Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government doesnot currently have plans to commemorate this anniversary.

The Scottish Government willdo all it can within our devolved powers to support a sustainable rural postoffice network. I have written to Post Office Ltd urging them to be transparentin their forthcoming consultation and to consider opportunities for trialservice delivery to enhance the future of rural post offices.

I have also written to the Convention of ScottishLocal Authorities encouraging their pro-active co-operation in localconsultation and consideration of future service delivery in conjunction withlocal post offices.

The text of both letters is available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2007/07/18115922.

Scottish Natural Heritage(SNH) currently employs two grey squirrel control officers in South Scotland.Since the discovery, in the Lockerbie area, of a red squirrel with squirrelpoxvirus, SNH has reviewed the strategy for control with advice from relevantexperts and stakeholder organisations in order to identify the most effectiveapproach to limit the spread of the disease and to maintain vigilance for suspectedcases elsewhere. Staffing levels were included in the scope of this review.

The conclusion was that the number of control officers iscurrently adequate but that this would need to be monitored as part of theoverall strategy for grey squirrel control in South Scotland.

Small-scale hydro developerscontinue to gain revenue from Renewables Obligation Certificates issued underthe Renewables Obligation (Scotland).

A Hydro Sub-Group set up bythe Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland will investigate andreport on the potential hydro resource available in Scotland,any constraints on developing this resource, and how such barriers might beovercome. The group held its first meeting in April this year.

My freight grants team are currentlyin dialogue with a number of companies who are in the early stages of developingprojects for the transfer of freight from the A9 to rail. We are hopeful that thesewill come to fruition, as firm grant applications, though ultimately this will dependon commercial decisions by the companies concerned. An award of Freight FacilitiesGrant of £2.3 million was made to Inverness Harbour Trust earlier this year which,although not transferring freight to rail, will remove freight from the A9.

Freight grant funded projectshave removed over 80 million lorry miles from Scotland’s roads, including overfive million lorry miles from the A9 corridor over the last eight years.

No representations in relation to the decision to amalgamate Scottish Regimentshas been made to the UK Government by this administration. Representation was made to the UK Government by the previousScottish Executive but this did not prevent regiment amalgamations. The formationof the Royal Regiment of Scotland took place on 28 March 2006.

The location of the Stone ofDestiny is a matter solely for Her Majesty The Queen, as advised by the Commissionersfor the Safekeeping of the Regalia.

Scottish planningpolicy supports the protection and enhancement of town centres and indicates thatthey should be the first choice for new shopping developments. Other measures tobenefit town centres include our support for Business Improvement Districts pilots,the substantial funding we provide to local government to support a range of localservices including for housing and regeneration, and our commitment to remove orreduce the burden of business rates for small businesses, many of which are locatedin town centres throughout Scotland.

The Scottish Government continuesto support work at a UK-level following the then Prime Minister’s announcement inOctober 2006 that the UK Government would look into providing support for the CouncilTax costs of service personnel on operations overseas. Discussions between officialsfrom the Department of Communities and Local Government and the Ministry of Defence, which also involve officials from the Scottish Executive, are on-going.

Details and timescalesfor our major and important planned road projects can be found on the TransportScotland website at:http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/uploads/documents/Scottish-Motorways-Trunk-Road-Programme-June2007-final.pdf.