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I have asked Graeme Munro, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to respond. His reply is as follows:No. Historic Scotland has never knowingly discouraged suitable applications from being made under the Historic Buildings Repair Grant Scheme. Previously, general advice was given to applicants on when their projects might gain a place in Historic Scotland's forward programme in the light of the demand for these grants. This advice was intended to assist applicants to plan their fund raising and the preparation and submission of technical information. Such advice is now given on a case-by-case basis and updated as the application proceeds through various stages.

I have asked Graeme Munro, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:The position as at 31 October 2002 was as follows:

	£ million
Budget	11.1
Firm offers	7.1
Indicative authorisations	2.3
Pre-offer stage - uncommitted funds	0.9
Recurring expenditure	2.4
Total	12.7

The Scottish Executive is considering the committee's concerns on successor arrangements. We will seek further dialogue with the committee before Stage 2 of the Public Appointments and Public Bodies (Scotland) Bill to reach agreement on the best way forward.

I have asked Graeme Munro, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:Against a total commitment of £12.7 million for the current year grantees are currently indicating to Historic Scotland that they intend to draw down £11.7 million, (this is against a budget allocation of £11.1 million). In calculating this figure, Historic Scotland has used the information provided by grantees, or the relevant professional advisers, about the progress of work on site. However, from experience, Historic Scotland does not expect a full drawdown of this amount. The figure is updated monthly. The actual spend to 31 October 2002 expressed in cash terms is £4.45 million or 41.6% of the budget. In resource accounting terms, valuations amounting to £3.3 million (31%) have been received by the agency.

I have asked Graeme Munro, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:The amount of grant awarded but unclaimed at the end of 2001-02 under the Historic Buildings Repair Grants Scheme was £2.9 million. This was due to projects failing to start on site on the date previously notified to Historic Scotland and to delays in the works programmes of projects already on site, all leading to a lower level of grant being claimed in the financial year.

The information requested is available at the following website:http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/isd/NHSis_resource/Workforce/workforce_statistics.htm.

Details of additional funding provided to Argyll and Clyde NHS Board for national initiatives outwith its annual budget from 1999-2000 to date are as follows:

National Initiative	1999-2000(£000)	2000-01(£000)	2001-02(£000)	2002-03(£000)
Primary Care Investment				1.014
Delayed Discharges				1.734
Electronic Clinical Communication Implementation		0.115	0.751	0.184
Have a Heart Paisley		1.141	2.334
Innovation Fund for Children's Services	0.161	0.154	0.346
Roll-out of New General Practice Administration System for Scotland	0.738
Primary Care Act Pilots			0.115
NHS Personal Learning Credits				0.030
Health Improvement Fund		1.143	1.343	1.244
Personal Medical Services Initiatives				0.068
Waiting Times Orthopaedics Initiative				0.155
IM&T Infrastructure	0.392	0.373		0.165
Telemedicine		0.066	0.247	0.027
Designed Health Care	0.031	0.135	0.274
Learning Together			0.120
Specialist Nursing Initiative		0.409	0.512	0.512
Flu Immunisation		0.294	0.363
Winter Pressures			0.947	1.040
Cancer in Scotland: Action for Change			0.200	1.043
General Medical Services Local Development Schemes	0.044
Mental Health and Well-being Development Fund	0.079	0.410	0.540
Clinical Effectiveness		0.012		0.011
Occupational Health and Safety Service				0.052
Return to Practice				0.043
Continuous Professional Development				0.151
Rough Sleepers Initiative		0.138
Development of Managed Clinical Networks		0.675
Leadership Development for Community Nursing Team Leaders		0.012

It is Executive policy to review the work of all departments and agencies from time to time. The Education, Culture and Sport Committee have asked ministers to review the roles and responsibilities of Historic Scotland in their response to the Public Appointments (Scotland) Bill. Ministers are considering this request and will be responding in advance of the Stage 2 discussions on the bill.

The annual allocation of resources to Argyll and Clyde NHS Board from 1999-2000 to date are as follows:

1999-2000	£396.906 million
2000-01	£430.583 million
2001-02	£456.986 million
2002-03	£475.936 million

Note:The allocation shown for 2002-03 is as at Friday 1 November 2002. Further allocations may issue before the end of the financial year.

The Child Witness Support Implementation Group was set up in September 2001 to take forward implementation, and established three multi-agency sub groups to develop different aspects of the work. In the light of their reports we are today launching a package for consultation. The package comprises papers on the following:

• The Establishment of a Child Witness Support Service
• Interviewing Child Witnesses in Scotland
• Code of Practice on the Provision of Therapy to Child Witnesses prior to Criminal Trials and Children's Hearing Court Proceedings
• Conduct of Child Witness Court Familiarisation Visits
• Information about Young Witnesses to Inform Decision-making in the Legal Process
• Questioning of Children in Court

The implementation group aims to review these documents in the light of responses, which are requested by 31 January 2003, and to complete its work by spring 2003.Copies have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 24508).