness flagged it in news bulletins up to the day of the meeting.

12. On the day of the meeting, broadcast coverage comprised BBC Reporting Scotland (breakfast time, top item), GMTV, BBC Radio Scotland (breakfast time), BBC Radio Inverness, BBC Reporting Scotland (evening), STV’s Scotland Today and BBC Scotland (late night news bulletin). The Press and Journal and Courier and Advertiser reported on the meeting and two articles are due to appear in the Northern Scot and the Forres Gazette.

13. Local Government and Communities Committee meetings to examine the calling in process of planning applications have been well attended and covered by the media, particularly by broadcasters.

14. The Business in the Parliament 2008 conference received build up coverage in Holyrood magazine and an interview with Susan Rice, Chief Executive of Lloyds TSB Scotland and member of the Climate Change Business Delivery Group was set up with Scotland On Sunday to highlight the involvement of key business figures in the conference.

15. The launch of the Responsible Purchasing Strategy on 30 January was featured in Supply Management magazine and on its website (supplymanagement.com).

16. The Times Educational Supplement ran a feature on the ‘Our Environment, Our Future’ event,. In addition, local media coverage followed MRO’s targeted placement of photos of participating schools. Local coverage appeared in the Caithness Courier, the Stirling Observer and the Paisley Daily Express. The event was also covered by a feature on the Young Scot website (www.youngscot.org). A Young Scot reporter attended the event and subsequently updated the feature to include coverage of the day’s activities and achievements.

17. BBC’s Newsdrive programme ran an interview with Robert Madelin, Director-General for Health and Consumer Protection with the European Commission, on his participation in the Futures Forum event on 7 February looking at how the alcohol industry could reduce damage resulting from alcohol misuse. Press Association coverage of the event also ran in local papers and an industry publication.

18. Details of the February recess maintenance work were issued to all passholders and the media via a Building Users notice. Resulting media coverage in the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Herald, Scotland on Sunday,

Scottish Sunday Express, Sunday Post and Evening News focussed on the cost along with comment on why this should be necessary in a new building.

19. As mentioned above, February saw the announcement of the return of the World Press Photo exhibition to Holyrood. A news release welcoming the exhibition back was issued in acknowledgement.

20. During February, MRO received numerous media calls from UK and Scottish media on the MSP Code of Conduct and the role of the Standards Commissioner. Factual briefing was provided to the media without comment or confirmation being made on any current inquiry by the Commissioner.

Visitor Services & Outreach

Education Programme

21. As Corporate Body members will already have noted, the very successful Our Environment, Our Future event was held in February. Over 120 young people from across Scotland attended the day to discuss and explore a number of topics to do with the environment. These issues included:

• Climate Change • Flooding • Future of Scotland’s Energy • Promoting the use of Renewable Energy.

22. These are all matters that are to be considered by the Parliament during this session. A report will be submitted to the four committees that contributed to the afternoon sessions.

23. The morning included workshops with a number of external agencies – WWF, John Muir Trust, Ecology Centre, Ruth Dawkins (on her work in the Arctic) and the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Schools presented on their own work, for example as pioneer eco-schools.

24. Over lunch, the delegates contributed to the Claystation creative activity to illustrate their concerns and hopes for Scotland’s environment. MSPs and staff were encouraged to contribute also. The map and models were on display in the following week (Environment Week).

25. A discussion platform is being hosted on the website for schools to continue the debate, including schools who did not attend the event but wish to engage with the Parliament on these topics.

26. In addition to the above event, February also saw 22 MSPs in Schools sessions delivered..

Visitors

27. In the first full week of February, there were 4,676 visitors which was slightly up on the same period in 2007. The building was closed from Saturday February 9th to Sunday 17th for the February recess period. Visitor Services and Shop staff had a full week of training and development sessions. During recess, improvements were made to the Main Hall signage and to the lighting in the Shop as well as other repair and maintenance works in the public areas.

28. One MSP tour has been booked for February.

29. Tour prices will be increased from April 1st as agreed by SPCB as part of the 2008-09 budget consideration. The prices will be £6 adults/£3.60 concessions. Further information is available on the web site at The Scottish Parliament: - Visiting Holyrood Guided Tours. Internal communications will be updated during March.

