Chamber and committees

We do not consider that there is a need for further legislation to deter open fires in the countryside. The emphasis of Part 1 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 is that a person has access rights only if they are exercised responsibly. Section 2 of the act provides that in determining whether access rights are being exercised responsibly a person is to be presumed to be exercising access rights responsibly if they are exercised so as not to cause unreasonable interference with any of the rights, (whether access rights, rights associated with the ownership of land or any other) of any person.In determining whether a person is deemed not to be exercising access rights responsibly, regard is to be had to whether that person has disregarded the guidance on responsible conduct set out in the Access Code to be drawn up by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and incumbent on persons exercising access rights. The Access Code will address the issue of open fires. SNH are currently consulting on a draft code and the consultation closes on 30 June. Further to this, under section 12 of the act local authorities may, in relation to land in respect of which access rights are exercisable, make byelaws. These byelaw making powers will be able to address such issues as the lighting of open fires in the countryside.

The Scottish Executive Health Department has put in place a package of measures to support the recruitment and retention of GPs in remote and rural areas. The provision of NHS services on the island of Coll is a matter for NHS Argyll and Clyde.

NHS Argyll and Clyde has responsibility for the provision of NHS services on the island of Coll. The Scottish Executive Health Department has provided a package of measures to support the recruitment and retention of GPs in remote and rural areas.

The error arose from the inadvertent use of an inaccurate grid reference to map the population samples at one of the four sites surveyed. The data error covered one particular conclusion drawn from the survey. It did not, however, undermine the central conclusion.

Winter maintenance of local roads is a matter for Highland Council and it is their responsibility to put in place adequate planning and resources to ensure that a road gritting programme is implemented. Winter maintenance of trunk roads in the Highland Council area is defined in BEAR Scotland's Winter Maintenance Plan, and is monitored by the independent Performance Audit Group.

The Scottish Executive has monitored the progress of separate fisheries negotiations with each prospective EU member state but will not complete an assessment of all enlargement implications for fisheries before June 2003, when the Treaty of Accession is, for the first time, likely to be made available for detailed inspection. EU enlargement does not by itself give rise to any significant changes in national quota shares. Relative stability has been confirmed as the mechanism for quota allocations between all member states and it was used as a guiding principle of accession negotiations with each applicant country.A full report on the progress of the relevant fishery negotiations is publicly available on the Europa website: http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/negotiations/chapters/chap8/index.

The Executive is opposed to an absolute right to buy, which would undermine the aim of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Bill to revitalise the tenanted sector. Our potential liability for compensation to overcome the risk of legal challenge under the European Convention of Human Rights arising from the creation of such a right is difficult to predict or control accurately, but we believe it could be substantial. Current Executive spending plans make no provision to meet such costs and no provision could be made without impacting on Executive support for other programmes. There is also a possibility, which we are investigating further, that such payments would in any case be unlikely to be acceptable for state aid purposes and would fail to meet EC requirements.For all of these reasons, we do not propose changes to our current spending plans to make budgetary provision for compensation that might be associated with the introduction of an absolute right to buy.

Our vision of a vibrant tenanted sector is not based on the percentage of farms being tenanted. It is instead reflected by a number of factors. We want landlords to be confident to let land and for there to be strong demand for tenanted land. We want to encourage increased investment in tenanted land by both landlords and tenants. It is also crucial that tenanted land is used in a way that best supports rural Scotland. In this regard, issues such as levels of income drawn from the land, employment opportunities and other benefits that arise for the surrounding community and the way in which the land supports the environment are particularly important.

The Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency has responsibility for the enforcement of this closure. The agency has no evidence of illegal activity taking place since the closure came into effect on 1 October 2002.

Under the terms of the Highlands and Island Shipping Services Act 1960, Tariff Rebate Subsidy (TRS) is paid to eligible shipping operators wholly or mainly engaged in providing services to the Highlands and Islands in accordance with an undertaking, a draft of which has been laid before, and approved, by Parliament. No such undertaking relating to Pentland Ferries is in place. However, Pentland Ferries has recently applied for TRS for the transportation of livestock and its application is under consideration.