Seòmar agus comataidhean

My officials record and monitor appeals lodged by scheme, scheme issues (e.g. livestock record keeping) and the grounds of appeal. They also monitor appeal outcomes. This information allows them to determine whether any changes are required to our scheme management and administrative procedures or to the appeals procedure.

The procedure has to date not identified any serious shortcomings in our systems, although at times backlogs of appeals have built up and it has taken us longer to process cases than we would like.

Information is transferred electronically between the systems on a regular basis for disease control and public health purposes, subsidy cross checks and to support policy decisions. This process is currently being reviewed to identify improvements which can be made following the recent up-grade to the system operated by the British Cattle Movement Service.

Scottish Executive ministers and officials will play a full part, in both a Presidency and member state role, in the UK team working to ensure a successful Presidency that delivers our fisheries-related objectives. It is not possible to be precise at this stage as to what our specific priorities will be. These will, to a large extent, depend on what is agreed during the Luxembourg Presidency and what issues will carry over to the UK Presidency. I look forward to discussing our priorities with the Environment and Rural Development Committee in September.

The information requested is set out in the following tables. In stage 2 appeals the external panel make a recommendation to me with its findings.

Number of Appeals Lodged:

	Stage 1	Stage 2
2000	17	0
2001*	84	16
2002*	271	32
2003	252	45
2004	120	5
2005	116	0

Note: *Coverage of Agri Environment Schemes was added in June 2001. Figures in 2001 were low due to foot-and-mouth disease. This resulted in an upsurge in 2002.

The Number of Appeals Upheld By Panel and as a Percentage of the Number Determined

	Internal	External
2000	0	0
2001	12 (21%)	1 (16%)
2002	18 (15%)	5 (35%)
2003	15 (10%)	0
2004	4 ( 2%)	2 ( 8%)

Note: Determination may not have taken place the same year as the appeal was received.

In addition, some appeals have been resolved outwith the panel setting.

Stage 3 (Scottish Land Court Hearings Lodged)

2003: 3

2004: 2

2005: 2

Decisions not yet taken for these cases, with the exception of one case settled out of court.

The work of promoting Scotland in theUSis carried out all year round through our Scottish Affairs office in Washington andTartan Week is an important element of that work. The Tartan Day Working Group establishedin the lead up to Tartan Week 2004 and the evaluation that our Analytical ServicesDivision carried out during this year will assist the Executive and partners buildon Tartan Week 2005.

A list of overseas posts maintainedby the Scottish Executive is provided in the following table. This includes directappointments and secondments for which the Executive is meeting the full costs,but not staff on loan where the receiving organisation is meeting the main salarycosts. Agencies within the Scottish Executive Main Bargaining Unit (SEM) have indicated that they haveno overseas posts at present. Information is not held centrally on overseas appointmentsby other agencies outwith the SEM.

Table: Overseas posts maintainedby the Scottish Executive

Present Post	Location	Employment Status
Head of Office	Scotland House, Brussels	Assignment
Deputy Head of Office	Scotland House, Brussels	Assignment
Policy Advisor	Scotland House, Brussels	Assignment
2 x Desk Officer	Scotland House, Brussels	Assignment
Policy Adviser	Scotland House, Brussels	Assignment
EU Office Team Head (policy).	Scotland House, Brussels	Assignment
Personal Assistant and Receptionist	Scotland House, Brussels	Locally Engaged Staff
Office Manager and PR,	Scotland House, Brussels	Locally Engaged Staff
Parliamentary Officer	Scotland House, Brussels	Locally Engaged Staff
2 x Administrative Assistant	Scotland House, Brussels	Locally Engaged Staff
First Secretary, Scottish Affairs	British Embassy, Washington	Assignment
Second Secretary, Scottish Affairs	British Embassy, Washington	Assignment

Seconded National Expert Education and Culture	European Commission, Brussels	Secondment
Seconded National Expert Legal Service	European Commission, Brussels	Secondment
Seconded National Expert Enlargement	European Commission, Brussels	Secondment
European Parliament	Atrium Building, Brussels	Secondment
2 x Stagiaire (in-service trainee)	European Commission, Brussels	Stagiaire
Civil Service Bi- Lateral Exchange Programme	Ministere de la Justice, Paris	Secondment
Ecole Nationale of Administration	Strasbourg, France	Secondment

Note: The Scottish Executive has advertised for the post of FirstSecretary/Counsellor, Beijing, China.

The programme for Tartan Week2005 was the most extensive and ambitious to date. More Scottish organisations thanever before were involved through events such as the Scotland Village and ScotlandRun in New York and the Life Sciences seminar in Boston.

It is too early to accuratelyassess the impact of Tartan Week but the Executive’s Analytical Services Divisionis producing an overall evaluation of the 2005 programme. This report will lookat amongst other things, the effectiveness of events, media impact in Scotland andthe US and changes in Promotion of Scotland indicators.

The range of events for TartanWeek 2005 was the most extensive yet. An evaluation of these events is being preparedby the Executive’s Analytical Services Division and this will help assess the impactof this year’s programme.

Tartan Week is one element of the Executive’s efforts to promote Scotland in the United States. Through the Scottish Affairs Officein Washington DC, the Executive is committed to working throughout theyear promoting Scotland in line with our International Strategy.

It is not our policy torelease information between UK Government Departments and the Executive onstaffing matters.

All posts are kept under constantreview and changes are made as necessary in response to changing business needs.