S1W-10849 Mr Kenneth Gibson: To ask the Scottish Executive what impact this year’s increase in water and sewerage rates has had on small voluntary organisations.

S1W-10850 Mr Kenneth Gibson: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to assist charities that have lost rates relief following decisions by the water authorities to end such relief.

S1W-10851 Mr Kenneth Gibson: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to empower communities.

S1W-10852 Mr Kenneth Gibson: To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage local authority officers and members to commit themselves fully to the Best Value programme.

S1W-10853 Mr Kenneth Gibson: To ask the Scottish Executive which health boards allow doctors to prescribe (a) temozolomide for the treatment of brain cancer and (b) inrinotecan for the treatment of bowel cancer.

S1W-10854 Mr Kenneth Gibson: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to allow tobramycin to be prescribed for the treatment of cystic fibrosis and what guidelines will be issued to health boards regarding this medicine.

S1W-10855 Mr Kenneth Gibson: To ask the Scottish Executive what treatment guidelines are issued regarding the prescribing of donepezil hydrochlor for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

S1W-10856 Mr Kenneth Gibson: To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it provides on treating schizophrenia and other mental illnesses with resperidone, olanzapine and quetiapine rather than older medicines such as chlorpromazine.

S1W-10857 Mr Kenneth Gibson: To ask the Scottish Executive what cost benefit analysis has been undertaken, in partnership with the NHS in England and Wales where appropriate, into the use of newer, safer, more effective medicines rather than older, less expensive drugs which may have a poorer safety profile and a lower level of patient compliance.

S1W-10858 Mr Brian Monteith: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10349 by Sarah Boyack on 27 October 2000, whether it will give further details of the personal injury road accidents that have occurred in the last five years on the Strathblane to Aberfoyle stretch of the A81, outlining whether the accidents were slight, serious or fatal.

S1W-10859 Mr Keith Harding: To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs will consider visiting Bell Baxter High School in Cupar, Fife.

S1W-10860 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it was invited to contribute to the decision-making process which set the criteria to be used for the 19th round of licensing for exploration for oil and gas in the North Sea; if so, what advice and guidance it gave and, if not, what representations it has made to the Department of Trade and Industry on its involvement in such matters.

S1W-10861 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Her Majesty's Government regarding the promotion of oil exploration and extraction on "fallow field" sites, for which licences have been granted but which have not been developed.

S1W-10862 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made or intends to make to Her Majesty's Government regarding the reduction or abolition of track access charges for rail freight in Scotland.

S1W-10863 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive whether the rate of financial return assumed by Caledonian MacBrayne in its tender, in conjunction with a private partner, for the Northern Isles passenger ferry subsidy contract was an appropriate commercial rate.

S1W-10864 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive whether Caledonian MacBrayne’s tender, in conjunction with a private partner, for the Northern Isles passenger ferry subsidy contract was submitted on a commercial basis and, if not, on what basis it was submitted.

S1W-10865 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it assisted in any way with the tender made by Caledonian MacBrayne, in conjunction with a private partner, for the Northern Isles passenger ferry subsidy contract.

S1W-10866 Mr John Home Robertson: To ask the Scottish Executive how many notifications have been made by mobile telephone companies of the exercise of their right under existing planning legislation to erect transmission masts on public land adjacent to roads and footpaths in East Lothian since the Executive announced its intention, in August 2000, to amend such legislation, and whether it will apply any such amendments retrospectively in order to address this position.

S1W-10867 Mr John Home Robertson: To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken by the Forestry Commission to facilitate the procurement of Scottish timber for structural and other purposes in buildings in the Holyrood Project.

S1W-10868 Mr John Home Robertson: To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of timber from forests is transported by rail and what steps are being taken to persuade the English, Welsh and Scottish Railway to accept more timber business.

S1W-10869 Mr John Home Robertson: To ask the Scottish Executive what consequential funding it has received as a result of the extra allocations from Her Majesty's Treasury for post offices in rural areas and how those funds are to be applied.

