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The decision on whether to agree to such a meeting is entirely a matter for UK ministers. Tax and equity issues formed part of the case made by Scottish ministers to the Treasury which secured additional funds of £26 million for distribution to beneficiaries.

Statistics for the three complete years 1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2001-02 as well as for the year 2002-03 to date are given in the table. It should be noted that the National Health Service (Scotland) (Injury Benefits) Regulations 1998 provide for successful applicants to receive a supplement to their income to bring their post injury income up to a proportion of their pre-injury income, that proportion depending on the degree of disability. "Successful" does not, therefore, mean that an additional payment is made. Reviews and appeals take into account the way the disability has developed since the original application and can be in respect of the degree of disability as well as the existence of disability. Hence, there are reviews of successful original applications.

	Applications			% Succesful
	New	Review	Appeal	New	Review	Appeal
1999-2000	118	32		81.40%	81.30%
2000-01	76	30	1	75.00%	80.00%	100.00%
2001-02	80	34	1	85.00%	64.70%*	100.0%
2002-03	68	11		91.20%	54.50%*

Note:*Excluding cases on-going.

The Scottish Executive has every confidence that the Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland is promoting the interests of customers of Scottish Water in keeping with his responsibilities as set out in the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002. We expect the relatively small investment in maintaining the Water Industry Commissioner's office to contribute significantly to ensuring that customers will pay the minimum necessary for sustainable, effective water and waste water services.

The Scheme of Charges that determines charges for businesses and households was agreed between Scottish Water and the Water Industry Commissioner on 31 January 2003. The overall level of charges has been set to raise the revenue needed for investment to improve water and waste water services. Scottish ministers have accepted the recommendation from the Water Industry Commissioner that, in principal, charges schemes should reflect the costs of providing the service.

The buying out of Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) Public Finance Initiative (PFI) deal on the development and operation of the Inverness Airport Terminal is not under consideration by Scottish ministers. The contractual parties to the deal are reviewing the PFI structure, to ensure that it continues to be effective in delivering the intended benefits for the operation and development of the terminal and airport. The Scottish Executive fully supports this review. The estimated cost of PFI payments until the end of the contract is based on a (variable) volume based payment multiplied by the estimated passenger throughout. This is applied through a cost model which is subject to commercial confidentiality.HIAL and the Scottish Executive will continue to pursue the development of new routes from Inverness and other HIAL airports through the Interim Route Development Fund and the company's marketing strategy. In the past six months this has resulted in delivery of a new Manchester service and an additional London (Gatwick) service.

It remains the case that the SPCB still regards the details of the amount of fees paid to professional consultants as commercially confidential for reasons given previously and a breakdown of these fees cannot presently be given.

The Executive is committed to working with the scallop industry to protect scallop stocks and to explore the scope for new research in the context of amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP). The Scottish Scallop Advisory Committee, which includes representatives of the scallop industry, Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department, Fisheries Research Services and the Food Standards Agency, is making good progress with the identification and pursuit of appropriate research. We have also allocated Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance funds to an industry-led project to investigate scallop portion sizes in the EU. No final decision has yet been taken by Scottish ministers as to whether the proposed tiered regime for ASP will be implemented in Scotland.

The available information is given in the following table. The statistics on crimes recorded by the police and on court proceedings are not directly comparable as a person may be proceeded against for more than one crime, and a crime may be recorded in one year and proceedings taken in a subsequent year. Charges recorded by the police may also be altered as a result of the judicial process. Causing Death by Dangerous Driving: Crimes Recorded by the Police and Persons Proceeded Against, 1999-2001

	1999	2000	2001
Crimes Recorded by the Police	34	35	32
Persons Proceeded Against in Court1
Total	26	14	21
Charge Proved by Sentence Type
Total	22	11	20
Custody	11	5	12
Other	11	6	8

Note:1. Where the crime was the main crime.

The Scottish Executive will fund 95% of the cost of hardship relief awarded by local authorities for those fish processors with a rateable value not exceeding £50,000, affected by the reductions in whitefish catches. The enhanced contribution will be available from 1 April 2003 for a six-month period. Local authorities can still grant hardship relief to applicants who fall outwith this criteria under the normal terms where the Scottish Executive funds 75% of the cost.Nearly £30 million has been made available over the seven years of the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance programme to assist processors in Scotland. Aid under this programme will continue to be available.The Executive is also considering proposals for an extension to the Fish Processors Action Plan.

Scottish Executive officials have arranged for a director of the private development company to meet with Mr and Mrs McLeod on 13 March 2003. A representative of BEAR Scotland Ltd will also attend the meeting.