Chamber and committees

Discussions involving officials of the Scottish Court Service and the Scottish Borders Council have resulted in an outline agreement which would see the return of court hearings to Peebles, using the council building at Rosetta Road. In tandem with the discussions on the use of the buildingfor court hearings, officials of both organisations are involved in detailed discussionon a partnership agreement which would see much of the public office services of the sheriff court being delivered through the district court office at Rosetta Road.The Scottish Executive has been kept informed of the progress of these discussions and fully supports this initiative.

Officials met with the RiverTweed Commissioners on 22 November 2002 to discuss concerns about containment on local fish farmswhen the proposal for a new salmon smolt hatchery was raised. Representatives ofBorders Council and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency were present.

Since then there has been informalcontact between the Executive and other regulators about the issue, but it is importantto recognise that there is as yet no formal development application.

In the current year we haveincreased the Communities Scotland development programme in the ScottishBorders by 39% to £3.9 million, which will fund 69 new or improved affordablehomes. Communities Scotland is also working closely with Scottish BordersCouncil in support of its strategic housing role.

The strategy sets out an on-going programme aimed at raising awareness of organ donation and thereby increasing the number of organs becoming available for transplantation. The most tangible indication of such awareness is the number of people adding their name to the NHS Organ Donor Register.The Scottish Transplant Group continues to meet regularly to monitor implementationof the recommendations.

We expect to see collaboration between the City of Edinburgh Council and other councils in the delivery of its city vision and city growth fund allocation. The best mechanism for this is for the councils to determine.

There was regular contact with the City of Edinburgh Council during the preparation of its city vision, including discussion on consultation with other councils. Now that the city vision has been approved that liaison will be maintained.

I refer the member to the answer given to S2W-981 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

This information is not held centrally.I also refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-511 on 10 June 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The Scottish Executive has not had any discussions with sheltered accommodation housing providers about standards of warden cover. However, if sheltered accommodation wardens provide housing support services, such services are regulated by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (the Care Commission) taking account of the appropriate National Care Standards developed and published by Scottish ministers.

The promotion of tourism in the Scottish Borders is an operational matter for both VisitScotland and the Scottish Borders Tourist Board. But I know that both organisations are working hard to promote the Scottish Borders to potential visitors.