Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive recognises the important contribution rail freight makes to the economy and the environment, and will continue to support the rail freight industry in Scotland through the administration of the Freight Facilities and Track Access Grant schemes. The enhancement of Britain's railway infrastructure is a matter for the Strategic Rail Authority and the Scottish Executive is not aware of any study which has been undertaken to determine the economic benefits of adapting the Nith Valley Line to allow the passage of trains carrying 9 ft 6 in containers.

Information on sports participation is gathered by sportscotland from NFO World Group's (System Three) Scottish Opinion Survey. Participation is defined as having taken part in sport at least once in the four weeks prior to the survey. To smooth out some of the year-on-year fluctuations attributable to sample variations, the figures have been averaged out over three years and are set out in the following table:

Years	% Participation
	Adults 16+	Children 8-15
1987-89	58	n/a
1988-90	58	n/a
1989-91	56	n/a
1990-92	54	n/a
1991-93	56	n/a
1992-94	59	n/a
1993-95	61	n/a
1994-96	60	n/a
1995-97	60	n/a
1996-98	61	n/a
1997-99	63	n/a
1998-2000	65	n/a
1999-01	64	n/a
2000-02	62	99

The Scottish Executive provides grant support to ScotRail in the Dumfries and Galloway Council area. The Scottish passenger rail franchise is currently being re-let, and will begin operation in 2004. The commercial bidding process will determine the level of public sector support to the franchisee. The Scottish Executive also provides grant support to bus operators via Bus Service Operators Grant.There are no plans to review this position.

The Executive provides substantial financial support for the operation of subsidised local bus services through the local government Grant Aided Expenditure mechanism. This support makes available resources for local transport authorities to provide socially necessary services to fill perceived gaps in terms of route coverage and the provision of off-peak and rural services. There are currently no plans to increase this support.

Charges to individual customers are matters for the Water Industry Commissioner and Scottish Water who must agree a charge scheme. Each charges scheme must raise income no more than the revenue cap set by ministers.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34208 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The Radioactive Substances Act 1993 (RSA 93) provides the legal basis for environmental monitoring and, in Scotland, this is the responsibility of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has Crown exemption from RSA 93, and so monitoring is a matter for, and is undertaken by, MoD and its contractors, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL). I understand that details of the environmental monitoring programme are available from DSTL.In response to these recent test firings, the Scottish Executive has asked SEPA to satisfy itself that an appropriate level of environmental monitoring is in place, and to continue its normal liaison with MoD on this matter. We have also written to the Secretary of State for Defence asking that SEPA be provided with all the relevant information it needs.

We have asked Dumfries and Galloway Council, Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and Disclosure Scotland to report on the circumstances of this case from their respective perspectives to see what lessons there are to be learned. We will consider what changes in practice and procedures may be required in the light of the reports.

Planning consent for landfill is a matter for local authorities, and operational permits are a matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Planning applications are not automatically notifiable to the Scottish ministers for the sole reason that they relate to landfill sites, but may be notified because of a variety of other criteria.Five applications for planning permission for landfill sites have been notified to the Scottish ministers during the last five years. The breakdown is as follows:

1998	1
1999	1
2000	0
2001	1
2002	2
2003 to date	0

The Scottish Executive also becomes aware of landfill applications in the event of an appeal to the Scottish ministers against a decision of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, under section 43 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The numbers of such appeals relating to landfills in the last five years are as follows:

1998	2
1999	6
2000	7
2001	6
2002	3

Information regarding distances from settlements is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

There will be no increase in revenue.I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-33792 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.