Chamber and committees

Regional Procurators Fiscal are required to visit offices in their regions when they will aim to meet all staff. They also hold regular meetings with local fiscals. Regional Procurators Fiscal and senior staff will also endeavour to meet all staff when it is important to take forward key initiatives such as the response to a recent Pressure Audit report and the Scottish Health at Work initiative.

Information has been sought from every Procurator Fiscal's Office and Crown Office Headquarters about the number of computer workstations (PCs) required by staff. Our policy is to provide all members of staff, who need them, with direct access to a PC on their desks. The department currently has approximately 1,300 PCs for use by staff.

The survey was commissioned to provide systematic information about the pressure on staff in the department. The results have been made available to staff and trade unions and, in confidence, to the Justice 2 Committee in order to inform the committee's enquiry into the department.The report will not be published but management will use the information, working in partnership with staff and trade unions, to address the managerial, structural and cultural issues facing the department as they take forward the recommendations of the review, published on 4 March 2002.

Most legal staff in promoted posts have responsibility for managing the workload and reporting on performance of their subordinates. Two main training courses are provided: one covers topics such as teambuilding, managing teams, time management and motivation. The other deals with performance management including diversity and equal opportunity issues. In addition, legal staff with responsibility for preparing annual appraisal reports on their staff are required to undertake appropriate training.

The Future Office System (FOS) is intended to enable case marking and summary processing work to be carried out almost entirely electronically. The software programmes will permit standardisation of procedures, thereby increasing consistency, reducing the potential for errors and producing high quality case documentation. FOS should provide better management information, faster processing of initial court documentation, speedier notification of decisions to our criminal justice partners and reductions in administrative effort.

The Rural Stewardship Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2001 set out the legal framework within which the Rural Stewardship Scheme is operated. Additional guidance on the operation of the scheme is set out in the scheme literature, which includes the Explanatory Booklet and the forms which accompany this. The Scottish ministers are considering whether any changes should be made to the way in which the scheme is operated, in the light of the experience of the first year of operation.The Rural Stewardship Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2001 are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 16006). The Rural Stewardship Scheme Explanatory Booklet and forms are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 19601).

The Scottish Executive has no function in relation to the health and safety implications of the European Commission's proposed Physical Agents directives.The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including health and safety.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The STOP programme has been delivered since 1993 in four sites. Such detailed information is not readily available.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The STOP programme has been delivered since 1993 in four sites. Such detailed information is not readily available.

Specific quantitative assessments of the impact on the economy in the Pathfinder areas have not been commissioned. Such assessments are not straightforward as indicated in UK Online: the broadband future, a report to the Prime Minister published in February 2001. The report noted that quantifying the benefits of broadband "is not feasible at present, but evidence from the US and advice from UK industry suggests that it is likely that they will be a significant factor in determining national competitiveness over the coming years". Pathfinder areas were selected on the basis that the market is unlikely to meet anticipated demand under current conditions, including procurement practices.