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We have agreed a UK response to the Commission, which has issued on ...118 June 2003. First, this fund does not exist. The European Parliament has suggested its creation. However, the Commission would have to propose it, and the Council of Ministers endorse it.Second, such a fund would not increase public expenditure in Scotland because of the UK's public spending arrangements. So there is no benefit for Scottish fishing communities from this initiative.

Information relating to Scottish Water will be available once its first year's accounts have been laid in Parliament. For the three former water authorities, the information is available from the audited accounts as laid before the Scottish Parliament. Bib. numbers for the Scottish Parliament's Reference Centre are as follows:

Water Authorities' Published Accounts	Scottish Parliament's Reference Centre - Bib. Numbers
	NoSWA	ESWA	WoSWA
1998-99	4005	12835	4004
1999-2000	8790	7898	7925
2000-01	16464	17792	16463
2001-02	24607	24610	24612

Further information on capital expenditure undertaken by the three water authorities is also available in the Water Industry Commissioner's "Investment and Asset Management Report 2000-02" which may be found on the internet at http://www.watercommissioner.co.uk/NRs&Publications.htm.

The substantive issue on which we have sought legal advice is whether the establishment of a scheme of ex-gratia payments of the kind I announced to the Health and Community Care Committee in January would be outside the devolved competence of Scottish ministers.

Information on median wait for first out-patient appointment and median wait for in-patient/day case admission, is shown in the following tables:

Out-patients1	Median Wait (Days)Quarter End March 2003P
General Surgery
Scotland	35
Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust	52
Cardiothoracic Surgery
Scotland	25
Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust	22
Child Psychiatry
NHSScotland	57
Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust	73

^PProvisional.Notes1. Information on waiting times for out-patients is based only on first out-patient appointments of referrals of Scottish residents from GMPs or GDPs only - cases with availability status codes are also excluded

In-patients/Day Cases1	Median Wait (Days)Quarter End March 2003P
General Surgery
Scotland	42
Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust	40
Cardiothoracic Surgery
Scotland	23
Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust	86

^PProvisional.Notes:1. Information on waiting times for in-patient/day case admission is based only on cases where patients have been previously routinely admitted from home from the true waiting list.

As indicated in the Guide to Collective Decision Making, a copy of which is available on the Scottish Executive website, the Executive operates on the basis of collective responsibility and does not disclose details of the internal processes through which decisions have been made. For that reason, the Executive does not normally publish minutes of ad hoc groups of ministers.

In a Partnership for a Better Scotland we highlighted our commitment to the development of an outreach centre and the associated increase in dental students to occupy such a centre. This is at present part of an outline cost appraisal exercise being undertaken by officials within the Scottish Executive in both Health and in Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning as the agreement could have implications for both departments.A dental hospital is a longer term option and could be disproportionately expensive. It is important that any consultation did not delay any initiatives. However, following discussions with key external agencies such as Grampian Health and universities associated with dental student teaching, we will publish our intentions.I have emphasised in a previous debate that shortages of dental workforce will not be solved by single issue initiatives but by a comprehensive change to the whole system which we have already started. One of our early successes has been the "golden hellos" which on initial assessment have assisted in recruitment of young graduates this year to Grampian and to dental practices in remoter parts of Scotland.

Membership of the Ad Hoc Group of Ministers on European Strategy is limited to ministers only.

The remit of the Ad Hoc Group of Ministers on European Strategy is to consider:how co-ordination of policy with the UK Government in relation to the conclusions of the Convention of the Future of Europe can be sustained effectively;forthcoming European legislation and the wider European reform agenda, andworking relationships with other parts of the EU, particularly the Group of Regions with Legislative Powers (REGLEG) on these issues.The members of the Ad Hoc Group of Ministers on European Strategy are:The First Minister (Chair)Deputy First Minister and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong LearningMinister for Finance and Public ServicesMinister for Parliamentary BusinessMinister for Environment and Rural DevelopmentMinister for Justice Minister for TransportLord AdvocateDeputy Minister for Finance, Public Services and Parliamentary Business.Officials will attend the group to advise ministers as required. The group had its first meeting on 25 June and will meet thereafter as and when required.

The most recent statistics on the number of fires started wilfully in the Scottish Fire Brigade areas which are available cover the period 1999-2001, and are shown in the following table.

Brigade	1999	2000	2001
Strathclyde	4,922	4,956	4,779
Highland and Islands	126	120	131
Grampian	480	500	516
Tayside	524	604	635
Lothian and Borders	1,696	1,736	1,771
Fife	414	491	532
Central	308	338	364
Dumfries and Galloway	64	70	78
Total

Sources:Fire Statistics United Kingdom 1999Office of Deputy Prime MinisterFire Statistics Scotland, 2000Fire Statistics Scotland, 2001Statistics relating to the costs of wilful fire raising are not available in the format requested. However, I would refer the member to the report Joint Thematic Inspection: Fire: Raising the Standard published in 2002, section 4 of which provides some estimate of the economic costs of fire raising in Scotland. This document is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 20981).

The Police Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) Review working group completed its initial reassessment of the proposals put forward by independent consultants in September 2002. On the basis of this analysis, the group recommended, as an interim step, that additional funding should be made available to four police forces (Grampian Police, Fife Constabulary, Central Scotland Police and Northern Constabulary) in each of 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06. The Executive accepted these initial recommendations. As a result, for example, the GAE for Grampian Police in 2005-06 has been increased by £2.5 million. However, the group also concluded that a number of aspects needed further work before it could reach a final recommendation and this further work is now being undertaken with a view to completion by March 2004.