Chamber and committees

As explained in my response to question S1W-12677 on 14 February, sportscotland has offered to fund an independent review of the Camanachd Association. The Association's response was to reject the offer and instead propose that an independently chaired working party be set up to look at the differences between it and sportscotland. sportscotland rejected this approach because of concerns that a working party would focus on the issue of the Camanachd Association's core funding, an issue on which a decision has already been taken.An independent review of the Camanachd Association would be wide ranging and its aim would be to ensure the long term success of shinty and the viability of the Association. The cost of a review would be approximately £10,000. sportscotland would not consider redirecting the one off costs of a review to the Camanachd Association's core grant as there is presently no basis on which to increase the Camanachd Association's core funding. sportscotland's offer of an independent review remains on the table. The way forward for the Camanachd Association and the sport of shinty is to accept the offer.

Personal Medical Services contracts are designed to meet local needs and the local services which will be provided to meet those needs. The level of GP remuneration will be determined locally, on the basis of the local services to be provided.

During 1999 and 2000, officials within the Scottish Executive Road Network Management and Maintenance Division gave advice to Scottish planning authorities on 1250 planning applications some of which would have included requests for new accesses onto trunk roads. The determination of these planning applications then rests with the relevant local planning authority. Generally, proposals for new accesses to trunk roads are assessed by the Executive and relevant local planning authority, on a case by case basis. The benefits and costs of trunk road access are carefully assessed, (with particular regard to the likely impact on accidents and traffic flows), alongside those of the alternative options available to meet the developers' needs.

It will be for the existing and incoming operators to decide whether there is a need for workers to be made redundant. The tender documents do not require that all existing staff be retained. Our current expectation is that the TUPE Regulations will apply.

The award of contracts will secure the continuity of the levels of service of winter maintenance required by the Scottish Executive.

Employment of existing staff and workers is a matter to be resolved between the existing and new operators and staff and their Unions. During the tender period, existing employers circulated lists of staff involved. The Scottish Executive is not aware of what notice and information has been given to employees by the several operators.

The Scottish Executive recognised at the outset that the comments made in Construction News on 9 November were inaccurate. The Executive issued letters to concerned councils to advise them that the articles were without foundation as no decision had at that time been taken.

There is a potential risk to water courses from leachate. Accordingly modern landfill sites are operated to minimise water ingress and leachate is extracted and treated to a high standard before being discharged. New landfill sites will be regulated by the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations 2000 and will have to meet the conditions in the EC Landfill Directive, which requires sites to be situated and designed so as to meet the necessary conditions for preventing the pollution of soil, groundwater or surface water.

If an application for planning permission for a landfill site at Mid-Lairgs were to be made, the National Waste Strategy: Scotland and National Planning Policy Guidelines would be important factors in its determination by the local authority. The application would also be accompanied by an environmental impact assessment which, amongst other things, would examine the risk that the proposed site posed to the River Nairn. In addition the site would be regulated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency under the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations 2000 and would have to meet the conditions in the EC Landfill Directive. The Directive requires sites to be situated and designed so as to meet the necessary conditions for preventing the pollution of soil, groundwater or surface water.

The Brankley landfill site has been discounted by epidemiologists as the source of the virus. The virus is a type O Asian strain and has been imported, possibly in infected meat products. Work continues to identify possible routes with which the virus has gained entry. The source farm currently is thought to be a pig farm at Burnside, Heddon on the Wall.