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I can confirm that the Scottish Executive carried out a performance assessment of the Chairman of Caledonian MacBrayne before the recent announcement of his reappointment. This was based on significant contact between ministers and the chairman and very frequent contact between senior officials of the Development Department and the chairman over almost three years. A senior Executive official attends every Caledonian MacBrayne Board meeting and, in addition to this, there are further contacts through regular dialogue, meetings and correspondence. The Executive did not consult users or the company's staff prior to re-appointing the chairman nor is that a statutory requirement or a requirement of the Commissioner for Public Appointments' Code of Practice. As with other similar papers associated with any public appointment, details of the performance assessment are confidential.

We have no such evidence. Under existing legislation, it is mandatory for developers to detail the environmental impact of their proposals, especially for environmentally significant sites, and propose mitigation measures as part of their accompanying environmental statement. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is of the opinion that studies are helpful at a local level, but it is difficult to apply their conclusions more generally. However, one local five-year study on the Novar windfarm at Inverness registered no significant impact on the bird population.

The monitoring data and scientific evidence on which the nitrate vulnerable zone designations are based can be found in the British Geological Survey Report (BGS) Groundwater nitrate vulnerable zones for Scotland which is available from the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. Number 18567). It is also available from the BGS website (http://www.bgs.ac.uk/scottishexec) along with a Geographical Information System (GIS) containing individual monitoring site data. A further BGS report on collection of additional monitoring data, Additional groundwater nitrate monitoring sites for Scotland, is also available from the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 21922).

The meeting between Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL) and Ryanair on 19 June follows on from a meeting on 25 April about the possibility of the Irish carrier operating from HIAL airports. Meetings between HIAL and its users and potential users are a commercial matter for the airport operator.The Scottish Executive is providing record levels of support to HIAL to maintain the airport infrastructure for essential air services in the Highlands and Islands. This support also allows HIAL to offer substantial discounts on landing charges for new services or increased frequencies which would lead to increased passenger numbers.

The Executive has provided financial support to local authorities to assist them to develop Safer Routes to School and Cycling, Walking and Safer Streets projects. Guidance on How to run Safer Routes to School was published by the Scottish Executive in December 1999. There are no plans to amend it.Local authorities receive funding from the Executive through the Rural Public Passenger Transport Grant to subsidise non-commercial rural public passenger transport services.Under section 51 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 education authorities have a duty to make such arrangements as they consider necessary for the provision of free transport or for the provision of other transport facilities for the conveyance of pupils between their homes and their designated schools.

In late July 2001, Bovis Lend Lease advised the Project Team, of financial difficulties emanating from Flour City projects within the far east, and consequential management restructuring to manage the financial situation. The latest position was discussed at the Holyrood Progress Group at their next meeting at the beginning of August, and formally reported to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) at their meeting at the end of that month. The Parliament has received legal advice that documents should not mean time be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre for reasons I have repeatedly given.

The Executive does not hold information in the form requested. Information on the operation of the Code of Practice is published annually, and the report for 2001 is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre and on the Executive's website.

Bovis Lend Lease did not carry out inspections of Flour City's window supplier's manufacturing facility in Thailand. I understand from the Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group that representatives from RMJM's local offices in Bangkok undertook inspections, initially in February 2001, and later in June 2001. The Parliament has received legal advice that documents should not be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre while the SPCB's right and entitlements are still being evaluated as they may form part of the productions in any litigation which may follow.

Certain concerns about Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd's finances were reported to the HPG at a meeting on 12 July 2001. The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has confirmed that representatives of Bovis Lend Lease, EMBT/RMJM and the Holyrood Project Team were all present at that meeting. These concerns and subsequent developments were reported to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) in August 2001. The Parliament has received legal advice that documents should not be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre while the SPCB's rights and entitlements are still being evaluated, as they may form part of the productions in any litigation which may follow.

The SPCB is not at present bound by any code of practice on access to information but it will be subject, in the same way as any public authority, to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.