Minutes 7th March

HD(07)9th Conclusions

HEADS OF DEPARTMENT MEETING

MINUTES OF MEETING HELD IN ST ANDREW'S HOUSE, EDINBURGH

AT 1.00 PM ON WEDNESDAY, 7 MARCH 2007

Present:

Robert Gordon CB (Chair)

Head of Justice Department and Head of Legal and Parliamentary Services

Colin MacLean

Acting Head of Education Department

Andrew Goudie

Head of Finance and Central Services Department

Nicola Munro CB

Head of Development Department

Kevin Woods

Head of Health Department

Owen Kelly

Head of International and Communications Group, FCSD

Dialled In:

Norman McFadyen CBE

Crown Agent and Chief Executive of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

Paul Pagliari

Director of Change and Corporate Services

Richard Wakeford

Head of Environment and Rural Affairs Department

Philip Rycroft

Head of Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department

In Attendance:

Donald Cameron

Cabinet Secretariat

Laura Holton

Cabinet Secretariat

Sarah Davidson

Head of Cabinet Secretariat

Sarah Smith

Head of Ministerial Support Group

Robin Naysmith

PPS/First Minister

Alan Johnston

Private Office for the Deputy First Minister

Agenda Items 1 and 2: Minutes of Previous Meeting and Current Issues

1. The minutes of the meeting held on 28 February (HD(07)8th Conclusions) were approved.

Agenda Item 3: Report from FM and DFM Representatives

2. PPS/FM said that on Friday, 2 March the First Minister had spoken at the launch of the 2007 edition of 'Poverty in Scotland' by the Child Poverty Action Group, which had been well covered by the media. He had addressed the Convention of Highlands and Islands in Stornoway at the beginning of the week, and had been engaged in a work surrounding the Stage 3 parliamentary debate of the Christmas and New Year's Day Trading Bill on Wednesday. On Friday, 9 March he would be launching the "All Our Futures" Ageing Population Strategy with the Minister for Communities. The First Minister's Private Office would shortly be writing to departments about the deadline for submissions which required the First Minister's attention in advance of the beginning of the election period on 3 April.

3. Mr Johnston said that the Deputy First Minister had also been involved in work in relation to the Christmas and New Year's Day Trading Bill. On Tuesday, 6 March he had announced an extra £1 million of funding for enterprise education at the launch of the first three-year report of the Executive's Determined to Succeed programme. On 12 March the Deputy First Minister would be launching Glasgow's first Forest School, a natural world education site for young people, in Drumchapel Woods. The Deputy First Minister's Private Office had agreed that the deadline for submissions requiring the Minster's clearance before the start of the election period would be 21 March.

Agenda Item 4: Media Evaluation Grid

4. Heads of Department noted the Media Evaluation Grid.

Agenda Item 5: Report from Cabinet Meeting held on 7 March 2007

5. Sarah Davidson gave a brief report from the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday, 7 March. Cabinet had discussed a range of current issues, agreed handling of Parliamentary business and had agreed to the publication of the first annual report on Scotland's Climate Change Programme.

Agenda Item 6: Forthcoming Cabinet Business (Paper HD(07)13)

6. Heads of Department noted progress in preparing papers for forthcoming Cabinet meetings.

Agenda Item 7: Any Other Business

7. There was no other business.

Cabinet Secretariat

March 2007

Page updated: Thursday, July 24, 2008