Chamber and committees

The passengers in excess of capacity overcrowding measurement is the responsibility of the Strategic Rail Authority. The Scottish Executive has no locus or powers to intervene.

Officials are in regular contact with senior management at Compaq, both at local and corporate level, to discuss operations at the plant in Erskine. I have recently visited the facility at Erskine and in the US met with senior management of Hewlett-Packard to confirm the Executive's willingness to work with the new company, should the new merger go ahead.

Second homes are not identified separately from other homes receiving a 50% discount. At 3 September 2001 there were 60,319 chargeable dwellings in Scotland subject to a 50% discount. This represents 2.7% of the total number of chargeable dwellings in Scotland.

There are no plans at present to discuss sectarianism in Scotland at a meeting of the British-Irish Council, as the work programme for the council has already been agreed.

Crimes attributed to sectarianism are not separately identifiable within the Scottish Executive's classification of crimes and offences.

Following the success of the Objective 1 Programme that operated between 1994 and 1999, the Prime Minister secured agreement for a special programme for the Highlands and Islands in March 1999. The Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme for 2000-06 was approved by the commission in August 2000. Although the Programme Management Executive, based in Inverness, is responsible for the implementation of the programme we have regular contact with partners through committees.To date grants to the value of about £85 million have been approved for projects under the Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme, this figure reflects the activity under way by approved projects.

The provision of respite and palliative care is the responsibility of local authorities and NHS boards to be determined in line with local need. In 1999 the Scottish Executive doubled the funds available to local authorities for respite care and the support of carers from £5 million per year to £10 million through the Strategy for Carers. The Executive has made available additional resources, rising to £11 million per year, in response to the Royal Commission Report on Long Term Care. By 2003-04 this should increase respite provision across Scotland by 22,000 weeks a year. In 2001 a report Palliative Care for Young People Aged 13 - 24 years provided guidance on helping young people through life threatening and life limiting illness. The next round of funding from the New Opportunities Fund will aim to further develop palliative care for children and adults. I recently announced a grant of £1 million to support the development of a second children's hospice in Scotland.

I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Court Service to respond. His response is as follows:No figures are maintained, to show the frequency with which CCTV systems are used. However, prior to using such systems, the prosecution or defence must first make application to the court. While, in the event the CCTV system may not be required to be used, the number of such applications in the last three years are given in the following table:Applications made to the court for the use of CCTV

	1999	2000	2001
Sheriff Courts	23	11	12
High Court	26	29	27

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-23716.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-23716.