Chamber and committees

I met members of the Crofters Commission last month to discuss land reform measures relevant to crofting. This was the only meeting between Ministers and the Commission since 1 July. The Crofting Counties Agricultural Grant Scheme was not discussed.

Future arrangements for all functions of the Crofters Commission were assessed in the Policy and Financial Management Review, the first stage of which has recently been completed. I am currently considering the review report, and no decisions have been taken. There are therefore no current plans to pass the development schemes, administered by the Crofters Commission, to Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

The tax referred to represents a site lease rental charge. It is calculated on throughput and indexed to the annual average market price. Total income generated from this source in 1998 amounted to £2.407 million, roughly 1% of production value. The Scottish Executive is constantly in touch with Her Majesty's Government on a range of matters.

The Group's remit is to explore urgently and rigorously the regulatory burdens on the meat industry to see if there are ways of doing things better and to root out unnecessary restrictions. Specific areas being considered include -

Meat hygiene rules and Meat Hygiene Service procedures and hygiene inspection charges.

BSE requirements, including specified risk materials, beef on the bone and the over thirty month rule.By products and rendering material.

he efficiency review of the Meat Hygiene Service has been completed and a report submitted for consideration by the Meat Industry Red Tape Working Group. The report of the Working Group detailing conclusions and recommendations will be presented to Ministers by the end of December and the findings published thereafter.

The report of the Meat Industry Red Tape Working Group will be presented to Ministers by the end of December and published thereafter.

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with Her Majesty's Government on a wide range of issues including matters relating to maritime safety and the marine environment.

Testing of wild fish begun in summer 1998. To date over 1,800 tests have been carried out on 27 species, including atlantic salmon, sea trout and brown trout. Fish have been taken from Lochs Creran, Nevis and Snizort, Mull, The Minch and Shetland (non salmonids) and The Hebrides, Shetland, Sutherland, Ross-shire, Lochaber, Loch Linnhe and Rivers Tweed, Tay, Dee, Don and Conon (salmonids).

Sampling methods include demersal trawling, gill netting and electro-fishing of burns. Testing is done on blood and kidney, liver, heart and spleen tissue. Procedures include screening for Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA) viral proteins using the Indirect Fluorescence Antibody Technique (IFAT); detection of a specific fragment of the ISA genome using Reverse Transcriptase Poylmerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and; virus isolation in tissue culture.

his year the ScotRail franchise will be supported by £208 million of public money. The cross-border franchises are also supported by the taxpayer. The franchises will continue to be supported throughout this Parliament and beyond. This support, together with fare revenues, enables ScotRail and the other train operating companies to pay access charges to Railtrack, in turn enabling Railtrack to maintain, renew and enhance the rail network. In doing so Railtrack are obliged to comply with health and safety standards set by the Health and Safety Executive and the company's own Safety and Standards Directorate. The rail industry in Scotland has committed itself to investing in improved safety across the network. Standards Directorate.