Following references from the previous administration, the Scottish Law Commission thoroughly reviewed the law on prescription and limitation as it relates to all personal injury cases. The Commission''s final report, Personal Injury Actions: Limitation and Prescribed Claims, was published on 5 December 2007 and is available on its website, http://www.scotlawcom.gov.uk.

The report recommended that claims which had in law been extinguished by negative prescription before 1984 (i.e. claims relating to times prior to 26 September 1964) should not now be revived. In a statement to Parliament on 7 February 2008, the Minister for Children and Early Years announced that the Scottish Government is persuaded by the commission''s reasoning and recommendations on this issue. He also confirmed a commitment to identifying appropriate approaches for assisting and supporting survivors of historic child abuse. The Scottish Government proceeded to issue, and is now reviewing responses to, the discussion paper Developing an Acknowledgement and Accountability Forum for Adult Survivors of Childhood Abuse.

Following references from the previous administration, the Scottish Law Commission thoroughly reviewed the law on prescription and limitation as it relates to all personal injury cases. The commission''s final report, Personal Injury Actions: Limitation and Prescribed Claims, was published on 5 December 2007 and is available on its website, http://www.scotlawcom.gov.uk.

As regards the law of limitation for claims which relate to times after 26 September 1964, the report''s recommendations are under review, as confirmed in the answer to question S3W-20478, answered on 25 February 2009. The Scottish Government has also proceeded to issue, and is now reviewing responses to, the discussion paper Developing an Acknowledgement and Accountability Forum for Adult Survivors of Childhood Abuse.

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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

VisitScotland''s marketing budget for 2007-08 was £29.5 million. This includes spend on the promotion of activities such as walking, cycling, golf and wildlife tourism. Their marketing is based on sophisticated market research which identifies what the consumer needs and desires in a trip to Scotland, and allows them to focus spending in order to generate the maximum economic value for Scotland. Walking, cycling, golf and wildlife tourism are promoted across a range of market segments and as part of a wide variety of campaigns.

In 2007 there were almost 16 million visitor trips to Scotland, 5.3 million of which enjoyed walking as part of their trip. So, almost one third of visitors to Scotland participate in walking activities of some kind during their stay, with a value of £1.3 billion to the Scottish economy.

VisitScotland figures for 2007 show that where walking was the main purpose of a visit to Scotland, it generated £244 million for the Scottish economy. Moreover, a high number of visitors enjoy walking more generally as part of a wider trip to Scotland. Where walking is cited as an activity in such visits, the value of these trips is £1.3 billion.

In 2009-10, the budget for the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS) will be part of the wider budget for Transport Strategy and Innovation. The MACS budget provides running cost support for the committee. The Transport Strategy and Innovation Budget is a Level 3 figure. Current Scottish Government Finance Guidelines are that we do not publish figures below those shown in Level 3.

There is no dedicated additional funding for the promotion of walking during the Homecoming Year, however, walking is already heavily promoted by VisitScotland across a wide range of marketing activities and walking features within the Homecoming programme with 16 separate walking events. £30,000 is being provided towards the Homecoming: The John Muir Odyssey in East Lothian from April to June and £7,000 towards In the Footsteps of the Reivers in the Borders in September. In addition, there are further events in the Homecoming programme that contain walking activities, including The Outsider festival in June which is receiving £30,000.

It is for each Community Planning Partnership (CPP) to derive its local outcomes which should be drawn from an integrated profile of the social, economic and environmental conditions of the area concerned. In reaching agreement with CPPs on their Single Outcome Agreement, the Scottish Government will be looking for evidence that local outcomes reflect an area''s strategic priorities and that they are capable of being linked to one or more of the National Outcomes.

From 2002-03 until 2004-05, the Mobility and Access Committee Scotland (MACS) was allocated the following budgets:

2002-03 - £100,000.

2003-04 - £200,000.

2004-05 - £200,000.

From 2005-06 until 2007-08, MACS received funding from the Scottish Government''s Mobility budget.

In 2008-09, the Mobility and Access Committee held two meetings of its main committee. The first of these, which took place in July 2008, was the final meeting of MACS in its previous incarnation. The second one took place on 20 January 2009. This was the initial meeting of the newly established committee, the appointments of whom were announced on 19 December 2008.

In 2009-10, quarterly meetings have been arranged, but the committee will meet more often than that when business requires. The first meeting takes place on 28 April 2009.

In previous years, MACS generally held main committee meetings every two months.