What progress has been made with its policy on the location and relocation of public service jobs in Scotland.

We have already announced the establishment of the Food Standards Agency in Aberdeen, and have completed the relocation of the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department of the Scottish Executive to Glasgow. The First Minister's Answer of 15 September 1999 (S1W-1558, Mr Duncan McNeil MSP) set out the criteria we would use for determining the location and relocation of public sector jobs. The answer stressed the importance of operational effectiveness and of costs, and the need to take account of the position of the staff concerned; and it highlighted circumstances in which we would address alternative locations outside Edinburgh for blocks of work.We will be considering during this summer whether a number of bodies covered by the policy which occupy premises in Edinburgh with a property breakpoint arising by 2004 meet the relocation criteria, and whether we should then proceed to scrutinise options in greater detail. In doing so we will have regard to the aims of the policy and the position of staff, and we will seek the views of their trade union representatives and of the management of each organisation. At all times we will ensure that the interests of Scotland as a whole, the efficiency of government, and the delivery of high quality services to the public are central to our consideration. We will be undertaking preliminary examinations of these organisations' circumstances in order to consider whether the option of relocation should be examined further or in detail. We will make a further announcement about the conclusions of this preliminary work in the autumn. Thereafter, we will examine on a case-by-case basis those bodies it is appropriate to include in such an analysis. In the course of any detailed appraisals that follow there will be opportunities for representations to be made about different locations. There will also be full consultation with the organisations concerned and with the relevant trades unions. The organisations concerned are as follows:The Common Services Agency of the National Health Service in Scotland
The Crown Office Management Services Group
The Health Education Board for Scotland
Registers of Scotland
The Scottish Arts Council
The Scottish Council for Post-Graduate Medical and Dental Education
The Scottish Executive Inquiry Reporter's Unit
The Scottish Public Pensions Agency
Sportscotland
The First Minister's answer indicated a presumption against an Edinburgh location for new bodies. We will therefore also be examining where to locate two new bodies which are in the course of establishment. These are the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care and the Scottish Social Services Council. The presumption against location in Edinburgh also applies to the formation of the Public Guardian's Office from the Office of the Accountant of Court.Finally, a scientific review has been initiated to investigate the feasibility of locating the scientific work of the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency at a site adjacent to the Scottish Crop Research Institute near Dundee. Should this study suggest that such a move would be feasible, then the agency would be considered along the same lines as the other existing organisations listed above.Our aim is to take the policy forward in an open, careful and systematic way, and thereby ensure that the process of Government, the services we provide and the interests of Scotland benefit from sound decisions about the location of the Executive's work.