Chamber and committees

We have so far received 530 responses to the Land Reform White Paper, including one from Highlands and Islands Enterprise. There have been good ideas from all sides on how to make the proposals better, and we shall be making as much use as possible of all of these.I shall be announcing the outcome of this consultation in due course.

The Scottish Tourist Board, working in partnership with other Government agencies, the Area Tourist Boards, the industry itself through the Scottish Tourism Forum and other representative bodies, is best placed to undertake this task.

The bodies concerned are already accountable to Parliament, as described below.Scottish EnterpriseScottish Enterprise is a Non-Departmental Public Body established by the Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990. It reports to the Scottish Parliament through Scottish Ministers. Glasgow Development AgencyThe Glasgow Development Agency (GDA) is one of the 13 local enterprise companies within the Scottish Enterprise area which are contracted to deliver the major part of the projects, programmes and services funded by Scottish Enterprise. The GDA is principally accountable to the Scottish Parliament through Scottish Enterprise. The GDA's accountability to Scottish Enterprise is defined and controlled by an Operating Contract.British Waterways BoardBritish Waterways Board is specified as a cross-border public authority under the Scotland Act 1998. Section 88 of that Act has the effect that UK Ministers must consult Scottish Ministers before making any appointment to the Board and about any functions which might affect Scotland otherwise than wholly in relation to reserved matters. Any report relating to British Waterways Board which is laid before the Houses of Parliament requires to be laid before the Scottish Parliament. Historic ScotlandHistoric Scotland is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Executive Education Department and is directly responsible to Scottish Ministers who in turn are accountable to the Scottish Parliament. Arrangements for the management system of Agencies in general was set out in the written answer to a previous Scottish Parliament Question S1W-696 and is contained in the Written Answers for Wednesday 28 July 1999.

In general, the responsibility for pest control rests with the owner or occupier of a property.

Scottish Natural Heritage is involved in mink control because of the threat the animals pose to natural heritage interests, particularly to ground nesting birds. It is not responsible for measures to prevent depredation of crofters' livestock, nor am I aware that this is a significant problem.To meet natural heritage objectives, Scottish Natural Heritage is currently, with a number of other organisations, participating in the control of mink through funding and oversight of trapping on South Harris and North Uist. It has also commissioned a field survey to establish the number and distribution of mink on the Uists. The results of this survey are expected in January, and at that stage the situation will be reviewed. In the meantime the measures Scottish Natural Heritage is taking are considered adequate.

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government over the range of reserved matters, including those relating to the National Minimum Wage.The independent Low Pay Commission has statutory responsibility for monitoring and evaluating the introduction and impact of the National Minimum Wage and will be considering the submission from the Federation of Small Businesses alongside all others received before reporting to UK Government by the end of this year.

The report by Deloitte & Touche contains information that is commercially sensitive. I will however arrange for a copy of the Executive summary to be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).

This information is not available at present. The British Waterways Board (BWB) is specified as a cross-border public authority and discussions are currently taking place between the Scottish Executive, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and BWB about the transfer of relevant functions to the Scottish Ministers and the amount of grant in aid to be advanced to BWB by the Scottish Executive for its operations in Scotland.

British Waterways is classified as a cross-border public authority under the Scotland Act 1998. Section 88(2)(a) of that Act has the effect that UK Ministers must consult the Scottish Ministers before making any appointment to the Board. Discussions are currently taking place between the Scottish Executive, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and British Waterways about the most appropriate allocation of functions, including appointments to the Board, between Ministers of the Crown and the Scottish Ministers. The present Chairman and board members of British Waterways are listed below:-Dr George Greener (Chairman)David Yorke (Vice Chair)Campbell ChristieSir Neil CossonsCarolan DobsonJane ElvyPaul KingJanet Lewis-JonesPeter Soulsby

I understand that Her Majesty's Government submitted an application to the European Commission for a derogation under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive for the discharge from Aberdeen in February 1998. The UK withdrew the application after discussions with the European Commission and other Member States who indicated that they would not support such a proposal.Ireland also sought derogation for more time to implement treatment for two of their discharges although these applications did not relate to areas of high natural dispersion. It also withdrew its proposal following similar discussions.

The Scottish Office published a map showing high natural dispersion areas around Scotland in October 1998 and I have arranged for a copy to be placed in the Scottish Parliamentary Information Centre. There are no derogations from the requirement for secondary treatment in place for the UK at present. I understand the European Commission has published a map of the European Union showing high natural dispersion areas. There are no derogations shown.