Public Information

30. Performance indicators for the switchboard show that it handled just over 7,200 incoming calls in January. Of these, 93% were answered in less than 5 seconds and the average time taken to answer calls was 3.4 seconds. The number of calls received in January 2008 was up significantly on the figure for December (27%), and was virtually identical to the number for January 2007.

MONTH Telephone Email Letter FOI

January 2008 600 361 129 2

31. In comparison to December, the number of enquiries and pieces of correspondence handled by the Public Information Service rose by around 28%. This was due in particular to a rise in the number of telephone enquiries, which reached their highest level since June 2007.

32. Topics concerning enquirers in February 2008 were:

• requests for Public Information publications • the Budget (Scotland) Bill: enquiries about the allocations to specific areas, how to watch the debate on Holyrood TV, the level of abstentions on the vote • the availability of the drug, Sutent, for renal cancer patients • the Festival of Politics • Business in the Parliament • snaring

33. Several Public Information projects are now nearing completion. The easy read version of How the Scottish Parliament Works has been written,

edited and reviewed. It will go for final testing with a user group this week before copies are printed and made available to the public in early March.

34. The Accessible Guide to the Scottish Parliament is being developed with a local inclusive organisation called With People. The guide will include comprehensive information on the range of facilities and services the Parliament provides for visitors and staff.

35. Members of the Public Information team are currently working with SPICe, the Equalities Manager and a research company to set up four external focus groups as part of the review of the Scottish Parliament language policy. The focus group meetings are scheduled for March and will be held in Inverness, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Members have also been invited to give feedback.

Corporate Publications

36. The Publications team this month initiated projects for the Festival of Politics 2008. Proposed publications include an event programme and promotional posters.

37. With colleagues from Outreach, the Corporate Publications Team has also commissioned designs for the new bi-lingual Scottish Parliament logo. These options are currently being developed and are on schedule to be brought to the SPCB meeting on 5th March

38. Work is continuing 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

39. Television coverage of both committees and the debating Chamber was provided to our core broadcasters as normal with additional requests for footage from Sky and BBC News 24 on the Local Government and Communities Committee’s consideration of the planning processes re the Menie Estate and the debate on the Scottish Government’s budget.

40. Viewers to our website www.holyrood.tv peak each week on Thursdays with First Minister’s Question Time. For the quieter month of January we had 12,500 visits to our website and by mid-February we had already surpassed that figure, reaching over 14,000.

41. The broadcast unit also travelled to Elgin this month to record the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee’s external meeting.

42. The office have been heavily involved with the Parliament’s events programme this month filming and webcasting both the “Our Environment Our

Future” event and the Business in the Parliament conference. A short video has now been produced about the former event and will shortly be available to view on www.holyrood.tv.

43. The Slovenian Ambassador visited the Parliament on 21 February and spoke to MSPs in Committee Room 2. This is also available for viewing at www.holyrood.tv.

44. The Parliament’s YouTube “channel” (the home page for any user or organisation) was the 21st most subscribed partner channel on You Tube for last month and we are also, along with other UK Parliaments and Assemblies, going to appear on You Tube’s new dedicated YouTube UK politics page. The ten videos which have now been available on the site for approx 4 weeks have been viewed over 1,000 times.

45. Working with Public Information , the office are in the process of doing multiple language versions of the short video postcards which give viewers a brief description of each of the various buildings in the parliamentary complex. These will be hosted on the website.

46. Work is now complete on our the sound studio in the Media Tower. This will be an extremely useful resource for doing voice-overs for video production.

SPICe

47. This month tours were given of the Dewar Reading Room to visitors including the Presiding Officer with the First Minister of Northern Ireland Ian Paisley and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, and the Slovenian Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Iztok Mirošič.

48. It is intended to improve Members’ access to the Dewar Room by installing a proximity pass reader. This is expected to take effect from the beginning of April, and revised guidance on the use of the room will be issued nearer the time.

49. SPICe researchers continue to make practical visits to bolster their expertise. Following an evening tour of duty with Lothian and Borders police by the justice team, this month the health team is visiting GP practices including a rural practice.

