Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive has no plans to commission any further research on the Protection of Mammals (Scotland) Bill. It will be for the Rural Affairs Committee, as the lead Committee which will consider the Bill, to determine whether any further research is required.

The Executive's policy on location and relocation of civil service jobs remains as set out by the First Minister in his answer of 15 September 1999 (question S1W-1558, Mr Duncan McNeil MSP). When opportunities arise potential locations across Scotland will be considered on a case-by-case basis consistent with our objectives of efficiency and effectiveness.

The information requested is not readily available by parliamentary constituency. However, between 1 April 1999 and 1 February 2000 the number of staff in post (full-time equivalent) in the Scottish Executive and its agencies rose by 307, including both new posts and filling of vacancies. Most of these staff are located in Edinburgh.

Since 1 July 1999 there have been two significant transfers of posts from Edinburgh:

- the Department of Enterprise and Lifelong Learning has transferred from Edinburgh to Glasgow, with some 160 posts;

- the creation of the Food Standards Agency in Aberdeen, a non-Ministerial Government Department rather than part of the Executive itself, has led to the transfer of 35 posts from the Executive in Edinburgh and the creation of a further 15 new posts.

Proposals for tourist route signposting for the A701 Scenic Trail to Edinburgh were approved by my officials in May. Autolink, the private sector operator of the motorway, has been requested to deal with Dumfries & Galloway Council to secure their agreement to erect the signs as a matter of priority in view of the limited tourist season.

Station Park in Moffat does not meet the criteria applied for the provision of tourist signposting from a motorway.

We are discussing with CoSLA arrangements to ensure that local authorities are fully involved in delivering the First Minister's commitment that all Scottish public services will be available online no later than 2005.

The purpose of the monthly reports by the Office of the e-Envoy is to summarise progress across the UK on matters highlighted in the PIU report e-commerce@ its.best.uk published in October 1999. Much of the progress summarised in the e-Envoy's report published on 31 March relates to reserved matters, from which Scotland benefits along with the rest of the UK. The Scottish Executive will continue to provide contributions to future reports as appropriate.

There are no regulations currently in place under which the Scottish Executive has the power to pay funds directly to individual schools which are under the management of local authorities, and we have no plans to make such regulations. As is clear from the arrangements established for the recent distribution of the additional resources for schools announced in the Budget in March, it is already possible to take steps to ensure that schools can receive additional resources through local authority channels.

The A701 trunk road between Dumfries and Beattock is not part of the strategic core network or a long distance route and it was not identified as a route requiring a Route Action Plan (RAP) in the Roads, Traffic and Safety 1992 policy document.

The ongoing monitoring of the trunk road network has not identified any safety or operational problems on the A701 and therefore there are no plans to commission a RAP study for the route.

Kerbing works were undertaken at various sites on the A76 in Dumfries and Galloway to deter heavy goods vehicles from overrunning the verges. Kerbing works were also carried out on the A75 in association with a road drainage scheme.

The cost of kerbing on the A76 was £12,000 and the combined drainage and kerbing works on the A75 was £16,300.

The Scottish Executive provides funding for the Moredun Research Institute (MRI), a subsidiary of the Moredun Foundation. The total sums paid to MRI in each of the last five financial years, and the allocations for this year and next year, are as follows:

Actual payments

1995-96 £000	1996-97 £000	1997-98 £000	1998-99 £000	1999-2000 £000
4,057	4,036	4,655	4,055	4,116

Planned funding

2000-01 £000	2001-02 £000
4,243	4,241

The sums shown for 2000-01 and 2001-02 are provisional, and subject to change. This is particularly so where the funding is for specific fixed-term research contracts, and further contracts may be awarded.Exchequer funding is also received by MRI, for research undertaken on a contract basis from a variety of other sources such as the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and MAFF. The sources and amounts vary somewhat between years but, in 1999-2000 for example, such funding totalled some £425,000. Further research contracts are supported by European funds and by the private sector.