Chamber and committees

Legal costs paid to date total£109,034.81 net of VAT.

The investigation and prosecutionof crime is a matter for the police, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Serviceand the Lord Advocate. If there is credibleand reliable information that a crime has been, or is to be committed, it is forthe police to investigate. If they secure sufficient evidence for considerationof criminal proceedings, the police will report the result of their investigationto the procurator fiscal. If anyone has specific information concerning criminalactivities which have taken place, are taking place, or are about to take placethey should take that information to the police.

Yes.

A motion for expenses was heardby Lord Hodge in the Court of Session on 9 March 2006.He reserved his judgement and the timing of that judgement is a matter for the Court.

Section 133 of the CriminalJustice Act 1988 provides that the Scottish ministers shall pay compensation incases where a conviction is reversed on the ground that a new or newlydiscovered fact shows beyond reasonable doubt that there has been a miscarriageof justice. In addition, ministers may be prepared to make an ex gratia paymentof compensation following a wrongful conviction or charge where this hasresulted from serious default on the part of a member of a police force or someother public authority. There may also be exceptional circumstances that justifycompensation in cases outside these categories.

In all cases, claims forcompensation are considered by the Scottish ministers following receipt ofapplications from individuals. If an application is accepted as a valid claim,the amount of compensation paid is determined by an independent assessor. Theassessment is based on a Memorandum prepared by the Justice Department,compiling information submitted by the applicant, other relevant papers andtaking account of comments from the applicant. In considering claims, theassessor applies principles analogous to those on which claims for damagesarising from civil wrongs are assessed. The assessor also has the power torecommend interim payments to applicants where they provide evidence ofimmediate need.

Under the statutory scheme the Scottish ministers have no power to varythe determination. In ex gratia claims the assessor's role is strictly toadvise ministers of the amount to be paid, but ministers have agreed previouslyto be bound by the assessor's recommendation.

Information on claims forcompensation prior to 1999 when Scottish ministers assumed responsibility for theoperation of the compensation schemes is not readily available and could onlybe obtained at disproportionate cost. The following table shows the number ofapplications at each stage in the process since 1999.

Number of Applications	18
Eligibility Determined	7
Application rejected	1
Cases Completed	2
Assessor Determining Final Payment	4
Interim Payments Made	3
Decision Pending on Validity	11
of which pending legal opinion	7

 

It is Executive policy notto disclose the amount of compensation paid to individual applicants withoutthe express permission of the applicant. Since 1999 the Executive has paid £1,456,067in compensation to successful applicants.

These are matters for theForth Estuary Transport Authority and the Tay Road Bridge Joint Boardrespectively, as they own and operate these bridges.

This is a matter for the TayRoad Bridge Joint Board which owns and operates the bridge.

Information on traffic flowsand traffic growth on the Bridges, including daily trends and variations, is shownat section 4 of the Tolled Bridges Review: Phase One Report, published bythe Scottish Executive, a copy of which is available in the Scottish ParliamentInformation Centre (Bib. number 34847).

Annual vehicle crossing figures(thousands) at each of the tolled bridges is as follows:

Bridge	1984	1994	2004
Erskine	4,327	6,865	10,020
Forth	12,001	18,994	23,562
Tay	5,211	7,198	8,929
Skye	n/a	n/a	769

Source: Scottish Transport StatisticsNo.14 - 1995 Edition and Scottish Transport Statistics No.24 - 2005 Edition

Note: The Skye Bridge crossingopened in October 1995. Vehicle crossings in the first full year of operation (1996)totalled 612,000.

I refer to the answer toquestion S2W-23439 on 7 March 2006. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility forwhich can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

This is a reserved matter.However the freehold ownership of virtually all unworked coal is vestedthroughout the UK in the Coal Authority, a non departmental publicbody which was established upon privatisation of the British Coal Corporationin 1994. Royalties, or production related rents, payable to the Authority bythe operators licensed to extract that coal varies between sites. There is noprovision in the relevant legislation which would allow the authority tohypothecate production related rent receipts for investing in miningcommunities. However, further information can be obtained from the authority atthe following address: 200 Lichfield lane, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, NG18,4RG.