Chamber and committees

It will be necessary for horse passports to be obtained for all equines in Scotland from 1 January 2004. The main purpose of the passport is to protecthuman health by recording all veterinary medicines that have been administeredto horses that have been identified as destined for the human food chain.

The declaration on horse passports will have been required to have been signed at least six months before a horse is presented at an abattoir. The passport will be examined at the abattoir before the horse is slaughtered to ensure that the declaration stating that the animal is intended for the human food chain has been signed and that no prohibited medicines have been administered or that the withdrawal period for other medicines has been satisfied.

There are three outstanding planning issues relating to Dumfries and Galloway Council's waste management project.1. Aucheninnes landfill site (Dalbeattie): A legal agreement between the council, the applicant and Scottish Natural Heritage in respect of a management and monitoring plan for the site has still to be signed before the council grants planning permission. The timescale for concluding the legal agreement is a matter for the signatories.2. Edingham waste transfer station (Dalbeattie): The applicant has appealed to the Scottish ministers against the council's refusal of planning permission. A public local inquiry has been held and the decision will be issued in due course.3. Locharmoss leachate pipeline (Dumfries): A planning application for a pipeline to remove leachates from the existing landfill site at Locharmoss to the town sewer in Dumfries is currently being processed by the council.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-1711 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.The Scottish Executive expects the assessment process to be completed shortly and an announcement to be made after that.

Dumfries and Galloway Council has been offered capped support of up to £1.27 million per annum from the 1998 Level Playing Field Support (LPFS) fund for this project. The conditions attached for this funding are those which were standard to all projects offered LPFS, as detailed in Finance Circular 16/1997.An application from the Strategic Waste Fund is currently being assessed.

Non-departmental public bodies are responsible for the operation of their own personnel management systems and the monitoring of age discrimination is a matter for them. This discretion is an important element of a public body's "arm's-length" relationship with the Executive and allows a significant degree of flexibility, provided such bodies meet legislative requirements and maintain the standards expected of public sector employers.The Executive is currently undertaking a review of age diversity, including discrimination, in which its agencies will be fully involved. In addition, its agencies are represented on the Scottish Executive working group on age diversity.

In line with best practice, and its equal opportunities and diversity policies, the Executive monitors all applications by age.

The review of the location of Forest Enterprise Scotland was announced on 11 December 2002 and is being conducted in accordance with the Executive's relocation policy. When we announced the review, we said that a decision would be taken by the end of this year. However, we have been anxious to conclude the review as quickly as possible in order to minimise the uncertainty for staff. Following consultation with staff, stakeholders and the unions, the review team has now produced its report and I expect to be in a position to make an announcement in the next few weeks.

A Partnership for a Better Scotland made clear that the Executive would set up a judicially led sentencing commission to review sentencing and make recommendations on: the use of bail and remand;the basis on which fines are determined;the effectiveness of sentences in reducing re-offending;the scope to improve consistency of sentencing, andthe arrangements for early release from prison, and supervision of short-term prisoners on their release.

The laws on bail are under constant review.In 2000 the Parliament enacted the Bail, Judicial Appointments etc (Scotland) Act 2000, which ended the statutory exclusion to the granting of bail by a sheriff, removed the requirement of the accused having to apply for bail and required the court to consider bail for a new offence while the accused is in custody for a previous offence. Also in 2000 we announced a review of the effectiveness of the powers of the courts to impose aggravated sentences for those convicted of offences committed while on bail. Two research projects were commissioned as part of the review. The first was completed in 2002 and the second is due to be completed shortly. We will then consider whether changes to the law or practice in this area are required.More recently we introduced, in the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003, new rights for the Crown to be heard when bail is being sought by a convicted person pending the determination of an appeal by him. And in our document, A Partnership for a Better Scotland: Partnership Agreement setting out the Executive's policies for the next four years we have undertaken to set up a judicially led Sentencing Commission which will as part of its remit review the use of bail and remand.