Chamber and committees

There were no recent discussions between the Scottish Executive, its agencies and Drambuie prior to the closure announcement. Drambuie have now undertaken to keep the Scottish Executive aware of any developments relating to the closure of their factory. In the event of a redundancy situation, support will be provided to those affected in accordance with the principles set out in our PACE (Partnership Action for Continuing Employment) document but Drambuie have made it clear that it is too early at this stage to say if there will be job losses.

Whilst the Executive is committed to increasing the proportion of electricity in Scotland accounted for by renewable energy, it is not our policy to set specific targets for any individual technology.As part of its research and development programme, the Department of Trade and Industry recently announced a major initiative aimed at expanding the use of solar photovoltaics across the UK. £10 million has been committed for the first three years of this programme, and we will remain in close contact with DTI colleagues as the details are developed.

This is an operational matter for visitscotland.

The numbers of tourists from Norway and Scandinavia is noted in the table below. Data on entry by specific ferry port is not available.

	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Norway	24,000	23,000	29,000	40,000	35,000
Scandinavia	85,000	111,000	135,000	204,000	120,000

Source: IPS.

The information is as follows:Number of Tourists to Scotland (000) 1995-99

	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
USA	406	406	429	470	451
Canada	124	133	143	136	119
Germany	237	237	239	211	196
Italy	79	92	73	75	105
France	155	150	149	133	132
Netherlands	60	76	108	107	78
Belgium	46	65	46	55	45

Source: IPS.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14728.

The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council issued a consultation paper with its proposals for teaching funding on 19 December and a further paper providing more information on 9 February. It has not issued an interim report on teaching funding. The consultation period has just concluded and the council is considering its proposals in the light of the response to this and the need to minimise disruption and deliver the Executive's priorities. I have asked the council to keep me in touch with developments prior to any final decisions being taken.The teaching funding consultation paper included proposals for the introduction of premiums to institutions for students from under-represented groups and disabled students. SHEFC published its allocation for academic year 2001-02 at the end of March which will rise from £618 million this year to £673 million and included a 5% premium on teaching grant to improve the retention and progression of students from under-represented groups at a cost of over £3 million and £1 million to support disabled students. These are consistent with our priorities and will support the development of the knowledge economy.I also welcome the fact that the allocation includes a 4% increase on the units of funding for teaching and research, 1,000 additional funded places, an additional £10 million for science research infrastructure, an additional £2.1 million to improve IT infrastructure, £2.5 million to support the development of greater pervasiveness of ICT, and a recurrent stream of funding to support knowledge transfer including an additional £2 million for conversion of previous initiatives. All of which are consistent with the priorities of the Executive and will support the development of the knowledge economy.

There were 27 applicants for this post.

Five applicants were interviewed for this post.

A report has been sent to the Convenor of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee detailing the background to the current position on the collection of information relevant to teacher supply and outlining planned improvements to current methods. Copies of this report have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. no. 10751). The answer to your question can be found at paragraphs 26-38 of the report.