Chamber and committees

Consideration of the consultative response has confirmed substantial drawbacks to any attempt to legislate in this area. Legislation would be contrary to the fundamental principles of Scots law, in particular that leased land under a short lease reverts to the landlord at expiry of the lease and that property built on leased land belongs to the landlord; legislation could not be retrospective or applicable to hutters only, and its promotion might precipitate changes to the ownership and management of comparable estates in Scotland which would be profoundly damaging to the interests of hutters. We are aware that constructive discussions continue at local level to resolve the difficulties at Carbeth. It would not be appropriate for the Executive to seek to intervene in private negotiations between landlord and tenants, but we would encourage local resolution of such difficulties.

The Scottish Executive has no evidence to suggest that badger baiting teams are operating in the south of Scotland, nor have they received information about any increases in this type of activity occurring in Scotland over the last 10 years. Scottish ministers are firmly committed to ensuring that Scotland's natural heritage - including badgers - is properly protected. The Protection of Badgers Act 1992 is widely regarded as an effective method of dealing with crimes against these animals. It allows the courts to impose a custodial sentence of up to six months or a fine of up to £5,000. There are no plans to introduce changes in legislation to amend this act.The Chief Constables of Scotland's Police Forces are responsible for operational matters affecting their forces and determine how criminal investigations are conducted. The Crown Office already issues guidance to procurators fiscal on various statutory offences, including the legislation relevant to badgers.

Applications for funding under section 9 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 have now been received and are currently under consideration. Funding decisions will be announced by 31 December 2002.Discussions have been held with voluntary organisations who expressed particular concern about future funding.

None. There is no requirement to slaughter fish infected with infectious pancreatic necrosis under the terms of a designated area order (DAO). DAOs limit the spread of disease by prohibiting the movement of live fish or eggs of fish, on or off a fish farm, without the permission of Scottish ministers.

The Scottish Executive is considering this issue with representatives of higher education institutions.

The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Sustainable Scotland last met on 2 October, when it discussed the Spending Review and sustainable development; the recent Johannesburg World Summit; the sub-committee's annual report to Cabinet, and progress on a number of other issues of interest to the work of the committee.

Questions relating to compliance with European Union Law could only be properly tested against a specific legislative proposition or fluoridation scheme. Towards Better Oral Health in Children contains no such proposal.

The available information for escape incidents is as follows:

1995	1
1998	2
1999	7
2000	10
2001	2
2002 to date	7

The information requested is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Fisheries Research Services will reply to the member with information as close as possible to that requested and will place a copy in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

The numbers of reported escape incidents were as follows:

1998	4
1999	16
2000	22
2001	14
2002 to date	8