Rampant Scotland Directory! You will find links here to government at Westminster, the Scottish parliament, European Parliament, the Scottish Office and Agencies. Local government is here as well together with the political parties and pressure groups.
Government|
A wide ranging site which not only describes the Parliament Buildings and the Members of the Scottish Parliament following the Election Results. Scottish Parliament Live streams live video of all the Parliament's business - the Main Chamber and all the committees - offering what may be the best Parliamentary webcasting service in the world. The Westminster Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Welsh Assembly also have their own Web sites. The government of Scotland (previously known as "Scottish Executive") has its own Web pages with information on Ministers and Press Releases and information on such aspects as: Formerly called "The Scottish Office" this is Westminster's Scottish arm. Their pages provide pages on News and Media (including press releases) and Scotland's Devolution Settlement available from the Scotland Office. UK government public services are all in one place via this portal. This website is part of a campaign organised by the Scottish Executive to tackle and eliminate racism. It describes the history of the many migrations to Scotland (including a migration timeline), the experiences of those who now live here and future demographic change. There are also sections on Minority Ethnic Communities in Scotland, Refugees and Asylum Seekers and the Race Equality Scheme. Lots of information on Europe and the European Union with links to the Brussels Parliament and the European Commission's own Web sites. There are factsheets, news and press releases and information on the UK Members of the European Parliament. Local Government in Scotland was reorganised on 1 April 1996 (no jokes, please) and the new council areas are shown on a large (200kb) active map. However, each new council also has its own individual map - providing the most detailed maps of Scotland currently available on the Web. There is also a wealth of key statistics about the new council areas. Individual Local Authorities have set up their own Web sites:
COSLA is the co-ordinating body for Scottish local authorities. The site gives information on all the Scottish councils, council leaders, chief executives and civic heads as well as the current work of the Convention. The Government Agency charged with expanding the Scottish economy and prosperity. This is the partnership of Scottish Office/Scottish Enterprise and Scottish business with a representative office in Brussels.
In the north of Scotland HIE carry out a similar function to that of Scottish Enterprise in the rest of the country - in area, it covers more than half of Scotland. Communities Scotland works on behalf of Scottish Executive Ministers to promote social justice and tackle exclusion through the delivery of sustainable community regeneration. Building on the success of Scottish Homes and the Area Regeneration Division of the Scottish Executive, they have a broader remit which centres around the three main areas of regeneration, investment and performance and regulation and inspection. The Web site covers social inclusion partnerships, research, Local Housing Strategy and the Scottish House Condition Survey.
The Scottish Council Development and Industry is an independent, broadly based membership organisation which seeks to influence, shape and improve Scotland’s economy through the innovative, non-partisan public policies and the delivery of market driven services (trade missions are a particular strength of SCDI). Business Enterprise Scotland (BES) is the co-ordinating body for the 20/30 Local Enterprise Trusts in Scotland. The Trusts promote economic development within their areas, often by providing training and support services for those starting up in business for the first time.
The Commissioner is responsible for enforcing and promoting the right to access information held by public authorities, created by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004, both of which came into force on 1 January 2005. The Act and the Regulations give anyone, anywhere in the world, important rights to access the information held by more than 10,000 public authorities in Scotland. The Web site provides helpful guidance on your rights and how to access public information.
Scottish Trade International's site describes the services and assistance given to exporters by STI, contacts and key facts about Scottish exports (such as 38% of all PC's made in Europe are manufactured in Scotland).
SDI offers help and advice to companies looking for investment locations in Scotland for their business and provides a range of services for businesses thinking about entering the overseas market.
Scotland led the field in setting up a compulsory public system showing transmissions of interests in land. An Act of the Scots Parliament of 1617 set up the Register of Sasines. The purpose of the register was to make available to the public details of transactions in land. Their web site now provides a free House Price Search covering all of Scotland’s property prices. There are also Quarterly and Weekly Housing Market Statistics. The survey is designed to provide accurate, up-to-date information about the characteristics, attitudes and behaviour of Scottish households and individuals on a range of issues. The website provides some background to the survey, to keep interested parties up-to-date with the progress of the survey and to provide summary information on the outcomes from the survey as the results become available.
The Scottish Business Information Service ( SCOTBIS )is part of the National Library of Scotland providing a national business information service to the Scottish community and beyond. It holds an extensive range of resources, with a particular emphasis on company and market information. Users can access the business resources in person in the General Reading Room of the Library's George IV Bridge building or by e-mail.
The Federation is a nationwide lobby group committed to the interests of all small businesses. They have a Scottish-based operation supporting their members in Scotland. The site provides an introduction to the Federation - and web pages accessible to members only. Young Enterprise Scotland (YES) is an education business partnership activity offering young people who are still at school, or college, the opportunity to form and run their own companies to develop enterprise and personal skills through "learning by doing". The site explains how to participate in YES. Part of the Scottish Tourist Board site, Convention Scotland assists organisers of conferences to plan for their event in Scotland. The site provides a point of contact, information on 240 venues of various sizes and locations and further brochures are obtainable, on request. NHS Health Scotland is the national agency for improving the health of the country's population. They are a Special Health Board within NHS Scotland. Their work covers every aspect of health improvement, from gathering evidence, to planning, delivery and evaluation, and spans the range of health topics, settings and life stages.
Councils for Voluntary Service (CVS) is the generic name for the local infrastructure bodies for the voluntary sector in Scotland. CVS exist to support voluntary action at local level. This site has links to local CVS organisations. |
Politics|
The full Scottish Parliamentary Election Results are available at the BBC Web Site Although these Web pages are biased towards the Scottish Nationalist viewpoint, with many pithy quotations, there are Election Results for the Westminster Parliament, the Scottish Members of Parliament and the Scottish Members of European Parliament. In addition, there are useful reference sections on the House of Commons 1983-present. There are Web sites for the Scottish Political Parties. The Scottish Labour Party and Scottish Liberal Democrat Party formed a coalition government from 1999 until they were ousted by the Scottish National Party in the May 2007 election. The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party and the Scottish Green Party are also on-line. The Scottish Socialist Party says it "stands proudly behind the banner of Socialism, for an end to the chaos of the capitalist system." Independence First is a non-party political group which has been set up to campaign for a referendum on Scotland's independence. Meanwhile, Alba Branch of the Celtic League campaigns for Scotland's right to choose independence, its Gàidhlig language and also on various other human rights, political and environmental issues. There is a Scottish section of UKIP (the UK Independence Party - i.e. independent from Europe). The Houses of Parliament at Westminster has a Web site which includes the full texts of the debates from Hansard. The search facility allows browsers to find items of specific relevance to Scotland. UNISON Scotland is the public service union representing 150,000 members delivering Scotland's services. A Force for Good provides articles, arguments and information which help to make the case for the pro-UK cause. Better Together presented the more official case for the "No Thaanks" campaign. The Scots Independence Tour, as the name might suggest, strongly puts forward the case for an independent Scotland, with items on Scottish Oil, Act of Union 1707, the Declaration of Arbroath and the Stone of Destiny. Siol nan Gaidheal otherwise known as the Scottish Cultural and Fraternal Organisation is "an Ultra-Nationalist organisation which exists to assert the historical sovereignty of the Scots, and in so doing advance the cause of full Scottish independence." The web pages set out their principles, including ideas on an Independent Scottish Defence Force, The White Settler Phenomonen and the Knights Templar.
|
Where else would you like to go in Scotland?
