Chamber and committees

The binding Decision 98/3 agreed by Contracting Parties at the First Ministerial meeting of the OSPAR Commission in July 1998 was reached prior to Devolution. Scottish Office Ministers were consulted about, and agreed to the UK policy position adopted for the meeting.This Decision constitutes an international obligation of the United Kingdom and, as such, is reserved to the UK Government under Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998. There are no plans to make representations about a review of the Decision. The Decision, however, includes a provision for a review by the OSPAR Commission at its meeting in 2003. The Scottish Executive will be consulted about the UK policy position at that time.

The Scottish Executive recognise that all three of these companies are important employers in Scotland. While the Executive has been noting developments there are no detailed figures available at this stage on what the possible consequences of any merger would be for employment in Scotland.

The Scottish Executive has not commissioned such a report. The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council published a report it commissioned from JM Consulting on the costs of provision in higher education on its website on 19 December 2000 as part of its consultation on its Review of Teaching Funding.

The Units of Teaching Resource are determined by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and are published in their Circular series each March. The information requested is included in the Funded Subject Group: Humanities, Languages & Mass Communication and is given in the table.

1996-97	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01
£3,444	£3,513	£3,698	£3,777	£3,834

To the end of December 2000 a total of 34,361 applications from Scotland for an Individual Learning Account (ILA) have been received, of which 34,192 have been granted.Details of the method by which ILA holders pay their individual contribution to the cost of their learning are not collected.

A range of data is being collected to enable us to assess over time the use made of Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs) and the key characteristics of ILA holders, including age group, gender, occupation, area of residence and type, subject and level of learning undertaken.The data will reflect both the universal character of the scheme and its promotion, in particular, to the socially excluded and those in SMEs. Key statistics will be provided to the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee during the review of the operation of the scheme in the autumn.

Nicol Stephen, when Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, met the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on 13 July 2000 to discuss shipbuilding matters. I have recently had meetings with Patricia Hewitt, Minister of State at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to discuss digital issues and with Helen Liddell when Minister of State at DTI to discuss energy matters. I plan to see The Secretary of State shortly.

The Scottish Executive has not made an estimate of the effects of tobacco smuggling on the Scottish economy. Tobacco taxation is reserved to Westminster. However, data on the effects at the UK level of tobacco smuggling are available from Customs and Excise. Customs and Excise data show that for 1999 all forms of tobacco smuggling cost the UK Exchequer £2.5 billion in forgone tax revenues.

Most, although not all, of the work covered by the current tendering process is re-tendered.Until 1996 the majority of maintenance operations on trunk roads were managed and undertaken by local authorities. In 1995 competitions were held leading to the award of contracts in 1996 for three Operating Companies responsible for this work across the Central Belt of Scotland and five Managing Agents covering the management of the network over the rest of the country. The Managing Agent contracts were re-tendered in 1998 to provide this service over the period 1999-2001.

There are no plans to introduce a statutory obligation on local authorities, but through our work on the community legal service and national debtline we are working to improve access to free, impartial, quality legal and money advice throughout Scotland. My colleague Jim Wallace has set up a working group to bring forward proposals on how a community legal service can be established in Scotland and is reviewing the law on diligence, which will include consideration of a debt arrangement scheme. I will be piloting our plans for a National Telephone Debt line later this year and I am also pursuing with CoSLA how the money and debt advice services provided by local authorities can be improved.