Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive believes that the case submitted to the UK Government to secure Inverness' access to Gatwick Airport meets the required criteria set out in European Regulations.

It will not be possible for the Executive to operate as if the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill were in force from 25 April 2002 because many aspects of the Freedom of Information regime to be established by the bill are not yet in place. Most notably, the Scottish Information Commissioner is yet to be appointed and will need to be in place before certain preparations begin, for example, the development of publication schemes.In the meantime, the Executive will continue to consider the disclosure of information in accordance with the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information.

The Scottish Executive is bound, by Article 6.1 and 6.2 of Directive 90/220/EEC, to consider whether an application to release a genetically modified organism into the environment does, or does not, comply with the terms set out elsewhere in the directive. Ministers are required to grant consent for a release, where they are satisfied that the application is in compliance with the directive and will not pose a threat to human health or environmental safety. A moratorium or refusal to grant approval would be illegal unless based on sound scientific evidence of potential harm. Scottish ministers discharge their responsibility to base their decisions on sound scientific evidence by referring applications to expert advisory bodies; principally the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE). ACRE examines all relevant material in relation to a proposed release and advises ministers as to whether, in its opinion, the release will pose a threat to the environment. Scottish ministers have powers under Article 6.6 of Directive 90/220/EEC to modify the conditions of, suspend or terminate GM crop trials where, at any time, information becomes available which could have significant consequences for the risks posed by the release. No such sound scientific evidence has emerged which might call into question the safety of any of the Scottish trials.

The Scottish Executive has no plans to meet with other interested parties at this time but will continue to liaise with local stakeholders on the securing of Inverness access to Gatwick Airport.

The Independent Advisory Panel which will consider the UK's nomination for the European Capital of Culture 2008 competition is to be appointed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. At least one person from each of the four countries of the UK will be included on the panel. The Executive, like all of the devolved administrations, has been invited to make suggestions of possible panel members to the Secretary of State, and we have done so.

The Scottish Executive has had no contacts with Scottish Water or North of Scotland Water Authority on the specific issue of a public water supply for Glenborrodale.

The audited report and accounts for the Scottish Transport Group pension schemes in respect of the final accounting period are due to be received by the Executive shortly. The position as regards distribution of the surplus remains as I announced to Parliament on 29 November 2001 (motion S1M-2486).

As at 1 March 2002, the shares of Flour City International were listed for trading on the National Association of Security Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDQ.) The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has no further information about the scale and nature of the company's trading at that time.

The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has confirmed that the process is still under way and is being conducted in a manner consistent with achieving the key objective of the Holyrood construction programme. At this stage and subject to the evaluation of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body's rights and entitlements, litigation may be raised against the parent company. Parties to the contractual arrangements should be aware of relevant documents.

I have asked Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd to place a copy of the report in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 20611).