Chamber and committees

The Scheme of Charges that determines charges for businesses and households was agreed between Scottish Water and the Water Industry Commissioner on 31 January 2003. The overall level of charges has been set to raise the revenue needed for investment to improve water and waste water services. Scottish ministers have accepted the recommendation from the Water Industry Commissioner that, in principal, charges schemes should reflect the costs of providing the service.

The buying out of Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) Public Finance Initiative (PFI) deal on the development and operation of the Inverness Airport Terminal is not under consideration by Scottish ministers. The contractual parties to the deal are reviewing the PFI structure, to ensure that it continues to be effective in delivering the intended benefits for the operation and development of the terminal and airport. The Scottish Executive fully supports this review. The estimated cost of PFI payments until the end of the contract is based on a (variable) volume based payment multiplied by the estimated passenger throughout. This is applied through a cost model which is subject to commercial confidentiality.HIAL and the Scottish Executive will continue to pursue the development of new routes from Inverness and other HIAL airports through the Interim Route Development Fund and the company's marketing strategy. In the past six months this has resulted in delivery of a new Manchester service and an additional London (Gatwick) service.

It remains the case that the SPCB still regards the details of the amount of fees paid to professional consultants as commercially confidential for reasons given previously and a breakdown of these fees cannot presently be given.

The Executive is committed to working with the scallop industry to protect scallop stocks and to explore the scope for new research in the context of amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP). The Scottish Scallop Advisory Committee, which includes representatives of the scallop industry, Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department, Fisheries Research Services and the Food Standards Agency, is making good progress with the identification and pursuit of appropriate research. We have also allocated Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance funds to an industry-led project to investigate scallop portion sizes in the EU. No final decision has yet been taken by Scottish ministers as to whether the proposed tiered regime for ASP will be implemented in Scotland.

The available information is given in the following table. The statistics on crimes recorded by the police and on court proceedings are not directly comparable as a person may be proceeded against for more than one crime, and a crime may be recorded in one year and proceedings taken in a subsequent year. Charges recorded by the police may also be altered as a result of the judicial process. Causing Death by Dangerous Driving: Crimes Recorded by the Police and Persons Proceeded Against, 1999-2001

	1999	2000	2001
Crimes Recorded by the Police	34	35	32
Persons Proceeded Against in Court1
Total	26	14	21
Charge Proved by Sentence Type
Total	22	11	20
Custody	11	5	12
Other	11	6	8

Note:1. Where the crime was the main crime.

The Scottish Executive will fund 95% of the cost of hardship relief awarded by local authorities for those fish processors with a rateable value not exceeding £50,000, affected by the reductions in whitefish catches. The enhanced contribution will be available from 1 April 2003 for a six-month period. Local authorities can still grant hardship relief to applicants who fall outwith this criteria under the normal terms where the Scottish Executive funds 75% of the cost.Nearly £30 million has been made available over the seven years of the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance programme to assist processors in Scotland. Aid under this programme will continue to be available.The Executive is also considering proposals for an extension to the Fish Processors Action Plan.

Scottish Executive officials have arranged for a director of the private development company to meet with Mr and Mrs McLeod on 13 March 2003. A representative of BEAR Scotland Ltd will also attend the meeting.

The Executive is still awaiting the Commission's proposed amendments to EC Directive 91/625 on the welfare of animals during transport. The proposals are unlikely to be published until some time in May and the National Farmers Union of Scotland will be consulted then.

There has been no change to the estimate of cost as last reported to the Finance Committee. Costs are kept under constant review by the Cost Consultant and by Project Management and reports are made on a fortnightly basis to the Holyrood Progress Group (HPG). In addition, reports are made to the SPCB on a monthly basis and to the Finance Committee quarterly. The next report is due to be made to the HPG on 26 March and to the SPCB during April. There is at present no reason for these reports to be made public, in line with practice to date.

In the financial years, 1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2001-02, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) received a grant of £20,000 per year from the Scottish Executive. This was a contribution given towards the continuing costs of species protection measures under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and it is a matter for the RSPB how these funds were allocated within these areas. This funding ended in March 2002 and it is not anticipated that further funding will be made available to the RSPB from the Scottish Executive for species protection measures.Processing by the RSPB of personal data relating to individuals is subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998. Any query on this issue is a matter for the Office of the Information Commissioner, the body responsible for enforcing the law in this area.