Chamber and committees

All businesses occupying properties with a rateable value of £10,000 or less benefit from a 2p reduction in the poundage this year. In addition, the rural rate relief scheme provides 50% mandatory relief for any sole general store (selling food and household goods) and/or post office in settlements of under 3,000 population in a designated rural area and with a rateable value of less than £6,000. Local authorities have discretionary powers to top this up to 100%. Local authorities also have discretion to grant up to 100% rate relief for any other business in such settlements that they consider important to the community. This discretionary element is for subjects with a maximum rateable value of £12,000.

For businesses suffering financial hardship, local authorities can grant up to 100% relief from rates. For the period 1 April to 31 December 2001, for businesses affected by the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, 95% of the cost of this relief is funded by the Scottish Executive for properties with a rateable value of £12,000 or less in rural areas (£50,000 in Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders). For other businesses, the Scottish Executive pays 75% of the cost.

The Out of Hours Development Fund is intended to support improvements in out-of-hours services across Scotland, including rural areas. The aim of the fund is to reduce pressure on individual GPs and/or make more cost-effective use of GP time.

In 2000-01, the fund total of £5,582,000 was allocated to health boards. In turn, health boards topped this up to a total of £6,759,253.

Listed in the table is the amount of money allocated to the health boards for the years requested.

Health Board	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01
	£	£	£
Argyll and Clyde	464,000	476,000	488,000
Ayr and Arran	391,000	401,000	411,000
Borders	116,000	119,000	122,000
Dumfries and Galloway	177,000	182,000	186,000
Fife	330,000	339,000	347,000
Forth Valley	300,000	308,000	315,000
Grampian	511,000	524,000	537,000
Gr Glasgow	947,000	972,000	996,000
Highland	272,000	279,000	286,000
Lanarkshire	503,000	516,000	529,000
Lothian	791,000	812,000	832,000
Orkney	37,000	38,000	39,000
Shetland	27,000	28,000	28,000
Tayside	396,000	406,000	416,000
Western Isles	48,000	49,000	50,000
Totals	5,310,000	5,449,000	5,582,000

Grampian Health Board were allocated the following amounts from the Out Of Hours Development Fund over the past three years. It is for the board and the Trust to decide how to allocate these funds to out of hours providers locally.

1998-99	511,000
1999-2000	524,000
2000-01	537,000

We do not hold this information centrally. I am, however, proposing to commission the necessary economic study.

The Executive, under the Bus Fuel Duty Rebate Scheme (BFDR), paid grant to Scottish bus operators amounting to £94.5 million between 1 April 1999 and 31 March 2001 to reimburse them for excise duty paid on fuel consumed in operating local registered services.

All businesses occupying properties with a rateable value of £10,000 or less benefit from a 2p reduction in the poundage this year. In addition, the rateable value of certain lands and buildings used for breeding or rearing horses is reduced by £2,500 or the amount that would otherwise be their rateable value.

Proposals for rate relief for new farm diversification enterprises were included in the consultation paper we published on 15 February. We have received many helpful and diverse responses which we are considering before deciding how best to proceed.

We are considering next steps in the light of the many helpful and diverse responses we received and an announcement will be made in due course.

Information is not available in the form requested. It is estimated that around 110,000 visitors fish in Scotland every year, generating tourism spend of around £30 million.

I understand that the Royal Air Force (RAF) has produced a written recovery plan for the crash sites in consultation with a working group comprising of the two landowners involved, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the National Trust for Scotland (NTS), the USAF, the RAF and the two environmental agencies, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). The principal aim of the plan is to ensure the removal of all debris before the snow cover melts and exposes sensitive vegetation and soils. I understand that approximately 10 tonnes of the 25 tonnes of debris have already been removed from the sites.The status of the aviation fuel and oil contaminants, which are being held in the snow, is being monitored, and the RAF has contracted a specialist environmental clean-up company to assist it with the clean-up of hydrocarbons from the site. Aviation fuel is volatile and it is expected that most will evaporate, minimising the risk to soil, vegetation and watercourses. Monitoring shows that fuel is currently not moving within the snow. However, should this occur, there is a contingency plan to remove contaminated snow for treatment and disposal. Snow contaminated with the heavier oils is being removed for appropriate treatment and disposal.I also understand that SEPA has collected and carried out analysis of water and invertebrate samples from streams draining the area since the crash and have found no signs of pollution. SEPA will continue to monitor the area. As part of the recovery plan, a long-term monitoring programme will be put in place to determine whether there are any long-term environmental impacts at the crash sites.