50. The Parliament, Europe and Constitution team have launched a pilot Westminster newsletter, along the lines of the Brussels Bulletin with intelligence on matters relating to Scotland at Westminster. This is a development of the previous UK Bill tracking service, and is being piloted with users before a decision is taken on permanent roll-out and full launch.

51. SPICe has continued to provide internal advice to SPCB staff, for example on carbon offsetting and ecological footprinting, and has been working with the committee office on mainstreaming work on sustainable

development, particularly around scrutiny of Bills. SPICe is working on a number of internal surveys including of BIT staff.

52. In January 2008, a total of 645 enquiries were answered from the SPICe desk or by the Enquiries Team (558 in January 2007). Statistics are not yet available for February, but we were particularly quiet the week before recess and then much busier than expected during recess week, perhaps because Members’ staff were on leave but Members were still working.

53. The e services team continues to benchmark best practice in on-line information handling and has reviewed and audited the parliament’s Contribute users (who can publish content to the website) in a training needs assessment.

54. SPICe is reviewing the Scottish Parliament Publication Scheme. The SPCB discussed SPICe’s suggested enhancements to the Disclosure Log and agreed that the responses to FOI requests should be included on the Parliament’s website and that the Disclosure Log should be moved to a more prominent place on the website.

55. The Information Manager is reporting feedback from the record management project pilot phase to directors and the senior management team, and also reporting progress on mobilising good records management practice and reviewing retention schedules in all offices.

External Liaison Unit

56. The Parliament welcomed a range of international visitors in February, and sent a cross-party delegation to Malawi.

57. On 1 February the Rt. Hon Harriet Harman, Leader of the House of Commons, met with the Presiding Officer and the Clerk/ Chief Executive to discuss the organisation of business and the Annual Reporting systems in the Commons and the Scottish Parliament. Ms Harman also enquired into the current Parliamentary Review of Members’ Allowances, and discussed general relations between the Scottish Parliament and Westminster.

58. Margaret Mitchell MSP attended the “Tackling Drugs, Changing Communities - Challenges for Parliamentarians” CPA Seminar at Westminster between 3 - 6 February. The topics covered included drug trafficking, reducing supply, treatment, rehabilitation, intervention and education.

59. During recess, from 9 - 17 February, a delegation from the CPA Scotland Branch visited Malawi at the invitation of the Speaker of the National Assembly of Malawi. The delegation comprised Karen Gillon MSP, Alasdair Morgan MSP and Sarah Boyack MSP. The visit was part of the Parliament’s ongoing commitment to strengthening democracy and the role of the country’s National Assembly. The delegation visited health and education projects funded by the Scottish Government, met with Assembly members of the International Development Committee and the Women’s Caucus.

60. On 20 February Dr Ian Paisley MP MLA and Martin McGuinness MP MLA, the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, accompanied by Ian Paisley Jr MLA and Gerry Kelly MLA visited the Scottish Parliament. They paid a courtesy call on the Presiding Officer, and Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness were given a tour of the building.

61. On 21 February H.E. Dr Samuel Moncada, the new Venezuelan Ambassador to the United Kingdom paid a courtesy call on Deputy Presiding Officer Alasdair Morgan, met with the Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture, and addressed the Cross Party Group on International Development.

Section 3: Maintaining an Efficient, Innovative and Effective Organisation

Mobile Phone Coverage

1. I am pleased to say that, after a long period of post contract negotiation, the project to improve mobile phone reception at the Parliament will soon be entering the initial installation stage. Although the technical design has been in place for some time, progress has been lower than any of us would have liked. The delay was primarily due to negotiations that have been taking place between the supplier and the Parliament, on the back of negotiations between the supplier and mobile phone companies. These negotiations sought to increase the financial risk to the SPCB, but they have now been successfully concluded, with the risk to the SPCB minimised.

2. The installation plan produced by the supplier will see installation of the solution commencing on 24 March. We understand that the Contractor currently has agreements in place with Vodafone and will look for other suppliers to come onboard after initial installation.

