Chamber and committees

There will be no loss of revenue. The additional cost of £19.4 million will be met through a small supplement (0.6 pence or 1.3%) on the poundage for properties with a rateable value above £25,000.

No. The information requested is not held centrally.

Responsibility for licensing the keeping of signal crayfish rests with Scottish ministers. The relevant legislation, the Import of Live Fish (Scotland) Act 1978, makes provision for allegations of keeping without a licence to be investigated by an officer of the Customs and Excise, a police constable or a person authorised by Scottish ministers.

District courts deal with relatively minor offences and therefore have limited sentencing powers in respect of custody. In the year 2001, only 1% of all cases dealt with by district courts resulted in a custodial sentence. Community Service Orders are, however, defined by statute as a direct alternative to custody. These factors indicate that Community Service Orders would not be a suitable penalty in the vast majority of cases handled by district courts and that any such extension might put offenders convicted of relatively minor offences at risk of custody. The Scottish Executive therefore considers that it would be inappropriate to make Community Service Orders available to the district court.

An environmental assessment was included in evaluation of the Central Science Laboratory's application for authorisation for an experimental permit.This permit was granted under the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986 (as amended), which requires all pesticides to have gained approval before they can be advertised, sold, supplied, stored or used. The regulations do not allow for the publication of details of the assessments of experimental permits and the information supplied in support of an application for such a permit must be treated as confidential. However, the Central Science Laboratory, as the holder of the experimental permit and data owner, has agreed to make the evaluation available, subject to the removal of commercially confidentially information. Once such information is removed I will arrange for copies to be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre. A summary of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides' consideration of the application can be found at http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/committees/acp/ACP_293_mins.htm.

Between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2002, the Scottish Ambulance Service made 548 journeys transferring patients from the Garrick Hospital in Stranraer to Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary.

Scottish ministers authorised the issue of an experimental permit on the advice of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides. This was conveyed to the Central Science Laboratory on 19 August 2002.

Scottish ministers consulted Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) before determining the Central Science Laboratory's application for an experimental permit. SNH separately granted a licence to the Laboratory to interfere with badger setts in order to take measures to protect badgers from coming into contact with T3327 during the trial period.The Scottish Environment Protection Agency was not notified. Advice on the possible environmental effects of the trial was given to Scottish ministers by the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency.

An environmental assessment was included in the Central Science Laboratory's application for authorisation for an experimental permit. It included an assessment of the risks posed to the environment and to non-target species, and the methods of minimising such risks.Since baits were removed after the trial and the formulation of T3327 used in the trial is designed to biodegrade rapidly, there will be no significant or long-term contamination to the environment.

This is an operational matter for the Central Science Laboratory. I understand, however, that Dumfries and Galloway Council was not notified about the trial because the trial did not appear to impact on its interests.