Seòmar agus comataidhean

There has been no transfer of Scottish Executive posts to Inverness since May 1999.Information on the number of staff employed in non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally.

With the lifting of the small remaining infected area around Annan, the whole of Scotland now qualifies to be treated as foot-and-mouth disease free. This means that the movement and other controls which apply to our livestock sector are much less prohibitive than previously, allowing transactions by various means. Large numbers of livestock are now being moved as a result of private sales, video sales, sales by description and through collection centres and auction markets. In addition, the Livestock Welfare Disposal Scheme - Light Lambs should absorb large numbers of light and surplus lambs. In these circumstances I do not envisage the need to provide assistance for the purchase of additional fodder.

The Executive's forthcoming quinquennial review of the Scottish Arts Council will consider and make recommendations to ministers on the most appropriate geographic location for that body.

In the year 2000-01, a total of 1,902 general dental practitioners in Scotland were eligible for consideration for commitment payments, subject to meeting the relevant commitment payments criteria. In 2000-01, an average of 139 dentists failed to meet the minimum gross earnings criteria of £25,000. An average of 45 dentists failed to meet the 10-year length of service criteria. An average of 33 dentists failed to meet both the minimum gross earnings criteria of £25,000 and the 10-year length of service criteria.In 2000-01, there would have been no additional cost of extending the scheme to such persons, as the commitment payment scheme for that year was subject to a cash limited budget of £20 million for Great Britain. The effect would have been to decrease the quarterly monies available to qualifying dentists.

Publication of the identities of applicants for licences to kill or take ravens under section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is exempt from the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations 1992 and there are no plans to change this.

The Scottish Executive has no such plans.

Control of pests under the Pests Act 1954 does not require a licence. Under The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which provides for the protection of all wild birds, four general licences are in force in Scotland which permit authorised persons to kill a range of birds referred to as pest species by certain means in certain circumstances. Individual licence applications in respect of these species are not required, but they are required under that Act for birds not covered by the four general licences.We intend to produce a range of pest control information leaflets which will be freely available.

The estimated amount of aggregates sent to landfill in 1999 was 5,200 kilo tonnes. This figure was determined by a pilot survey carried out as part of a research project commissioned by the Scottish Executive. The research report Recycled Aggregates in Scotland can be found in the Parliament's reference centre (Bib. no. 11522).

Local Volunteer Development Agencies (LDVAs) were not funded under the Active Communities Initiative in 2000-01. I announced in June that £300,000 would be made available in 2001-02 to engage the national network of LVDAs in delivering the Active Communities Initiative at local level across Scotland. I anticipate that each LVDA will receive some £10,000. Active Communities Initiative funding for the network will increase to £1 million in 2002-03, with each LVDA receiving some £30,000. These sums are in addition to the £31,500 that each LVDA already receives annually.

The Active Communities Initiative is a UK initiative. Resources made available under the initiative are used to provide grants to voluntary organisations to promote volunteering and community involvement. The Scottish Executive invested £650,000 in the initiative in 2000-01 and £1.65 million will be spent in 2001-02.