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1-20 of 41 results for subject:Devolution

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Lord Darling of Roulanish

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Darling of Roulanish, Lord (41)

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What devolution issues the Advocate-General has considered since 28 February. [60663]
Asked by
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Oral questions - Lead
Status
Answered
Date
28 March 2006
Reference
444 c666; 60663
House
House of Commons
I should declare an interest: I am a non-practising member of the Faculty of Advocates. As the House will know, Her Majesty the Queen has approved the appointment of Neil Davidson, QC, as Advocate-General from 21 March. I am told that since 1 March, 59 devolution issues have been intimated to the Advocate-General.
Answered by
Lord Darling of Roulanish (Labour)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
28 March 2006
Reference
444 c666
House
House of Commons
I can correct the hon. Lady on one point: Neil Davidson is a Member of the House of Lords. Unless I am very much mistaken, he was introduced about 20 minutes ago. If I am wrong and a message comes from the other place, I will happily stand corrected—and I will want to know why, as well. In relation to her other point, I am not aware of people being excluded. Clearly, the conduct of affairs in the Scottish courts is a matter for the Scottish Executive and the Lord Advocate. If there is a problem, I will certainly look into it, but I am not aware of one.
Answered by
Lord Darling of Roulanish (Labour)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
28 March 2006
Reference
444 c666
House
House of Commons
I shall pass on the hon. Gentleman's good wishes. I think that I am right in saying that the new Advocate-General specialised in human rights legislation when he was in private practice, so I am sure that he will be only too happy to consider the issue from the other side of the fence. In relation to the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill, I am aware of the general concern in the House and outside it. The objective was to try to introduce legislation that would make it easier to get rid of what might loosely be called red tape. It is also important, though, to make sure that we have a correct balance between doing that and having proper safeguards. I understand that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office is reflecting on that at the moment.
Answered by
Lord Darling of Roulanish (Labour)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
28 March 2006
Reference
444 c666-7
House
House of Commons
What recent assessment he has made of the relationship between the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament. [54030]
Asked by
Greg Hands (Conservative)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Oral questions - Lead
Status
Answered
Date
28 February 2006
Reference
443 c117; 54030
House
House of Commons
The relationship is strong and constructive.
Answered by
Lord Darling of Roulanish (Labour)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
28 February 2006
Reference
443 c117
House
House of Commons
As the hon. Gentleman is, I think, aware, the number of Scots MPs was reduced at the last general election and the quota is broadly the same. The boundary commission recognised that the Western Isles and the Northern Isles present particular difficulties in terms of reducing the number further, but there is now broad parity between constituencies, even allowing for the problems associated with the geographical spread. However, these are matters for the boundary commission and the Electoral Commission, and they will doubtless keep them under review.
Answered by
Lord Darling of Roulanish (Labour)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
28 February 2006
Reference
443 c117
House
House of Commons
Since 13 December, 91 devolution issues have been raised with the Advocate-General.
Answered by
Lord Darling of Roulanish (Labour)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
24 January 2006
Reference
441 c1292
House
House of Commons
It seems to be true that the nationalists and Liberals are fighting each other for second place in the by-election. Given that it is now clear that the existing Forth bridge will not last as long as people thought, that it would be ridiculous if Fife were left without a bridge, and that most reasonable people think that there ought to be a bridge between Fife and the central belt, it is interesting that the Greens are the only party that says that it is against it, and the Scottish National party wants to go into coalition with the Greens. Therefore, if one votes SNP or Green, one is voting for there not to be a replacement bridge.
Answered by
Lord Darling of Roulanish (Labour)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
24 January 2006
Reference
441 c1292-3
House
House of Commons
What recent devolution issues the Advocate-General has considered. [43214]
Asked by
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Oral questions - Lead
Status
Answered
Date
24 January 2006
Reference
441 c1292; 43214
House
House of Commons
I am glad to hear that devolution is of great interest to the Conservative party—that is one of the many ways in which it tells us that it has changed. As far as the appointment of the Advocate-General to the bench is concerned, I agree with everything that the hon. Lady said, and I am sure that she will miss her—we will remember fondly their exchanges over many years. The appointment of the new Advocate-General is of course a matter for the Prime Minister.
Answered by
Lord Darling of Roulanish (Labour)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
