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The Scottish Executive has no current plans to alter the 15-month NHS registration period with a dentist.

Over 1.7 million Ha of agricultural land in Scotland are rented under full tenancy agreements (that is, tenancies under the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1991 with traditional secure tenants or limited partnership tenants, including minor holdings) (source: Scottish Agricultural Statistics, Scottish Executive, 2001). As I explained in the answer given to question S1W-28914 on 18 October 2002, there were estimated to be around 14,000 full tenancy agreements under the 1991 act active in Scotland in 2001. We do not hold information centrally which subdivides this figure further. On the basis of the above information, we estimate that the average size of a holding under a full tenancy agreement in Scotland is around 120 Ha.A Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) survey estimated that around 64% of such tenanted land is held under 1991 act tenancies with a traditional secure tenant (source: Land Tenure Patterns in Scotland, RICS Scotland, 1995, Table 1). This would mean that around 1 million Ha of agricultural land in Scotland are held under traditional secure 1991 act tenancies.All answers to written parliamentary questions can be found on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

Contracts exist with the City of Edinburgh Council in respect of the following properties currently occupied by the Scottish Parliament:Parliamentary Headquarters (George IV Bridge)Committee ChambersCannonball House369 and 375 High StreetUnder the current arrangements options to renew are not necessary, as these contracts continue on a monthly basis unless and until terminated by mutual agreement. Discussions are on-going with the City of Edinburgh Council as to an end date consistent with the migration to the new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood. These discussions will incorporate a review of rent. Annual rentals payable in advance of this review are as follows : Parliamentary Headquarters (George IV Bridge) - £763,281.48Committee Chambers - £214,395.60Cannonball House - £37,622.76369 and 375 High Street - £122,957.52A contract, with an option to extend, exists with the Church of Scotland in respect of the Scottish Parliament's occupation of the Assembly Hall. Current rent payable is £110,000 per year, payable in equal quarterly amounts. In terms of the contract, a rent review is currently under way. The option to extend has been exercised and negotiations are on-going on a suitable expiry date in relation to migration to Holyrood.Contracts also exist in respect of two properties at the Tun development in Holyrood Road, Edinburgh. The first of these provides office accommodation and will expire on 28 May 2017, although a break clause was negotiated allowing the contract to be terminated on 28 May 2004. This will allow the Holyrood Project Team to continue to operate after occupation of the new building. The current annual rent payable in respect of this property is £69,590. The other contract is in respect of the Visitor Centre and will expire on 28 August 2004. The annual rent payable amounts to £24,750.The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body also holds a licence for occupation of office accommodation at the MWB Business Exchange in St Andrew Square. The licence will expire on 31 July 2003 but may be extended. The current annual rental of £718,650 will increase to £754,582 from 1 January 2003.Members will note the substantial reduction in rental expenditure expected after occupying the new building.

A member of the Parliament's staff has been appointed, following an internal competition, to undertake the duties of Opening Ceremonies Manager on a temporary basis. The decision to make the appointment was taken by the Corporate Body on 25 June 2002. The reasons for the appointment are as follows: experience of the 1999 Opening Ceremony pointed towards the need for one or more dedicated members of staff; the work of the Opening Ceremonies Steering Group requires to be supported and the contributions from different sections of parliamentary staff require to be co-ordinated; communication with and monitoring of the work of an external events co-ordinator, once appointed, will best be managed through the post; calls on the budget provisionally allocated for the Opening Ceremonies will be monitored by the manager. His substantive post has been advertised internally, to be filled on a temporary basis. No recruitment costs, other than staff time, have been incurred. To date, no savings have accrued. I will write to the member directly with the other details requested.

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has incurred approximately £156,000 of expenditure on hospitality over a 39-month period, since July 1999. The cost of identifying each individual event and those present over the last three years would not be justified.

No.

No.

No correspondence has been received from HRH The Prince of Wales by the SPCB.

The case for a bypass for Nairn has not been identified as a priority when considering potential projects for the motorway and trunk roads programme and there are no plans at present to take forward such a scheme. I have not received representations on this matter from either Highland or the Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership (HITRANS).

Post offices and postal services are reserved to the UK Government. I understand that details of financial support for rural post offices will be announced shortly by the Department of Trade and Industry.