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The following table shows the number and percentage of items dispensed free of charge in each NHS board area in 2000-01, the most recent complete year for which information is available.Methadone - Items Dispensed Free of Charge in 2000-01

Health Board	Number of items dispensed free of charge	Percentage of items dispensed free of charge
Argyll and Clyde	23,676	97.36
Ayrshire and Arran	25,860	97.31
Borders	468	89.83
Dumfries and Galloway	6,903	95.37
Fife	10,847	95.17
Forth Valley	2,925	94.54
Grampian	24,970	92.72
Greater Glasgow	96,268	97.34
Highland	2,321	97.19
Lanarkshire	27,972	96.66
Lothian	25,518	96.98
Orkney	9	100.00
Shetland	631	96.78
Tayside	16,563	96.45
Western Isles	3	100.00
Total	264,934	96.25

These data include instalment dispensings, where patients are given one prescription, for which a single charge is payable, but receive their medication in instalments.These data refer to prescriptions dispensed in the community and do not take into account medicines dispensed by hospitals or hospital based clinics.

The information requested is as follows:

Central Scotland	29 years
Dumfries and Galloway	24 years
Fife	32 years
Highland and Islands	20 years
Grampian	35 years
Lothian and Borders	29 years
Strathclyde	32 years
Tayside	34 years

The information is as follows:

Brigade	2001	2002 (Current)
Central Scotland	21	18
Dumfries and Galloway	21	4
Fife	10	8
Grampian	65	82
Highland and Islands	52	89
Lothian and Borders	10	5
Strathclyde	36	45
Tayside	30	40

The draft report of an independent study of the method of allocating funds to police forces was submitted late last year to a working group, involving the Executive, COSLA and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland. The group considered that, while this gave several useful pointers, additional analysis was needed before a new methodology could be proposed. This further work is now nearing completion.

This information is in the process of being collated and I will write to the member once it is available.

My department has recently undertaken a review of its administration of the Common Agricultural Policy schemes in Scotland, which included an analysis of administration costs. The costs were presented as a cost per £ of subsidy paid, and the results are given in the table for the main Common Agricultural Policy schemes and the Agri-Environment schemes.

Main CAP Schemes, 2000-01	Cost Per £ of Subsidy Paid
Area Aid Application/Arable Area Payments Scheme+	£0.04
Suckler Cow Premium Scheme	£0.03
Slaughter Premium Scheme	£0.15
Beef Special Premium Scheme	£0.04
Sheep Annual Premium Scheme	£0.02
Extensification Payment Scheme	£0.03
Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme	£0.02
Average for all the above schemes	£0.03

Note:Includes Area Aid Application base forms covering the livestock schemes.

Agri-Environment Schemes, 2000-01	Cost Per £ of Grant Paid
Countryside Premium Scheme	£0.21
Habitats Scheme/Heather Moorland Scheme	£0.37
Organic Aid Scheme	£0.07
Environmentally Sensitive Areas Scheme	£0.16
Farm Woodland Premium Scheme	£0.05
Farm Woodland Scheme	£0.05
Average for all the above schemes	£0.14

Note:The figures shown in the table compare data on the costs to Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department of administering the schemes with the amount paid out to producers in subsidy or grant. The administrative costs relate to the 2000-01 financial year, while the subsidy figures relate to the 2000-01 scheme processing year.

The number and percentage of officers recruited in Grampian, Tayside and all forces is shown in the following tables.

	Number of officers recruited
	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01
Grampian	64	85	99	24	115
Tayside	41	74	42	38	66
Scotland	828	762	367	484	1,053

	Officers recruited as a percentage of strength in March of each year
	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Grampian	5.5%	7.1%	7.9%	2.0%	9.0%
Tayside	3.7%	6.5%	3.7%	3.3%	5.7%
Scotland	5.6%	5.1%	2.5%	3.3%	7.0%

The number of officers recruited in each financial year is collected in HM Inspectorate of Constabulary's Annual Statistical Return. The figures for 2001-02 will be available very shortly.Information on the numbers of officers on long-term sick leave in each year since 1997 is not held centrally.

Information at this level of detail is not held centrally.

The reference made by the First Minister in his recent speech to giving national and devolved parliaments in Europe a greater role in the EU decision-making process is fully consistent with previous interventions on this issue. The point was included in the Executive's formal response to the recommendation at paragraph 217 of the European Committee's Report on the Governance of the European Union and the Future of Europe: What Role for Scotland?. The Executive believes that both sub-member state administrations and parliaments have an important role to play in redressing the democratic deficit which currently exists within the EU and it will continue to press this proposal through the many channels available to it. The Executive has already suggested in its joint submission with COSLA in response to the Commission's Governance inquiry that the sub-member state level should be consulted on new Commission proposals at the pre-legislative stage, and might also be involved in the proposed subsidiary watchdog.

Additional spending commitments arising from decisions taken since November 2001, broken down by geographical area are presented in the following table. The table also includes revised total per capita spend on transport improvements to 31 March 2004.

Geographical Area	Commitments	Additional Spend(£ million)	Cost Per Capita(£)
Highlands and Islands(including Northern Isles)	Motorways and Trunk RoadsFreight Facilities GrantIntegrated Transport FundPiers and Harbours Grant	4.20.2893.754.943	274.13
North East Scotland	Integrated Transport Fund	1.185	77.69
Tay	Freight Facilities Grant	10.969	111.55
West of Scotland	Freight Facilities Grant	9.75	125.34