Chamber and committees

Details of consented reserves of opencast coal is available from the British Geological Survey at http://www.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsuk/statistics/occ/home.html.

Information on other reserves is not available.

The Scottish Executive has not had any discussions with Her Majesty’s Government about the impact of the creation of an oil fund from revenues secured by North Sea oil. North Sea Revenues are collected centrally at the UK level and the powers to introduce an oil fund are currently reserved to Westminster. Even if we allocate all North Sea revenues to Scotland, latest Scottish Executive figures show that under current arrangements Scotland runs a significant fiscal deficit.

Under Section 36(1) of the Electricity Act 1989, consent of Scottish ministers is required to build any new generating station, including a nuclear power station, over 50 mega watts.

None.

Question S2W-22402 on 10 Februaryasked, among other things, “whether consultants were involved” in a review of LocalEconomic Forums. As indicated in the answers to questions S2W-22402 and S2W-23619on 13 March 2006, the Executive is not reviewing the existence of Local EconomicForums.

The term “this does not involveconsultants” was intended to make clear that consultants are not being used by the Executive in any capacity relating to Local Economic Forums.

Information relating to the proceedingsof the Scottish Cabinet is considered exempt from disclosure under sections 29 (a)and (b) and 30(a) and (b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Proposals under A Pictureof Health are the subject of public consultation which is due to end on 28 April 2006. WhenNHS Lanarkshire comes to a view on these matters, their proposals will come tome for a final decision. I will want to be assured that the proposals areconsistent with Delivering for Health and to be satisfied as to theadequacy of public engagement and consultation.

The Scottish AmbulanceService has been attending meetings with NHS Lanarkshire and will make thenecessary arrangements to support whichever service configuration is put inplace.

The Scottish Executive and the Scottish Funding Council are committed to promoting entrepreneurial education andencouraging higher education institutions to provide opportunities for studentsto obtain work experience and business skills However, institutions are autonomousbodies and are individually responsible for the content and nature of the coursesthey offer.

The Scottish Institute for Enterprise(SIE), core funded by the Scottish Funding Council, has led on developing enterprisecourses in Scotland’s universities since 1999. In recent years its has greatlyexpanded the range of courses and increased the number of students who can benefitfrom them, to cover all Scotland’s universities. These courses help students and researchersto develop management and business skills such as team-building, problem-solving,presentation skills and teamwork. The institute is currently working with the UKScience Enterprise Centres and the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurshipto develop an Enterprise Educators training and Masterclass programme. The SIE hasassisted in the drive for all higher education institutions to establish their owncommercialisation offices, with links to the national SIE network of support. Furtherdetails can be found in A Science Strategy for Scotland 2001:ProgressReport, published 20 February 2006 at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/science/16607/5910.

The Solicitor General will attendCabinet when the Lord Advocate is not able to do so.

Information relating to the proceedingsof the Scottish Cabinet is considered exempt from disclosure under Sections 29 (a)and (b) and 30(a) and (b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

The Scottish Executive is committedto promoting science communication education. Whilst institutions are individuallyresponsible for the content and nature of courses on offer, there is evidence thatprogress is being made by a range of differenttraining providers, developing a number of options, including modules provided withinscience degrees; degrees focusing on science communication, and other communicationopportunities provided by bodies actively involved in complementary science education,including the Science Centres. The Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh and theEdinburgh International Science Festival provide training opportunities which includemodules within degrees and hands-on training placements. Information on the numbersof students enrolled on such courses is not held centrally. Further details canbe found in A Science Strategy for Scotland 2001:Progress Report,published February 2006, a copy of which is available on the web at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/science/16607/5910.