There have been no discussionswith Her Majesty’s Government regarding the sale of Motherwell Bridge andcurrently there are no plans to do so.

My department is in contactwith both the company and the local enterprise company and will continue tomonitor the situation.

The data for 2002 will bepublished in December 2003.

The immigration office inGovan has not closed, so there was no need for the Executive to makerepresentations or for it to be consulted. There have been some changes in theway asylum seekers can register claims affecting single adult asylum seekers,but families and people with special needs can still register claims in Glasgow.

VAT isa reserved matter. However, the Scottish ministers have been advised that the UKGovernment considers it unlikely that the decision of the tribunal in the case of the Pre-SchoolLearning Alliance will have an effect on voluntary organisations.

Normally, the public fundingof community activities does not constitute payment for a service, and thus it isnot subject to VAT. The tribunal considered that the circumstances were differentin the case of the Pre-School Learning Alliance in that the arrangements had, unusually,led to an agreement to supply services.

An appraisal summary table informing the minister’s decision on the choice of route for the M80 Stepps to Haggs was published in Travel Choices for Scotland: Strategic Roads Review in November 1999. Further information on the environmental impacts of the preferred line and alternatives will be published in an Environmental Statement, in the normal way, when proposals are brought forward for public comment through the publication of the draft schemeand orders.

Our commitment to the provisionof special needs education is set out fully in our policy statement, Moving Forward!Additional Support for Learning, published in January 2003. This outlines ourmeasures for promoting inclusion and equality within mainstream and special schoolprovision. A copy of the document is available from the Parliament’s Reference Centre(Bib. number 26026).

There are no plans at presentto introduce such legislation. The issues surrounding multi-party or representativeactions are complex and the arguments for and against the introduction of classaction procedure are finely balanced. There are already ways within existing proceduresby which multi-party actions can be successfully dealt with together, such as byconjoining cases. Informal working arrangements among solicitors representing anumber of parties can also help in co-ordinating claims and negotiating settlementswithout the need for a class action procedure. We will, however, keep this areaunder review.

A study by RECOUP (Recyclingof Used Plastics Limited) for REMADE Scotland, published in March 2003, indicated that 14 local authoritiesin Scotland operated a plastic bottle collection system. A copy ofthis study, called Plastic BottleRecycling in Scotland: An outline of the current infrastructure and potential forplastic bottle recycling in Scotland, can be found on the REMADE website at http://www.remade.org.uk/Plastics/recyclinginscotland.htm.

An independent trust was setup to administer the Dewar Arts Awards under the Chairmanship of Ruth Wishart. Followingrigorous assessment of initial nominations, the trustees identified the first twotalented young beneficiaries in February 2003, both students of music, and therebycommitted a total of £60,900 towards the costs of their further studies in the field.

Full details of the two beneficiariesand their awards can be obtained from the Company Secretary, Dewar Arts Awards Trust,c/o Scottish Arts Council, 12 Manor Place, Edinburgh, EH3 7DD, telephone 0131 2266051 or email [email protected].

This information is not heldcentrally.