24 January 2006
Reference
441 c1292
House
House of Commons
There are no plans to revisit the Scotland Act through primary legislation.
Answered by
Lord Darling of Roulanish (Labour)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
13 December 2005
Reference
440 c1215
House
House of Commons
I thought that the hon. Gentleman was going to explain his policy on nuclear energy, as we have heard the policy of his hon. Friend the Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (John Thurso). As for the North sea, I drew the attention of the House to the fact that the return on capital is 40 per cent. in the North sea oil sector and 13 per cent. for other non-financial companies. The Chancellor made it clear last week that, having reached a decision, he does not propose to revisit the matter in this Parliament.
Answered by
Lord Darling of Roulanish (Labour)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
13 December 2005
Reference
440 c1216-7
House
House of Commons
No, I do not think that that would be necessary or desirable. I repeat that there are no plans to revisit the Scotland Act through primary legislation. However, I agree strongly with my hon. Friend about the need for a sensible debate on the future generation of electricity not only in Scotland, but throughout the whole United Kingdom. As the Prime Minister has said, that must include a consideration of nuclear energy. I know that many people in the Scottish Parliament have a philosophical objection to that and that others take a more pragmatic view by saying that we must decide how we would deal with nuclear waste. I was interested that the Liberal spokesman, the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (John Thurso), has said publicly that he has an open mind on nuclear energy, which, as I understand it, represents something of a departure from Liberal policy.
Answered by
Lord Darling of Roulanish (Labour)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
13 December 2005
Reference
440 c1215
House
House of Commons
As the House knows, I have many discussions with my right hon. Friend the Chancellor about a range of matters. On North sea oil taxation, it is necessary to strike the right balance between oil producers and consumers. We want to promote exploration in the North sea—indeed, there has been considerable exploration over the past few years—but it must be borne in mind that the return on capital was forecast to be 40 per cent. for oil companies in 2005 compared with just 13 per cent. for other non-financial companies. The Government have also said that they are committed to making no further increases in North sea oil taxation in the lifetime of this Parliament and have introduced additional incentives to help exploration. I recall that, in 2002, when we last changed the oil taxation regime for the North sea, the hon. Gentleman predicted the end of exploration as we knew it. Since then, exploration has increased and North sea oil activity has proved to be remarkably robust. He is ever the opportunist and ever ready to make the wrong calls, and it is not just us who believe that, but, increasingly, members of his own party.
Answered by
Lord Darling of Roulanish (Labour)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
13 December 2005
Reference
440 c1215-6
House
House of Commons
I agree. It is entirely right and long overdue that the Scottish Parliament should be far more representative of the Scottish population, and I am pleased that our party led the way in making sure that that was the case. The Conservative Front Bench gives a misleading impression of Scottish Tories. While I am delighted to see both the hon. Member for Epping Forest (Mrs. Laing) and the hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell), there is only one Conservative MP in Scotland, so there is considerable gender imbalance. I see in the press that, no matter what the new Tory leader says about having more women candidates, that policy will not apply in Scotland.
Answered by
Lord Darling of Roulanish (Labour)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
13 December 2005
Reference
440 c1217
House
House of Commons
Talking of alliances, I noticed that the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond) was on the same platform as the Greens and the Scottish Socialists, who want to shut down the North sea completely—as well as capitalism. He has been building an odd pro-business alliance, and as I said, he keeps making the wrong calls. I agree with my hon. Friend. I see no need to reopen the Scotland Act and it is not the Government's intention to do so.
Answered by
Lord Darling of Roulanish (Labour)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
13 December 2005
Reference
440 c1216
House
House of Commons
Whether he plans to amend the Scotland Act 1998.
Asked by
Anne Moffat (Labour)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Oral questions - Lead
Status
Answered
Date
13 December 2005
Reference
440 c1215; 35557
House
House of Commons
Before answering that question, I should mention that I am a non-practising member of the Faculty of Advocates. As it is more than 18 years since I last practised, I am probably a bit rusty on the law. I understand that since 5 July—the last time that the hon. Lady asked this question—the Advocate-General has had 228 devolution issues intimated to her.
Answered by
Lord Darling of Roulanish (Labour)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
18 October 2005
Reference
437 c683
House
House of Commons
What recent devolution issues the Advocate-General has considered.
Asked by
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative)
Answering body
Scotland Office
Oral questions - Lead
Status
Answered
Date
18 October 2005
Reference
437 c683; 17062
House
House of Commons