Chamber and committees

The National Farmers' Union Scotland has made a number of representations to the Executive since this issue was the subject of a ruling in the European Court of Justice in 2000.In response to a further decision by the English High Court last year, we made a commitment to Scottish farmers that they would not be disadvantaged compared to farmers in England and Wales. This means that Scottish claims penalised previously because land had been in temporary grass in the year preceding set-aside will now be paid. I am pleased to confirm that this includes paying compensation, in lieu of interest, to such cases.

Potential safety issues on the trunk road network are dealt with by the Performance Audit Group issuing hazard notices to the operating company. A hazard notice requires immediate action by the operating company to address the safety problem.No hazard notices have been issued to BEAR in the Highland Council area relating to grass or plants obscuring traffic signs. If such concerns were drawn to the attention of the Executive, they would be investigated and appropriate action would be taken.

A copy of the full minutes was circulated to members of the Holyrood Progress Group, members of the project team and the Clerk/Chief Executive. An extract of the minutes, excluding the private discussions, was circulated to the consultants in attendance, BLL, DLE and EMBT-RMJM Ltd. Following a request for this specific document, a copy of the extract was also issued to a member of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body.

The Scottish Executive monitors BEAR's performance with help from the independent Performance Audit Group (PAG). In some instances contractual obligations have not been met and the Executive has taken the necessary action to ensure that BEAR rectifies the identified problem. (There are currently no on-going concerns regarding the frequency and standard of grass cutting and ground maintenance on the trunk road network.)

BEAR's responsibilities for ground maintenance are specified in the Term contract for the management and maintenance of the Scottish trunk road network, a copy of which is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 16573).BEAR's performance is monitored by the independent Performance Audit Group (PAG) on behalf of the Scottish Executive. PAG recently carried out an audit of BEAR's performance in the Highland Council area and confirmed that the standard of ground maintenance generally complied with the specification. In some instances contractual obligations have not been met and the Executive has taken the necessary action to ensure that BEAR rectify the identified problem.

As noted in the reply to given to question S2W-1214 on , Lord Fraser has made clear his view that he can secure the co-operation of those whom he wishes to question, without a power to compel them to give evidence. It is for Lord Fraser to decide on the conduct of his investigation and to judge what information is to be made public.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 supports reform of the Structural Funds post-2006 to ensure they are targeted where they are most needed following enlargement of the European Union. The debate on the future of European regional policy still has some way to go and we remain fully engaged with the European Commission and others in order to ensure that Scottish interests are taken into account.In the meantime, we are working closely with partners so that current programmes are spent effectively to secure lasting benefits.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-1102 on . 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 announced a decision on scallop technical conservation on 3 July 2003. The announcement included an undertaking to conduct a study into the potential economic impact of a weekend ban on the scallop industry and all key stakeholders, including the Scallop Association, will have the opportunity to be fully involved in the study. A decision on whether to introduce a weekend ban will be taken after that work is complete.Lead responsibility for taking this policy forward rests with ministers, supported as necessary by a range of officials.

The trunk road maintenance contracts specify the level of inspection and maintenance required to be undertaken by the operating companies in respect of cycleways. The Scottish Executive believes these requirements to be adequate having due regard to usage and value for money.The contracts require an annual detailed inspection to be carried out on cycleways, with defects recorded from those inspections forming the basis of prioritised planned programmes of work.The performance of all trunk road operators, including BEAR Scotland Ltd, is independently monitored against their contractual obligations by the performance audit group. BEAR Scotland Ltd has managed the Millennium Cycle Route between Drumochter and Dalwhinnie under the terms of the contract.The Scottish Executive has powers to instruct BEAR Scotland Ltd to carry out additional work on cycleways. The Executive has not used and has no plans to use these powers in relation to the cycle route.