Chamber and committees

The consultation with CoSLA on the Report's recommendations is not yet complete. Once it is I will make a full response on the Report.

A reply was issued on 28 March 2001.

The Executive plans to send an official to the Promoting Electronic Government Conference in Birmingham next month, which has been organised by DETR in partnership with others, and is primarily aimed at English local authorities.

I refer to the statement I made this morning providing an update on the outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

The cycletrack between Kirkpatrick Fleming and Beattock was constructed as part of a number of individual contracts during the upgrading of the A74 between Gretna and Millbank. Several of these contracts were in the form of lump sum design and build and the section between Johnstonebridge and Beattock was constructed as part of the M6 DBFO project. Consequently it is not possible to identify the contractor's costs for individual elements of the various works such as cycleway signs.

In December 1999 the Scottish Executive published the consultation paper 'Cycling by Design' providing design guidance for all aspects of cycling infrastructure. Sections 12.40-12.71 inclusive of that document provides general guidance on the maintenance of cycle facilities and section 12.46 in particular offers guidance in relation to sweeping of cycle paths.

The Scottish Executive does not allocate funds to councils for the maintenance of individual road elements such as cycletracks and bridges. Any increase in the length of road to be maintained by a local authority is taken into consideration by the method by which the annual grant allocation for local roads is calculated by the Scottish Executive.

Information was sought from the Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory, Pitlochry and, within the Scottish Executive, from the Veterinary Advisers and from Public Health Policy Unit. Clarification of various points was also sought from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. The advice from these bodies did not contradict the Agency's decision to approve the applications in question.The policy of the Scottish Ministers has been to exercise our power to call in applications to discharge for our own determination, under Section 36 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974, where the issues raised are novel or unusual, or of more than local significance, or where the Agency does not appear to be sufficiently informed to allow it to make a decision on the application. Careful consideration was given to the application to discharge at Biggar, but as the case did not appear to meet these criteria, the Scottish Ministers declined to exercise the power to call it in.

For the first time we have awarded 3-year allocations to local authorities from the Rural Transport Fund which is a significant step forward. At present it is the intention to continue the Fund beyond 2003-2004 but this will be reviewed at the next spending review in the light of ministerial commitments known at the time.

NHS Trusts are responsible for planning and organising their own training activities according to the individual needs of the staff involved.In order to support and promote action at local level, Scottish Healthcare Supplies are raising the profile of procurement throughout the NHSScotland as an activity that contributes to patient care. The activities of the Strategic Alliance Partnership include the establishment of a Training and Development Group which will assist in the continuing development of staff.