Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive does not hold this information on residents in Scotland. The Executive does, however, take the view that war crimes are among the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. We believe that those responsible for committing atrocities during the Second World War and subsequently should be brought to justice whenever possible. That can only be done within the rule of law and on the evidence available.Any specific allegation of war crimes against a former SS member resident in Scotland will be investigated by the police. If sufficient evidence became available it would be for the Lord Advocate to decide whether to prosecute. Any request by a foreign state for the extradition of an alleged war criminal resident in Scotland would be dealt with by Scottish Ministers under extradition legislation.

The costs projected for the period 2001-02 to 2003-04 by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland were based on broadly maintaining current levels of service. But the Scottish Executive has made available 100% grant to specifically boost police numbers by allowing for the recruitment of up to 300 extra officers/support staff. In addition, funding is also being provided through the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA) to allow for 100 officers to be deployed in forces on drugs work at local level. The estimated impact on staffing of these particular initiatives is shown in the following table.

	100% Funding
	Police Officers	Support Staff	SDEA Funding
Central	15	13	5
Dumfries & Galloway	3	12	3
Fife	11	9	6
Grampian	24	5	8
Lothian & Borders	39	25	18
Northern	17	0	5
Strathclyde	148	0	47
Tayside	22	3	8
Total	262	67	100

The timetable for the tendering of the 2002-07 Northern Isles passenger ferry services subsidy reflected the ending of the existing subsidy contract in summer 2002 with the present operator, P&O Scottish Ferries, and the full implementation of new safety regulations (Stockholm Agreement, and Safety of Life at Sea rules) on 1 October 2002. The current vessels would not comply with the new safety requirements from that date and bidders had to be given sufficient time to provide new vessels. The Executive was aware of the shipyard intervention support issues involved, but they were primarily a matter for the shipyards and bidding operator concerned, and the Executive timetable for decisions was not accelerated because of them.

Costed bids for the Northern Isles passenger ferry services contract were received on 23 June 2000. Evaluation of the bids proved more complex than expected involving detailed analysis of the costs, liabilities and service involved. The financial plans were assessed in detail in relation to the associated terms and conditions, financial, accountancy and legal issues.In evaluating the costed bids, as with the tendering process as a whole, the Executive had to ensure equal and fair competition and that the process complied with European Regulation and Guidelines for State aids in the maritime sector and with Scottish Executive procurement procedures.

The Scottish Executive was fully consulted in the preparation of the UK lines for the IGC and fed in its views where appropriate. This has been an ongoing process. Since issues such as the extension of Qualified Majority Voting cover a wide range of policy areas, several Ministers and Scottish Executive officials were involved at various stages in the process.

Neither the Executive, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency nor local authorities have a statutory duty to issue flood warnings.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has powers to provide and operate flood warning systems. A Memorandum of Understanding between SEPA and the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland sets out the role of each party in disseminating flood warnings arising from the flood warning systems that SEPA operate.

The Scottish Executive is not directly funding any research into Gulf War related illnesses.

However the Executive in collaboration with UK Departments provides funding for the MRC, one of the agencies through which the UK Government as a whole undertakes such research.

Details of these projects are available from the National Research Register (NRR), a copy of which is in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

I refer the member to the answer given to Michael Russell's question S1W-932 in July 1999, which outlined the arrangements.

Shipbuilding companies in Scotland, many of which have a world-wide reputation for their design capability, are best placed to decide how to meet future demand for ship design. Shipbuilders are supported by world-class shipbuilding departments at several Scottish Universities.

In order to review and develop its flood prevention policy and to assess the resources required to meet flood prevention needs, the Executive is informed by its bilateral contacts with councils, the biennial reports published by councils under the Flood Prevention (Scotland) Act 1961 and the outcome of its research programme. The information available from these sources was taken into account in the recent Spending Review when significant additional resources for local authority expenditure on flood prevention were set. Allocations of these resources for major confirmed flood prevention schemes are considered subsequently on request by councils.