S1W-10870 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive what would be the difference to the cost of collecting the graduate endowment, as currently proposed by it, if the income threshold was raised from £10,000 to (a) £19,000 and (b) £25,000.

S1W-10871 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is of collection of the graduate endowment, as currently proposed by it, in each of its first five years of operation.

S1W-10872 Colin Campbell: To ask the Scottish Executive whether any of Scotland’s Chief Constables have made requests in the last twelve months for additional funding for personnel; whether these requests were made orally or in writing; what these requests amounted to in terms of cash and personnel numbers, and whether requests were met and, if so, whether in whole or in part.

S1W-10873 Dr Elaine Murray: To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest position is on agri-monetary compensation payments to the arable sector.

S1W-10874 Irene McGugan: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give details of any monitoring of the effect of admission to school at an early age on the performance of children at age 16 in examinations.

S1W-10875 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive when (a) Glasgow Airport and (b) Edinburgh Airport will reach their maximum operating capacities according to current projections of the growth of air traffic.

S1W-10876 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive whether a public service obligation (PSO) could be imposed on every internal air route within the Highlands and Islands; if not, on which routes a PSO could not be imposed and why a PSO could not be imposed on any such routes.

S1W-10877 Brian Adam: To ask the Scottish Executive when details of the additional funds to tackle Scotland’s drug problems will be announced.

S1W-10878 Brian Adam: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will support the provision of a drug detoxification, rehabilitation and throughcare centre for North East Scotland.

S1W-10879 Brian Adam: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider a pilot programme for drug courts in North East Scotland.

S1W-10880 Janis Hughes: To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the Health Technology Board for Scotland to publish its findings regarding the prescription of beta interferon for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

S1W-10881 Linda Fabiani: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10427 by Mr Sam Galbraith on 30 October 2000, whether in the light of the evidence submitted by the interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee which related only to national qualifications candidates and not to candidates for the other awards which require verification, accreditation, validation or other procedures to be carried out by the SQA before awards can be made, it will clarify that answer.

S1W-10882 Christine Grahame: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns about the security of employment of the 1,000 Burton’s Biscuits employees in Edinburgh following the sale this week to the venture capital firm Hicks, Muse, Tate and Furst, the same investment firm that financially backed Viasystems.

S1W-10883 Mr Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive what services it will seek to buy from the Post Office under Her Majesty's Government "Gateway" proposals approved by the Performance and Innovation unit of Her Majesty’s Cabinet Office, and what is the estimated cost of so doing.

S1W-10884 Mr Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive which options it favours for the provision of universal banking services through the Post Office network for those people who cannot or do not wish to use traditional bank accounts.

S1W-10885 Mr Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will subsidise the provision of universal banking services by the Post Office and, if so, to what extent.

S1W-10886 Mr Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive what contribution it will make to Social Network Payments to prevent any closures of sub-Post Offices in rural and deprived urban areas.

S1W-10887 Mr Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive what contribution it will make to the establishment of a fund to support Post Offices and their retail facilities in deprived urban areas.

S1W-10890 Rhoda Grant: To ask the Scottish Executive when an announcement will be made on the proposed superquarry at Lingerbay.

S1W-10891 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to find an operator or owner for the oil fabrication yard at Arnish, Isle of Lewis.

S1W-10892 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to extend the remit of the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive (SPTE) to cover freight transport and what the reasons are for its position on the extension or otherwise of SPTE’s remit to include this issue.

S1W-10893 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive how many tourists visit Scotland for golfing holidays annually (a) in total; (b) broken down by the country which such visitors are from and (c) broken down by the mode of travel used to travel to Scotland.

S1W-10894 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to reduce the passenger service charge at Inverness Airport and what the reasons are for any such decision.

S1W-10895 Mrs Margaret Ewing: To ask the Scottish Executive how many people died from mesothelioma in each year since 1980, broken down by health board area.

S1W-10896 Mrs Margaret Ewing: To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the Director-General of the Cancer Research Campaign to bring in clinical trials on drugs to combat mesothelioma to Scotland.