Chamber and committees

This is a matter for Scottish Water. The Chief Executive's response is:Business charges for water and sewerage for the four years from 1999-2000 to the current year are as follows. If the property does not have a meter, charges are based on the property's rateable value. The charge per £ rateable value is:

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Water	4.57p	4.48p	5.08p	5.08p
Sewerage	5.82p	6.55p	7.05p	7.05p

If the property has a meter, customers pay the following charges:Water Charges:1. Volumetric Water Charge (Charged by Pence Per M³ of Water Used):

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
First 100,000m3	45.6p	49.39p	54.03p	61p
Next 150,000m3	45.6p	44.45p	48.63p	44p
Over 250,000m3	40.12p	42.23p	45.93p	40p

2. Fixed Charge for Water (Charges Based on Meter Size):

Meter Size	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Up to 20mm	£69	£81	£100	£120
25 & 30mm	£177	£252	£347	£347
40mm	£358	£538	£760	£760
50 & 65mm	£613	£938	£1,339	£1,339
75mm	£1,338	£2,080	£2,990	£3,905
100mm	£2,354	£3,679	£5,302	£8,263
150mm	£5,258	£8,248	£11,909	£24,061
200mm	£9,322	£14,645	£21,158	£52,298
250mm	£11,806	£18,542	£26,786	£94,337
300mm	£20,933	£32,921	£47,585	£152,628

Sewerage Charges:3. Measured sewerage charges:

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Volumetric sewage (per m3 of water used)	8.09p	25.26p	53.95p	97p
Surface water drainage (per £ rateable value)	4.77p	4.62p	3.86p	3p*

Note:*If no rainwater from the property drains to the public sewer, the charge is 1.78p4. Fixed Charge for Sewerage (Based on Size of Meter):

Meter Size	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
20mm	£5	£10	£20	£55
25 & 30mm	£20	£40	£80	£220
40mm	£45	£90	£180	£495
50 & 65mm	£80	£160	£320	£880
75mm	£180	£360	£720	£1,980
100mm	£320	£640	£1,280	£3,520
150mm	£720	£1,440	£2,880	£7,920
200mm	£1,280	£2,560	£5,120	£14,080
250mm	£1,620	£3,240	£6,480	£17,820
300mm	£2,880	£5,760	£11,520	£31,680

This is a matter for Scottish Water. The Chief Executive's response is:Business charges for water and sewerage for the four years from 1999-2000 to the current year are as follows. If the property does not have a meter:Since 1999-2000, unmetered water and sewerage charges for business customers in the East are based on the amount of water the customer would likely use if their property had a meter. This amount and the assumed meter size are agreed with the customer.If the property has a meter, customers pay the following charges:Water Charges:1. Volumetric Water Charge (Charged Per M³ of Water Used)*:

1999-2000			2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Borders, Edinburgh and Lothians	50p	First 100,000m3	61p	61p	61p
Forth Valley, Fife, North Lanarkshire and East Dumbartonshire	46p	Next 150,000m3	61p	61p	44p
		Over 250,000m3	61p	61p	40p

Note:*New charging structure for volumetric water rates implemented in 2000-012. Fixed charge for water (charges based on meter size):

Meter Size	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
6mm	£4	£4	£8	£120
8mm	£8	£9	£12	£120
10mm	£14	£16	£21	£120
13mm	£27	£31	£43	£120
Up to 20mm	£64	£74	£100	£120
25 & 30mm	£152 & £245	£175 & £280	£240 & £385	£347
40mm	£426	£490	£670	£968
50 & 65mm	£941 & £1,727	£1080 & £1985	£1475 & £2700	£2,131
75mm	£2,733	£3,100	£4,300	£6,214
100mm	£5,823	£6,700	£9,100	£13,150
150mm	£16,915	£19,400	£26,500	£38,293
200mm	£36,046	£41,400	£56,400	£83,232
250mm	£64,823	£74,500	£101,500	£150,136
300mm	£104,708	£120,300	£164,000	£242,905
400mm	£223,135	£256,400	£349,300	£506,485
450mm	£304,158	£349,500	£476,000	£690,200
600mm	£648,168	£744,500	£1,015,000	£1,471,750

Sewerage Charges:3. Measured sewerage charges

	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Volumetric sewage (per m3 of water used)	83.5p	£1.10	96p	£1.05
Surface water drainage (per £ rateable value)	0.35p	.4p	.7p	1.2p

4. Fixed Charge for Sewerage (Based on Size of Meter):

Meter Size	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
6mm	£9	£10	£10	£116
8mm	£19	£22	£22	£116
10mm	£35	£40	£40	£116
15mm	£69	£80	£80	£116
Up to 20mm	£163	£190	£190	£276
25 & 30mm	£387 & £625	£450 & £720	£450 & £720	£653
40mm	£1,086	£1,250	£1,250	£1,812
50 & 65mm	£2397 & £4401	£2760 & £5060	£2760 & £5060	£4,002
75mm	£6,962	£8,000	£8,000	£11,600
100mm	£14,835	£17,100	£17,100	£24,795
150mm	£43,094	£49,600	£49,600	£71,920
200mm	£91,834	£105,600	£105,600	£153,120
250mm	£165,149	£190,000	£190,000	£275,500
300mm	£266,762	N/A	N/A	N/A"

This is a matter for Scottish Water. The Chief Executive's response is:None. Scottish Water was not established until 1 April 2002. Charges schemes for 2002-03 had been developed by the three former water authorities in anticipation of the creation of Scottish Water. These schemes were developed in consultation with the Water Industry Commissioner on the basis of the revenues cap agreed in the light of the Quality and Standards process which was subject to full public consultation by Scottish ministers.

This is a matter for the organisations concerned.

There are no plans to vary the number of unified NHS boards, which were established as recently as September 2001. However, a longer-term review of management and decision-making in NHSScotland is now under way. We have made it clear that the review is not intended to result in structural upheaval, although NHS organisations might evolve and change where this will produce tangible benefits for patients, staff and local communities. Whatever the outcomes of the review, we do not expect to spend the coming months discussing structures: we will concentrate on helping the NHS deliver better front-line care for patients.

The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland has made clear that baton guns will be used to deal with firearms incidents and that they will only be deployed where a Chief Constable is satisfied that an incident involves risk to life or serious injury.

For the purposes of crofting legislation a croft is defined by section 3 of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993. The Crofters Commission policies apply to all land undisputedly covered by that restrictive, statutory definition. All crofts should be recorded in the Register of Crofts and the Crofters Commission has an obligation under section 41 of the 1993 act to ensure that they are. Only land that falls within the definition of a croft in the 1993 act can be recorded in the Register of Crofts. Land which does not fall within the definition of a croft in section 3 of the 1993 act is not croft land and the Crofters Commission has no policies in relation to such land.

The Patient Focus and Public Involvement framework - published in December last year - indicated that we would consult on a proposal to establish a Scottish Health Council as a national body with a local presence to replace local health councils. Our paper will draw on pre-consultation work being carried out by the Scottish Consumer Council and Scottish Health Feedback which will be completed in September. We plan to publish the consultation paper during October.

The convener will make appointments to each panel in accordance with guidance from the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Prior to making the appointments the Convener must consult the Water Industry Commissioner and such bodies representing consumers interests as the Scottish ministers may direct. The appointment of panel members will be completed as soon as practicable following the appointment of the convener.

Scotland produces in the region of 150,000 tonnes of aquaculture products which constitute some 40% of Scottish food exports. The principal benefit of developing this market would be the creation of jobs in areas where other sources of employment are not readily available.