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We recognise the importance of the point being raised. This project will be managed by the Energy Saving Trust from its offices in Scotland. While based in Scotland, as part of its policies on equal opportunities the Energy Saving Trust employs both Scottish workers and those of other nationalities. In relation to other external partners, we will aim to ensure that best practice procurement is followed.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-23509 on 11 May 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx

We welcomed the UK Government''s ambition to insulate all cavities and lofts by 2015 (in the recent Heat and Energy Saving Strategy consultation), and indicated that we believe this will not be met in Scotland unless changes are made to the framework for the delivery of the Carbon Emissions Reduction target (CERT) and the obligation that supersedes it. The Home Insulation Scheme will contribute towards this ambition, and towards our own CO₂ reduction target, but the degree to which it can be achieved will partly depend on decisions made around the future of CERT.

We recognise the need to make substantial progress in our existing housing stock to meet our climate change ambitions. Whilst resources are tight, we have made a significant start in the 2009-10 Budget and we intend to continue in budgetary terms year by year towards the achievement of a step-change in energy efficiency and insulation by 2020. The first phase of investment and the associated evaluation will assist in determining the best way of taking this forward in future years.

The next summit meeting of the British-Irish Council is scheduled to take place in October in Jersey; however the agenda is yet to be determined.

The Minister for Transport, Infrastructure & Climate Change attended the British-Irish Council meeting of 17 April 2009, at which the Irish and Manx governments were present, and during which the issue of the Sellafield nuclear power plant was raised.

Ministers from the Irish and Manx Governments advised that they are close to completing a revised joint paper on Sellafield and radioactive waste. The paper will address current operations at Sellafield, the safety of those operations, the final disposal of radioactive waste and the control of environmental discharges. This topic will be given fuller discussion at the next ministerial level meeting of the council in 2010, at which Scottish ministers will be present.

All sectors of the economy, including domestic and international aviation, have a collective role in delivering the 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 required by the Climate Change (Scotland) Bill. That is why we have taken the world-leading step of committing to include from the start the Scottish share of emissions from international aviation in our emissions reduction targets.

We also recognise that air links support Scotland''s economy, including business and tourism, and perform a very important social function, particularly in the Highlands and Islands. We are, therefore, pursuing a balanced approach which recognises the economic, social and environmental impact of aviation in Scotland.

The use of police informants is an established part of policing and is overseen by the independent Office of the Surveillance Commissioner. Individual operational decisions are a matter for the relevant police force.

The information requested is not available. Surveillance is undertaken on the basis of necessity and proportionality; not on the basis of individual political motivation. The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 provides that surveillance may only be conducted:

for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime;

for the purpose of preventing disorder;

for the purpose of protecting public health, or

if it is in the interests of protecting public safety.

Existing law safeguards and permits lawful protest. In doing so it strikes a balance between protecting the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly with the rights of the wider community to go about their daily lives safely and without undue disruption. We look to local authorities, the police and other agencies to use their discretion at a local level to ensure that this balance is maintained in respect of individual events.

There are no plans to conduct such an assessment.