None. The consent holder is accountable to the Scottish Executive's GM Inspectorate for the conditions surrounding the harvest and disposal of the GM crops grown at Munlochy.

Operators transporting GM material from a trial site for disposal are subject to the same road licensing requirements and any relevant codes of good practice as other waste hauliers. No specific conditions relating to the transport of GM material from Scottish farm-scale evaluation sites have been incorporated into the consents because the material in question is not judged to be hazardous to either human health or the environment.

The conditions that apply to the harvest of GM crops are specific to the individual releases and are contained within the consents. The consents are available on the public register.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29061. 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.

I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that information is not held centrally on livestock fed genetically modified (GM) feed and feed materials. There is, however, a fact sheet entitled "GM Material in Animal Feed" on the agency's website at: www.food.gov.uk/science/sciencetopics/gmfoods/gm-animal.

In general, local authorities are independent corporate bodies whose powers and duties are set out in statute law. Within the law they are free to exercise discretion in carrying out their functions and managing their day-to-day business. Ministers cannot intervene, except in particular circumstances where the law specifies that they may do so.However, in respect of waste management, the Executive expects authorities to take full account of the National Waste Strategy in their operations. The Executive will only provide grant support from the Strategic Waste Fund to authorities that intend to implement waste practices that accord with Area Waste Plans. Hence the Executive would not expect authorities to enter into contracts for landfill and incineration which are not in line with the relevant plans.In order to ensure that the amount of waste sent to landfill is reduced, the Executive intends to introduce a system of landfill allowances for Scottish local authorities and plans to issue a consultation paper on this shortly. The proposal is that authorities will only be permitted to landfill the amount of biodegradable municipal waste for which they have allowances.

The landfill tax is part of the generality of revenues to the UK Exchequer. In setting public expenditure, it is not general practice to attribute specific revenues to specific spending provision.

No specific monitoring is carried out on crops situated in the vicinity of GM crop trials.Separation distances are in place around GM crop trials to minimise the potential for cross-pollination. They do not reflect any doubts about safety; they are used to maintain high levels of purity in adjacent crops and are a recognised method of enabling different crops to co-exist. The Executive's scientific advisers are satisfied that neither cross-pollination involving the variety of GM herbicide tolerant oil seed rape being grown in the farm-scale trials, nor the pollen itself landing on neighbouring crops, poses a threat to human health or the environment. The harvested GM crop and any sexually compatible crops grown within the separation distances surrounding GM crop trials will not enter the human food or animal feed chain.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29056. All answers to written PQs 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 Scottish Executive issued a consultation paper entitled Safer Landfill on 29 August. This contains a draft set of regulations that the Executive intends to make, designed to tighten up controls surrounding the use and operation of landfill sites. A copy of the consultation paper has been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre, (Bib. number 23948). It can also be viewed at: www.scotland.gov.uk/views/views.asp.