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The Scottish Government recognises the potential seriousness of any such incident in both environmental and economic terms. Because of such concerns the First Minister wrote to the Prime Minister suggesting that a major oil spill exercise be held as soon as possible in order to both identify and learn from the lessons arising. This exercise will now be held in the spring and the Scottish Government will be participating to its full extent.

We continue to monitor the situation and welcome the setting up of the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Advisory Group (OSPRAG) and the UK Government''s moves to increase its inspection of drilling rigs and monitoring of offshore compliance through the recruitment of additional inspectors.

The Scottish Government will host a seminar on the lessons that the UK can learn from oil spills at Victoria Quay on 5 October 2010. This event will bring together then UK Spill Association, the Emergency Planning Society, the UK Government and Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government has consistent data, collected by Oil and Gas UK, which estimate that 33,800 people are directly employed by the sector with 73% of those in Scotland. Clearly, this suggests that any moratorium could impact significantly in Scotland.

The UK Energy and Climate Change Committee are conducting a short inquiry into UK deepwater drilling to find out about the safety and environmental regulations of oil and gas operations on the UK continental shelf and the potential positive and negative impacts of a moratorium on deepwater drilling. We will be monitoring the committee''s deliberations closely.

Given the role of Scottish ministers in determining this application it would be inappropriate to comment on its specifics at this stage. A decision will be made on this application in due course.

Advice received from the Committee on Climate Change by the Scottish Government on any subject would be published.

As consultations on the second National Planning Framework preceded the formal establishment of the Committee on Climate Change, the opportunity to seek advice from the committee on the framework''s content was not available. The Scottish Government''s climate change targets will be an important consideration in revising the National Planning Framework and we will consult widely when the time comes to review it. Advice received from the Committee on Climate Change by the Scottish Government on any subject would be published.

The Disability Working Group was established by ministers as a strategic short-term group in 2004, following the European Year of Disabled People (EYDP) in 2003. The remit of the group was:

to establish priorities for the Scottish Government and partner organisations to promote equality for disabled people in Scotland, and to

develop proposals on longer term mechanisms for engagement with the disability sector.

The report of the Disability Working Group, and the Scottish Government Response to the report, were published in November 2006, and the last meeting of the group was in September 2007.

The Scottish Government has since taken forward work on Disability Equality through the high-level Independent Living In Scotland Core Reference Group, which has a much broader and more ambitious remit than the original Disability Working Group. The main remit of the group, which has formally met five times to date since September 2009, is to:

Consider the actions necessary to progress Independent Living for disabled people, and to support their involvement in this process.

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We can confirm that there will be consultation on the revisions to the Ayrshire and Inverclyde rail passenger timetables, brought about as a consequence of the additional capacity arising from the Paisley Corridor Improvements project. This process has not yet commenced although it is envisaged that this will happen late autumn 2010 to enable implementation during the course of the winter 2011 timetable revision. As you will be aware there is a requirement for timetable options to have been worked up to a sufficient level of detail to demonstrate that they are: operationally and economically viable; and in the case of timetables for the Scotrail franchise, that they accord with the wider aspirations of the Scottish Government in delivering its overarching purpose, to increase sustainable economic growth, before they are taken to consultation.

The consultation process referred to is the standard industry process related to the development and implementation of changes / revisions to passenger rail services. As is industry practice the consultation will involve key industry stakeholders (e.g. Network Rail, Regional Transport Partnerships (RTP) etc) and rail user groups (e.g. Passenger Focus). These stakeholders do have the rail user''s interests at the foremost of their minds and due to their composition, e.g. as RTPs have local councillors sitting on their various committees, they are generally seen as representing the views of local constituents.

No. The Glasgow Airport Rail Link Act (2007) authorises the construction and subsequent maintenance of certain specified authorised works associated with railway infrastructure. Operational railway timetables are a matter for Network Rail Infrastructure Limited under the network code.

The Scottish Government expects all local authorities to have a range of services in place to meet the needs of its local population.

Under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, Scottish local authorities have a duty to provide community care services within their area. Eligibility for such services arises from the physical presence of an individual in the local authority area and from that individual being assessed as having a need that calls for the provision of a service.

A local authority may, therefore, be responsible for providing care to someone in its area who is ordinarily resident elsewhere. Section 86 of the 1968 Act and related regulations provide for certain expenditure incurred in so doing to be recoverable from the local authority in whose area the individual is ordinarily resident.

In a similar way Scottish Government expects local authorities to meet the housing support needs of all individuals currently living in their area but, where relevant, to be able to claim back such expenses from the local authority in which the individual ordinarily resides.

A circular published by the Scottish Government in March 2010 contains revised guidance on ordinary residence in relation to the recovery of the expenditure on accommodation and services provided under the 1968 Act and can be found at the following link (Circular CCD 3/2010). It contains guidance only and is not intended to be a definitive interpretation of the law, which is a matter for the Courts. Local authorities are, however, encouraged to follow the guidance to help achieve consistency and equity across Scotland.

The guidance also sets out new procedures for resolving disputes when local authorities cannot reach agreement as to which local authority is liable for the costs, and proposes transitional arrangements to help with voluntary moves.

We will be happy to make available all information upon which Ministers base their decision, with the exception of information which might be exempt under freedom of information legislation.

Ministers launched a public consultation exercise on the prospect of the merger on 21 December 2009. Ministers are also aware of the outcome of the separate consultation exercise undertaken by the colleges concerned. Ministers have received since then a range of further views and representations on the proposed merger, all of which will be taken into account by ministers in reaching their decision.