Chamber and committees

The Graduate Endowment is an integral part of the new student support arrangements introduced for Scottish domiciled students studying full-time higher education courses in Scotland from 2001-02 including bursaries for young students from low income families. Liable graduates pay the graduate endowment in recognition of the higher education benefits they have received, including the financial support provided to the publicly funded institution at which the graduate studied. Because Scottish ministers do not provide financial support to institutions in other parts of the UK in respect of Scottish domiciled students who study there, such students are not liable to pay the graduate endowment. It would not have been fair to young Scottish domiciled students studying in Scotland if we extended the bursary part of the new support arrangements to Scottish domiciled students elsewhere in the UK without also extending liability for the graduate endowment. Under Standing Orders rule 13.5, any member of the Scottish Executive may answer a written question, other than those for the First Minister, Lord Advocate or the Solicitor General for Scotland.

No representative of the Scottish Executive is expected to attend the eSkills Summit. The summit is primarily intended to address issues about the development of high-level, technical Information and Communication Technology skills within Europe. There are no specific Scottish characteristics to these skills. Scottish interests in developing these skills are being addressed through eskills UK, the aspirant Sector Skills Council. There are good links between the Scottish Executive and eskills UK. UK involvement in the preparatory work for the summit, led by officials in the DTI, has sought to ensure that the work of eskills UK is given due weight in the summit.

Four members of the external advisory panel were appointed in May 2000. They are:Phil Goodwin, Professor of Transport Policy, ESRC Transport Studies Unit at University College London. Peter Mackie, Professor of Transport Studies, Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds. Austin Smyth, Professor of Transport Economics, Transport Research Institute at Napier University. Chris Wood, Professor of Environmental Planning, School of Planning and Landscape at the University of Manchester. The panel membership brings to this studyexperience on the Standing Advisory Committee for Trunk Road Assessment (economic development being a key issue in the study area);previous experience of the multi-modal study of the M4 in South Wales (a groundbreaking application of multi-modal appraisal techniques);experience in contributing to the recent Guidance on the Methodology for Multi-Modal Studies commissioned by the UK Government, and a wider European dimension in transport appraisal and Environmental Impact Assessment methodology.Each member of the panel is widely acknowledged as an expert in his particular field.

We have no plans to conduct any inquiry into the use of the funds Napier University receives under the terms of the contract for the provision of nurse education. The nurse education contract is a major priority for the university and it is funded entirely separately from their capital programme.The Chief Nursing Officer and officials of the Scottish Executive Health Department meet regularly with the Health and Social Sciences Faculty of Napier University to monitor the delivery of the contract. They are satisfied that the requirements of the nurse education contract are being delivered to the standard expected and that the funds associated with the contract are being used for the purpose intended.

There are mechanisms in place under the terms of the current franchise to enable passengers to receive compensation from train operating companies who cancel train services. Where the cancellation is due to action taken by Railtrack, the train operating company can seek compensation from Railtrack.In this particular case, Railtrack decided to close the Edinburgh to Glasgow line at Falkirk on safety grounds following a fire on land adjacent to the railway but owned by a third party. Railtrack may therefore wish to seek compensation for the losses incurred from that third party.The Directions and Guidance issued to the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) on 28 June 2002 for the next Scottish Passenger Rail Franchise require the SRA to develop, among other things, a franchise which will endeavour to improve passenger compensation.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28521 on 13 September 2002. 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.Treatment for mesothelioma, and indeed for all cancers, is highly specialised and is delivered across multi-disciplinary networks involving clinical and medical oncologists based in Scotland's five cancer centres.

The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) of the Scottish Executive Health Department has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health services and patient care with the NHS in Scotland. The CSO portfolio includes more than 57 cancer-related projects. Although none of these deals specifically with mesothelioma, many of the findings will be relevant to all tumour types.The CSO also funds the indirect costs of cancer research. In 2001-02, approximately £7.7 million of the Research and Development Support Fund allocated to the NHS in Scotland for research was used in support of cancer studies - again with findings potentially relevant to all tumour types. The CSO always welcomes quality applications for consideration through their peer review and committee processes.

Information about referrals to named hospitals outside Scotland is not held centrally.Information is available of the total numbers of people referred for treatment to hospitals in England:Referrals to Hospitals in England for all Malignancies Excluding Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer

1997	45
1998	58

Source: Scottish Cancer Registration database, ISD, Scotland, September 2002. 1998 is the last year for which cancer registration figures are available.Note: There were no referrals for treatment of mesothelioma in either of these two years.The treatment of patients with mesothelioma is a matter for specialists experienced in the management of cancer. For rare cancers such as mesothelioma, treatment may be arranged on a UK rather than national (Scottish) basis. Clinicians are responsible for making appropriate decisions on treatment in individual cases, in consultation with their patient.

Information on flows of international migrants for Scotland and the UK over the period 1991-2000 is published in Table 2.8 of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) publication International Migration (2000 edition), which can be accessed on the ONS website at the following address:http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=507&More=N.Over the decade international migrants to and from Scotland were, respectively, 5.2 and 7.8 per cent of the UK total.Migration between Scotland and the rest of the UK has not been included since it is difficult to define a suitable UK comparator.

Population projections for the United Kingdom are the responsibility of the Government Actuary, who also prepares population projections for Scotland at the request of, and in consultation with, the Registrar General for Scotland. The latest, 2000-based, projections for the UK and Scotland, up to 2040 are available on the Government Actuary Department's website at the following addresses:Scotland: http://www.gad.gov.uk/population/2000/scotland/wsco005y.xls.UK: http://www.gad.gov.uk/population/2000/uk/wuk005y.xls.Population projections are based largely on past trends rather than policy based forecasts.