Chamber and committees

The Historic Scotland publication Passed to the Future which I launched on 15 April sets out the Scottish Executive's policy for the sustainable management of the historic environment. It emphasises the importance of retaining and, where appropriate, re-using existing structures and traditional materials. Copies of the publication are available through the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 22227) or the Scottish Executive and Historic Scotland websites.

Historic Scotland, an Executive Agency of the Scottish Executive, is accountable to Scottish ministers. It carries out consultation exercises from time to time on behalf of Scottish ministers to assist us in the formulation of policy. In addition, Historic Scotland consults external interests and members of the public as a matter of good practice on many operational matters.

The Scottish Executive recognises the value of the investment made by private owners in securing the conservation of the built heritage and, through Historic Scotland, works in partnership with both private and other public funding agencies.The historic building repair grants scheme, administered by Historic Scotland, provides financial help for the repair and conservation of building of outstanding architectural or historic interest. Resources from the scheme generally work in harness with other sources of funding. In 2001-02, grants amounting to £7.3 million were awarded and were successful in attracting £6.2 million of private investment and £21.7 million from other public funding sources.

Since 1 April 2001, ministers and the Executive have received five complaints about Historic Scotland's approach to its work.

The Scottish Executive has no plans to carry out such an investigation.

I understand that the boards of management of each college have considered the reports on the due diligence process and have formally agreed to proceed with the merger. I also understand that the colleges have put in place the necessary robust arrangements by which the merger process can be taken forward.

One applicant has received an interim award of compensation under the statutory compensation scheme. The case has not been concluded and the final amount of the award has not yet been determined by the Independent Assessor. Two further cases have been considered in terms of the statutory compensation scheme and subsequently for an ex-gratia award. Both have been refused. In addition, one further case was refused a statutory award of compensation but remains under active consideration for an ex-gratia award.

One person has claimed successfully for an ex-gratia award of compensation for a miscarriage of justice in the last five years. In the interests of successful claimants Scottish ministers do not normally disclose the pecuniary value of awards to individuals, nor are claimants identified by name. Not all applicants who apply for compensation specify whether they are seeking a statutory award or an ex-gratia payment. In addition to the successful claimant referred to above, two other applications were considered for ex-gratia payments following consideration under the statutory scheme but were refused. A further application remains under active consideration.

The statutory provisions governing the preparation of structure plans are contained in sections 6 to 10 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. Section 9 sets out the steps a local authority must follow when preparing an alteration to, or replacement of, a structure plan.

The Scottish Public Pensions Agency has identified 13,336 former members who will be eligible for a share of the surplus.