Chamber and committees

The total cost of the foot and mouth cull, taking into account manpower and other costs is not currently available. However to date, compensation costs have totalled approximately £120 million.

The following table provides the average retail meat prices as published by the Meat and Livestock Commission. The averages cover all cuts of meat, for example, beef includes a number of cuts from fillet steak to mince.Average Retail Prices (pence per kg)

Week ending	Beef (Scotland)	Lamb (Scotland)	Pork (Scotland)	Bacon (G.B.)
3/3/01	912	835	469	112
10/3/01	917	860	499	NA
17/3/01	918	866	503	NA
24/3/01	916	850	502	126
31/3/01	913	861	502	126
7/4/01	913	857	506	123
14/4//01	915	857	508	119
21/4/01	915	838	503	119

The Executive aims in all its work to ensure that the particular needs, circumstances and choices of all Scotland's communities including travelling people are taken into account. To further that aim, work is in hand, under the Executive's Equality Strategy, published in November 2000, to develop a communication strategy and to improve consultative mechanisms with specific communities of interest such as travelling people. The Scottish Executive/Scottish Homes commissioned a specific survey of travellers in 1999 and local authorities have the power to undertake their own surveys for example in connection with Best Value reviews. The Executive's Memorandum to the Equal Opportunities Committee's Inquiry into Travelling People describes policies being pursued across the Executive which deal with issues of key concern for travelling people.In these circumstances, the Executive has no plans to establish a specific forum for the consideration of issues relating to travelling people. This is in line with the views of the former Advisory Committee on Scotland's Travelling People which, during its final term of office, examined options for the future. Following consultation, the committee concluded that a successor organisation with executive powers would be counter-productive, potentially divisive and could in fact inhibit the objective of travellers becoming fully accepted as part of the Scottish community.There are no plans to review all existing legislation to assess its impact on any particular group. However, all Executive Bills must be accompanied by a statement of their potential impact on equal opportunities. In addition, the process of mainstreaming will move us towards integrating equality considerations into legislation, policy development, service design and delivery.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14936.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14936.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14936.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14936.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14936.

Under the Human Rights Act 1998, all public authorities, including local authorities, are required by law to act compatibly with the European Convention on Human Rights. If they fail to do so, action may be taken against them in the courts.

All tax matters, including the Working Families' Tax Credit, are reserved to the UK Government. Operational matters are therefore an issue for the Inland Revenue. The Executive will, however, continue to work closely with UK ministers on this and other issues in the pursuit of our social justice agenda.