Chamber and committees

Awards under the Lottery Sports Fund have helped provide 35 new pitches (22 synthetic and 13 grass) and upgrade 13 pitches (two synthetic and 11 grass).

A meeting was held by officials of the Justice and Education Departments on 9 March with the Deputy Director of The Holocaust Educational Trust to discuss the Memorial Day arrangements and the production of educational material for schools.

As I indicated on 6 November (question S1W-10937), we are making up to £1.5 million available over the next three financial years to support the delivery of safety training for fishermen in Scotland. Delivery is planned to commence from next April. Other aspects of training may also be eligible for support under the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG).

We will also make available grant funding of up to 40% of eligible project costs to support testing and trials of innovative safety equipment.These measures succeed the Fishing Vessels (Safety Improvements) (Grants) Scheme 1995, which operated on a UK basis and funding for which ended last year.

The EU contribution to the cost of Organic Aid Scheme (OAS) commitments entered into before 31 December 2000 is estimated to be as follows:

2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
£1.47 million	£1.06 million	£0.76 million	£0.05 million

The OAS applications received in 2000, which we expect to approve, will attract EU funding as follows:

2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
£0.73 million	£0.73 million	£0.52 million	£0.36 million

Agri-environment scheme commitments (including the OAS) entered into from 1 January 2001 will be funded from resources generated by the application of modulation to the CAP direct payment schemes. It is anticipated that modulation will generate EU resources for agri-environment schemes as follows:

2002	2003	2004	2005
£5.10 million	£7.30 million	£10.00 million	£12.00 million

The precise amounts will depend on the level of CAP direct payments in each year. The proportion, which will be devoted to the OAS, will depend on the number and value of applications submitted by farmers.

The UK Government is studying all of the BSE Inquiry team's findings with care and their substantive response to the report will be published in the coming months. The Scottish Executive is fully engaged in contributing to this response. The UK Government will provide an update on progress before the end of the year.The Phillips Report is concerned with issues and events relating to animal health and food safety between 1986 and 1996. Strict measures have been introduced since then to prohibit the use of mammalian bone meal in feed for all farmed livestock. The Over Thirty Months Scheme and regulations requiring the removal of specified risk material control both the age and type of bovine material which enters the food chain. These measures are kept under constant review by the Food Standards Agency, which provides the Government with independent advice. The agency has stated that the report does not give rise to any immediate need for new food safety measures.

The Scottish Executive has already discussed with the industry and other interested parties issues arising from the CFP with a view to developing a Scottish perspective to the UK response to the Commission Green Paper on the reform, which is due for publication next spring. I took the opportunity to raise with Commissioner Fischler, when he visited Peterhead recently, the importance we attach to issues like 6-and 12-mile limits, relative stability, the Shetland Box and enhancing the regional dimension of the CFP.

I understand that the European Committee intend to hold an inquiry into the review, and the Executive will be happy to contribute to this.

We propose to introduce a four-year term for councils. This will help councils to plan ahead and to deliver their policy priorities more effectively. The Executive consulted on this issue in our response to McIntosh and found a strong consensus in favour of extending the term from three to four years. Extending the term of councils will complement other initiatives, such as the new finance settlement, and will assist councils in taking a longer-term strategic view.

We propose that future local government elections should be held on the same day as Scottish parliamentary elections. In the local government elections in May 1999 there was a turnout of 59% compared with turnout between 41% and 48% from 1976 to 1995. Such high turnout reinforces the democratic mandate of local government. A combined election will also benefit the elector and offers the convenience of a single trip to the polling station.

This change is part of the process of Renewing Local Democracy and complements other work, such as the power of community initiative and community planning, which should revitalise interest in local issues and local democracy.We wish to implement these beneficial changes at the earliest opportunity. We propose to do this by postponing the next local government elections from 2002 to 2003. These proposals will require Primary legislation and we will look for an early opportunity to legislate.

The day to day management of overcrowding is principally a contractual matter for SSRA. The Scottish Executive will highlight the need to reduce overcrowding on key routes in its "Strategic Priorities for Scottish Passenger Railways" to be issued shortly.

Information on land values by grade of land is not available. The figures in the table below comes from the Valuation Office from the Register of Sasines and relate to sales of land of five hectares or more. The table is based on the date of the sale, defined as the date of completion of the deed transferring the property. There are substantial time lags between this and the date when complete information on the sale becomes available. As a result there are not sufficient land sales data recorded for 2000 to give meaningful results while data for the previous years may be subject to revision as more information becomes available.The table below gives information on land sales by farm type from 1993 to 1999. Grade 1 and Grade 2 land is the best agricultural land and in total cover just over 100,000 hectares in Scotland or around 1% of the total land area and is most likely to be found on cereals, general cropping and horticultural farms.Land Sales by EC Farm Type in Scotland, 1993 to 1999

	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
	£/ha	£/ha	£/ha	£/ha	£/ha	£/ha	£/ha
Cereals	541	481	2,254	4,369	4,213	5,034	5,919
General cropping	1,321	1,050	3,871	4,628	4,038	4,121	6,697
Horticulture	3,159	4,111	3,185	*	5,847	*	*
Pigs & poultry	2,302	2,341	2,997	6,946	3,060	2,197	*
Dairy	2,888	3,142	4,684	5,204	2,715	3,876	3,286
LFA cattle & sheep	2,524	2,805	1,705	1,753	1,322	1,538	2,288
Lowground cattle & sheep	2,904	2,904	2,513	2,782	3,339	4,575	3,339
Mixed	703	2,267	1,817	3,880	1,844	2,517	3,593
Other	1,914	2,120	3,351	1,700	1,310	4,256	17,472
All types	1,622	1,702	2,738	2,837	1,954	2,640	3,959

* means there were no land sales in this category.

Notes: There are a number of factors over and above the quality of the land which can affect the price of farmland:

1. whether the land is fully equipped with farmhouse and steading.

(b) whether the land is sold with vacant possession or has a sitting tenant.

(c) whether the sale is 'genuine' i.e. to a third party, or a family transaction.

(d) whether the land has any significant non-agricultural use.

(e) whether the land contains a dwelling or amenity estate.

(f) whether the land is sold for roads, housing or industry.

(g) whether the land is sold for private or public sector forestry.

(h) whether the land is non-agricultural (e.g. opencast coal mine) but with agricultural potential.

(I) whether the land is existing forestry.

Information on bankruptcies by occupation is not available. The figures in the table come from the Accountant in Bankruptcy and show the number of sequestrations of people employed in the agriculture and horticulture industries in Scotland in each year since 1994 to present. The figures cover employees as well as the self-employed, and so may include people other than farmers.

NUMBER OF SEQUESTRATIONS IN THE AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE INDUSTRIES IN SCOTLAND, 1994-2000

Year	Number of Sequestrations	Number of people involved in sequestrations as a percentage of the total labour force employed in Scottish agriculture.
1994	12	0.018%
1995	13	0.019%
1996	11	0.016%
1997	8	0.012%
1998	15	0.021%
1999	6	0.009%
2000 (as at 9/11/00)	5	0.007%

The number of sequestrations in the Scottish farming industry each year is very small. Most farmers leaving the industry, as a result of financial pressure, do so in an orderly way by selling up and realising their assets.