HR Change Programme

3. The functional and structural review of the Personnel Office, one of the key projects of the HR Change Programme commenced on 12 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, including SPCB staff as well as Members and their staff. The review is due to be completed in mid April. The second realignment activity (grievance) was signed off by the Directors’ Group and the revised guidance will be cascaded shortly.

Security

Public Entrance: Retained Items

4. Only 45 items were retained at the Public Entrance during February. That figure is not surprising due to the time of year which means fewer overseas visitors and the recess period when the Parliament was closed to the public.

Provision of First Aid

5. Qualified security staff administered first aid on four occasions during February: twice to staff and twice to visitors.

CCTV

6. Three external incidents were reported to Lothian and Borders Police by security staff monitoring CCTV images which resulted in four youths being detained.

Photographic Passes and Security Clearances

7. The number of photographic security passes issued in February amounted to 154. That figure is quite high (some 30% more than in February 2007), especially in a month with a recess period. However, a number of additional contractors were security cleared to enable them to undertake maintenance work during recess and the commencement of the 2008 Intern Programme resulted in a significant number of MSP staff passes being issued. A higher than usual number of passes were issued to Scottish Government staff who were associated with Business in the Parliament event on 21st and 22nd February.

Vehicle Entry System

8. Work on the installation of a Vehicle Entry System is due to begin week commencing 3rd March and is expected to last until the end of the month. The contractors (Allens) have wide experience of such installations. The system will enhance perimeter security and provide a much safer route for vehicles and cycles in and out of the delivery area and car park. Due to the use of proximity cards, an intercom system and electronic touch controls within the Gatehouse, security staff will no longer have to spend much time outside.

Finance Report – 2007/08 Period 10

General Financial Activity

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

10. Planning is underway for the financial year end. The year end arrangements notice will issue at the end of February with supporting sessions for staff to be held in early March. Preparation of the 2007-08 annual accounts timetable will begin shortly.

11. As previously reported, we have been evaluating various development options for the SPCB’s finance systems and reported to the Project Board on 22 February with recommendations. We are continuing to actively pursue the resolution of outstanding system configuration issues with the SEAS development team.

12. 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 up to date reconciliations now received for all main payroll control accounts. However, work is still ongoing to investigate and action the individual reconciling items identified as part of the reconciliations. This exercise is due to be completed by the end of April.

13. 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. 89% of invoices were paid within terms in period 10, still slightly below the quarter 4 target of 90%, but well above the average of 75% achieved for the first 9 months of the year. We are continuing to investigate causes for late payment and re-enforce payment procedures to improve performance towards our target for the final quarter of the year.

Financial Overview (Schedule 1)

14. The SPCB’s net revenue expenditure for the 10 months ended January 2008 is £52.7m, which is £2.6m (4.8%) under the approved year to date budget. The percentage level of underspend has fallen slightly since December and is expected to fall further by the end of the financial year.

15. The key revenue expenditure variances to date are detailed below in paragraphs 8 to 22. Capital expenditure is considered in paragraph 23.

Revenue Expenditure – 10 Months to 31st January 2008

Parliamentary Service Costs (Schedule 2)

16. The cumulative revenue expenditure for the Parliamentary Service, at £30.8m, is £1.4m (4.4%) under budget for the year to date.

17. The actual cost of £17.8m for Staff Pay, including agency and overtime costs, remains very close to budget at £136k (0.8%) below budget. We effected a budget transfer of £40k in period 10 from the YTD staff pay budget to the SPCB’s central contingency in respect of staff salary savings realised.

18. Staff related costs are £1.1m, £199k (15.4%) below budget, with job- related training and the associated staff travel and expenses budgets continuing to account for the bulk (£153k) of this underspend. Contractors expenditure is £43k (10.3%) above budget, due principally to IT contractors being used to cover staff vacancies. With effect from April 2008 we intend to report contract staff expenditure as part of “staff costs” to provide a more complete picture of staffing costs.

19. Property costs of £5.0m for the 10 months are £127k or 2.5% under budget. £159k of the year to date under spend is attributable to maintenance. Some of this underspend will be taken up by work carried out during 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 £69k on property advisors, for which no annual budget is shown, is largely offset by an equivalent underspend on FM’s consultants budget, due to re-categorisation of the expenditure.

