Chamber and committees

Scottish Ministers met with the e-envoy on 11 February and they discussed a range of issues relating to the knowledge economy including IT skills and training in the workforce. The Scottish Executive regards improving IT literacy as a priority and is taking this forward through a number of initiatives.

Between May 1998 and October 1999 the percentage of Scottish primary schools with Internet access rose from 22% to 49%, and the percentage of Scottish secondary schools with Internet access rose from 73% to 97%.

The Annual Survey of Information and Communications Technology, carried out across a sample of Scottish schools in October 1999, showed that 49% of primary schools and 97% of secondary schools had Internet connections. The number of schools connecting or connected is developing rapidly.

Detailed ICT literacy targets for Scottish teachers were published in March 1999 as part of the Scottish programme of ICT training funded by the New Opportunities Fund. These targets also formed the basis of guidance on ICT in initial teacher education from September 1999.

No. Funding under the Countryside Premium Scheme is allocated to those applications likely to deliver the greatest conservation benefit.

In fact, 41 Countryside Premium Scheme applications from Dumfries and Galloway were successful in the 1998 application round and 10 in 1999.

The first live broadcast of a Parliamentary event on the Internet in the UK was by the Scottish Parliament on 1 July 1999, for the Opening Ceremony. This provided a 'proof of concept' that the Internet could be a broadcast medium for Parliamentary work, and also provide a diversity of visual and textual information at the same time. The service provided was more comprehensive than that at the Northern Ireland Assembly

Investigations are being carried out into the feasibility of broadcasting committee and plenary meetings on the Internet. This is particularly important for committee meetings since committee rooms have little space for the public.

The feasibility study concerns options for hosting the server for the Internet broadcasting, bandwidth to support demand for video streaming at the interim accommodation, and video player application software.

The tree felling and pruning work recently carried out along the A75 and A76 is in accordance with the Dumfries and Galloway Biodiversity Action Plan and the Scottish Executive documents Rural Road Management and the Environment and Cost Effective Landscape: Learning from Nature.

This is a matter for South Lanarkshire Council in the first instance. As the application may be notified to the Scottish Ministers I am unable to comment on whether the proposal is in accordance with National Planning Policy Guidelines.

The Scottish Executive has made no recent changes in the way its responsibilities for trunk roads in Dumfries and Galloway are administered. At present the management of the operation and maintenance of these roads are undertaken by the South West Partnership, a managing agent consortia of local authorities including Dumfries and Galloway, South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire, Inverclyde and Renfrewshire. The existing contract under which this work is undertaken will end on 31 March 2001, along with all other maintenance contracts across the Scottish motorway and trunk road network.The arrangements for the future stand to be re-tendered within the scope of European procurement rules. I have announced in my answer to Karen Gillon on 24 December 1999 (S1W-3538) that the new arrangement will involve the appointment of 4 operating companies covering the full Scottish motorway and trunk road network. These operating companies will provide a more comprehensive range of services than the managing agents, including the responsibility for undertaking works. I was informed in this decision by responses to The Road Ahead consultation document which was published by The Scottish Office on 14 April 1999.