Farmers can choose to keep their flock records in any format they choose providing all the essential information is recorded.

The national strategy on housing for older people will set the policy direction for housing and housing-related support for older people in Scotland, to enable them to live independently in their own homes for as long as possible. It will identify five main outcomes that should be achieved for older people’s housing. One of these is that investment in new housing provision of all types and tenures should meet the future needs of older people.

Local authorities will continue to set out their needs for housing and support in Local Housing Strategies, taking account of local policies and priorities, to inform future investment in housing and related services in their areas.

Paragraph 44 (2) of the NHS (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2004 provides that a Health Board may authorise or require a GP practice to dispense to its registered patients if, by reason of:-

(a) distance;

(b) inadequacy of means of communication; or

(c) other exceptional circumstances,

patients will have serious difficulty in obtaining prescribed medicines from a pharmacist.

The interpretation of the Regulations is a matter for each NHS Board, taking into account the circumstances of each case. The Scottish Government has no plans to seek to amend these provisions.

The statutory process for the Hardgrove to Kinmount and Dunragit Bypass projects have been completed and both will be taken forward for construction at the earliest possible opportunity.

The Annual Minerals Raised Inquiry Survey 2009, published by the UK Government, showed 390 operational peat extraction sites in Scotland for horticultural use and a further 21 for other uses. The survey can be found at:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/planningbuilding/planningresearch/researchreports/mineralswasteresearch/annualmineralsraised/.

The requested information is not held centrally.

The accident data for the period 2008-10 is provided in the following table. Transport Scotland analyses the safety performance of the trunk road network using a database of injury accidents compiled by Scotland’s police forces. This is the most reliable and consistent evidenced data available and is collated and analysed on an annual basis for each full calendar year. No data is yet available for 2011.

A75 Trunk Road: Personal Injury Accident and Three Year Accident Rate, in Comparison with the Trunk Road Network

The rates that have been provided are based on 2009 annual average daily traffic flows and the last three full years’ accident statistics. This is the normal practice when providing accident rates across the trunk road network to ensure consistent approach when reporting on accident rates.

The figures quoted may differ slightly from those published elsewhere because they were extracted on a different date and the database may have changed between the two dates, for example due to late returns or corrections to earlier returns. The rates are calculated using sample annual average daily traffic flows recorded in 2009.

We have had no such discussions.

We continue to work with DFDS in its efforts to develop a commercially sustainable freight service on the route, and to encourage the company to keep its decision last year to withdraw the passenger service under careful review. Any decision to restore a passenger element on its service is entirely a commercial matter for DFDS.

This is entirely a commercial matter for DFDS.