The information is not held centrally. As agricultural waste, plants harvested from GM crop trials would be exempt from waste management controls under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (as amended), and so would not generally be the subject of landfill license conditions. However, under the standard terms of the deliberate release consent issued by Scottish ministers under that act, disposal of harvested plants within the UK must be in a local authority landfill site under the assurance that the material will be incorporated in a manner to prevent growth into flowering plants.

This is a matter for the Chief Executive of Scottish Water. His response is as follows:

Total debt inherited by Scottish Water on 1 April 2002 for water and wastewater services totalled £260 million, with £155 million being owed by household customers and £105 million by commercial customers. Associated provisions, which in part reflect non-payment risk, were £119 million and £47 million respectively leaving net debt positions of £36 million for household debt and £59 million for commercial debt.

It should be noted that in Scotland household debt is collected on behalf of Scottish Water by local authorities.

This is a matter for the Chief Executive of Scottish Water. His response is as follows:

Total debt excluding unearned debt (i.e. the debt associated with annual bills being issued in advance of service usage) for water and wastewater services totalled £284 million with £176 million being owed by household customers and £108 million by commercial customers. Associated provisions, which in part reflect non-payment risk, were £131 million and £52 million respectively leaving net debt positions of £45 million for household debt and £56 million for commercial debt.

It should be noted that in Scotland household debt is collected on behalf of Scottish Water by local authorities.

The Chief Scientist Office (CSO), within the Scottish Executive Health Department has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. The CSO is not aware of any recent research having been carried out on links between HIV/AIDS and exposure to radioactivity. From peer-reviewed internationally published literature, research carried out in the 1990s suggests that exposure to radiation can weaken the immune system and make the body more susceptible to infection including HIV/AIDS.

The Scottish Executive has no plans to introduce a moratorium on GM crop trials. Ministers and the Executive have made clear that autumn 2002 is the final round of the farm scale evaluation (FSE) programme and that there will be no commercial growing of GM crops pending the results of the FSE research programme and the outcome of the public debate.

The security of the stores is primarily the responsibility of the storekeeper and is covered in the contract. A strict control regime is also in place. The stores and vehicles travelling to and from them are sealed and operated on a dedicated basis. All loads are tracked, weighed at both ends of the journey and subject to documentary control, including comprehensive stock and movements records at each site. In the UK the Meat and Livestock Commission supervise activity, and they are subject to second-tier checks by technical officers. Inactive stores are also subject to regular checks.

As of 31 March 2002 the cumulative cost - for the UK - of slaughter, transportation to incineration and incineration of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) carcases (including a small proportion of scrapie-infected sheep) was £52.7 million. This figure also includes laboratory equipment costs. BSE-infected carcasses go straight for incineration and are not held in storage, there are no costs incurred for storage purposes.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is responsible on behalf of all UK Agriculture Ministers for the operation of the Over Thirty Months Slaughter Scheme (OTMS), including disposal. RPA is committed to reducing meat and bonemeal (MBM) and tallow stocks to very low levels by the end of 2004. However, while the scheme continues to operate in its current format, there will continue to be some stocks in store. As there are no large-scale incineration facilities in Northern Ireland, Wales or Scotland, any long-term storage is likely to be in England, close to the incineration sites. As there is no end date yet proposed for OTMS it is not possible to estimate final volumes or costs for the disposal of all rendered material that the scheme will generate.

The material is incinerated with energy recovery. The Rural Payments Agency has contracts in place for this work with three companies.

The Rural Payments Agency is responsible on behalf of all UK Agriculture Ministers for the operation of the Over Thirty Months Slaughter Scheme (OTMS), including disposal. The two products of OTMS rendering, meat and bonemeal (MBM) and tallow, are incinerated with energy recovery. The agency achieved its target of incinerating 60% of MBM produced by 31 March 2002, and is making good progress towards the second target of incinerating at least 85% of MBM produced by 31 March 2004.Tallow arisings are also being incinerated and the large-scale disposal of tallow stocks will commence in the new year.