Chamber and committees

The regulation of company liquidations and acquisitions is a reserved matter. My officials have ensured that the Department for Trade and Industry is aware of the case. They have also contacted the former employees regarding payments due to them and assistance in finding alternative employment, as referred to in the answers given to questions S1W-29115 and S1W-29126 on 23 September 2002.

The Scottish Executive is aware of the concerns being expressed by business about the potential impact of increased insurance premiums, and we are already in contact with the UK Government on this issue.

All local authorities in Scotland have a duty under the Environment Act 1995 to review and assess air quality in their areas against the air quality objectives contained in the Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. If this exercise shows that any of the objectives is unlikely to be met by the required dates, the authority must take steps to work towards the objectives concerned by declaring an Air Quality Management Area and drawing up an air quality action plan.Part of the review and assessment process is to identify potential pollution hotspots and to undertake any further monitoring or other work considered necessary. Therefore it is for the City of Edinburgh Council to decide on the requirements for monitoring air quality in Holyrood Park. To date, the council has not identified any problems with air quality in the area. However, the situation will be kept under review as part of on-going local air quality management.

As with the majority of water supply catchment areas in Scotland, there are sheep on the catchments for the Edinburgh water supply reservoirs. These catchments are privately owned and Scottish Water cannot control sheep farming activities carried under good agricultural practice. In this respect, Scottish Water does not have information on the numbers of sheep on the catchment and would not seek to have them removed. Scottish Water does, however, have a good working relationship with landowners and farmers in these areas.The storage of water in reservoirs is only one part of the water supply cycle and the treatment process is the principle line of defence in safeguarding public health. All of the water treatment works that supply Edinburgh have the necessary filters to remove particulate material. There is no evidence that the presence of sheep on the catchment areas has had any adverse effect on public health.

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government and the Strategic Rail Authority on a wide range of issues, including cross-border franchises.In January 2002 the Strategic Rail Authority extended the East Coast Main Line franchise by two years. This means that GNER will continue to operate the franchise until April 2005. Under the Transport Act 2000, the Scottish ministers can give statutory advice to the Strategic Rail Authority on cross-border franchises, and did so in September 2001. A copy of the advice submitted on the franchise extension is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 15773).

The deployment of police officers within the Lothian and Borders Police area is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. Information is held centrally on the numbers of police officers in the force, on a quarterly basis, but not on the deployment of those officers to divisions or stations within the force area.

The Scottish Executive generally channels resources for the development of sport, including football at all levels, through sportscotland.On the matter of communication, the Executive has contact with a range of football bodies including individual clubs but most frequently with the Scottish Football Association, the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League.

This is a matter for the Scottish Football Association who commissioned this report.

Officials at Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothians have arranged to meet with senior management at Convergys Ltd to establish its future plans for the operations in Edinburgh. In addition, officials have been in touch, through the receivers, with the former employees of Telesens to make them aware of the assistance available to help them find alternative employment.

Local authorities have the power to apply to the sheriff court for an anti-social behaviour order. Housing associations (and any other landlord) can request that the local authority apply for an order on their behalf. The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill will give courts the power to grant an interim anti-social behaviour order to take effect pending the outcome of the substantive application. This will provide more immediate relief from anti-social behaviour.