20. Running costs total £6.1m, £818k (11.8%) under budget. Corporate Publications’ reported year to date underspend on Printing has reduced from £112k last month to £49k and is expected to reduce further by the end of the financial year. Restaurant Services is £125k (22.8%) below budget, which incorporates the VAT refund reported previously and also reflects a higher contribution from events. The Consultants budget shows a year to date under spend of £101k (44.5%), which is largely attributable to the re-categorisation of expenditure noted above.

21. Events costs, including the Events and Exhibitions Team itself, are reported in Schedule 4. The year to date net expenditure on events totals £421k, £36k (7.9%) below budget.

22. Revenue Projects are analysed in Schedule 5 and show an actual spend of £397k to date against a YTD budget of £508k and a full year budget of £1,375k. Project expenditure is scheduled to increase substantially in the final 2 months of the year, but it remains likely that the eventual outturn will still show a significant underspend against the full year budget.

Members’ Pay and Costs (Schedule 3)

23. Members’ costs are detailed on Schedule 3, which shows £17.2m reported costs for the 10 months, representing an under spend of £1.2m (6.5%) 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)

24. The SPCB’s funding cost for Commissioners and Ombudsman (Officeholders) in respect of the 10 months, amounted to £5.1m, which is £17k (0.3%) below budget. The most recent estimate is for an underspend of £734k on these budgets at the end of the financial year.

Release of Reserves – Central Contingency (Schedule 12)

25 As reported in para 9 above, the contingency budget has been increased by £40k during period 10 to £489k, reflecting savings realised in the line budget.

Forecast Outturn

26. The Forecast Outturn position shown on the schedules indicates a likely underspend of c £1m against the approved budget.

Income (Schedule 3)

27. The total income of £336k is £6k (2.0%) above the revised phased budget.

28. Shop income of £210k is £18k (9.2%) above the revised budget. and continues to show an improvement on the equivalent figure for last year (£183k), when visitor numbers had been adversely affected by the closure of the Chamber.

29. The income from guided tours of £117k is lower than projected by £19k (14.1%), but, as for shop income, it is significantly higher than the equivalent figure last year of £87k. The associated cost of tour guides, at £192k, is £13.6k below budgeted expenditure for the year to date.

Trading Accounts

30. Draft trading accounts to the end of Quarter 3 for 2007-08 have been prepared and an initial discussion has been held with Visitor and Outreach Services. The trading position of both the shop and guided tours continues to show a marked improvement compared with the same period last year.

Capital

31. Capital expenditure for the year to date is £433k 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.

SPCB Contract Details

32. 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) 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 Office Storage Cabinets Flexiform 1 March 2003 4 years 28 February £187,000 £193,883 Storage and Filing Cabinets including and Fittings + 2 annual 2009 maintenance extensions Transcription, ILS 1 March 2003 3 years 8 31 October £350,000 £273,167.15 Language transcription, translation and Translation and months 2008 interpretation services Interpretation Services Vertaalbureau + 2 annual (Framework Bothof extensions Agreement) Global Connections M & E and Building Norland 10 May 2004 3 years 3 30 July 2009 £3,188,638 £2,006,791 Maintenance of M & E plant and Maintenance Managed months equipment and building fabric Services Limited + 2 annual extensions

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) Provision of Legal Brodies 1 July 2005 3 years + 2 30 June 2009 £750,000 £651,672 Provision of Legal Services Services annual Shepherd & 1 July 2005 extensions 30 June 2009 Wedderburn

Biggart Baillie 4 July 2005 30 June 2009 VERITAS – Netback up Trustmarque 17 February 1 year 16 February £11,434 £11,434 Maintenance, support and upgrade of Licences and Support Solutions 2007 2009 veritas software. Lanyards and Pass BIG 18 February 3 years + 1 17 February £20,000 £0 To provide lanyards and pass accessories Accessories 2008 annual 2011 extension Disposal Services for Disposal 2 March 2008 3 years 1 March 2011 £15,000 £0 Disposal Services Goods Services Authority