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I raised this issue with Scottish Power when I met with them on 17 December 2007. Scottish Power advises that they operate the same back-charging policy across the UK. They assure me that they make every effort to gain access to homes to recalibrate meters and if they are not satisfied that proper procedures for meter reading and timeous re-calibration of meters has been carried out they will waive back-charges. The company is pushing ahead with their programme of replacing their prepayment meters with meters that can be re-calibrated remotely. I understand that it has now replaced 220,000 meters. I urged Scottish Power to complete the meter replacement programme as quickly as possible.

Grant funding totalling £215,000 has been made available over the two years of 2006-07 and 2007-08 to The League for the Exchange of Commonwealth Teachers (LECT) to provide continuous professional development (CPD) opportunities for primary and secondary school teachers, through various exchange programmes and study visits. In addition, Learning and Teaching Scotland grant funded LECT £70,000 in 2006-07 to support educational activity in Malawi.

A Curriculum for Excellence provides the opportunity for an engaging, exciting and relevant education for every child and young person which helps to develop them as successful learners, effective contributors, responsible citizens and confident individuals. Teacher exchanges and study visits have a positive impact on learning and teaching in schools and provides an opportunity for teachers to reflect on their practice. This will also contribute to the National Outcome in the concordat between the Scottish Government and COSLA, that all young people are successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens.

Both the League for the Exchange of Commonwealth Teachers (LECT) and the British Council provide opportunities for teachers to undertake work exchange programmes in Commonwealth countries and in the USA respectively.

In addition, there are a wide of range of opportunities for teachers in Scotland to learn from practice in other counties funded by the Scottish Government. This includes the Scottish Continuing International Professional Development (SCIPD) programme administered by Learning and Teaching Scotland which provides opportunities for individual and group study visits for teachers to share experience and learn from practice in other countries. In addition, over the years 2005-06 to 2007-08, the British Council has supported head teacher visits to China; LECT and LINK Community Development have supported teacher visits to Malawi, and several other schemes administered by the British Council and the Developing Effective International Education Practice (DEIEP) consortium have provided further opportunities for teachers'' international study visits.

We are working in partnership with key stakeholders to increase the awareness of and to simplify the plethora of opportunities available to teachers and pupils to learn from an international experience. The main aim is to ensure young people grow up with a Scottish world view, and that they have a range of knowledge and skills with which to engage in today''s increasingly multicultural and globalised society, where young people travel widely for jobs and speak a variety of languages.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-9435 on 29 February 2008. 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/webapp/wa.search.

I met with Scottish Power on 17 December 2007. A range of issues were discussed including the impact of high fuel prices and the initiatives Scottish Power is undertaking to mitigate their effects on vulnerable households, and its policies for back-charging customers with prepayment meters.

The Chief Planner considered that a call in would not have been appropriate.

No. ministers are always aware of the need to conduct business in line with the ministerial code and to behave in an appropriate manner. In relation to the Aviemore planning applications, in the light of the representations received from parliamentarians from four different parties. I decided it was entirely appropriate, and indeed essential, to speak to the Chief Executive of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to check there were no misunderstandings or matters of process for SEPA that were unnecessarily holding up proper consideration of the applications.

I first spoke to the Chief Executive of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency during the morning of Friday 7 December 2007. I spoke to the Agency again, in the person of its Chief Executive, some hours later when he updated me on the issues in questions.

I had obtained advice from officials on the general position in relation to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency''s responses to the Aviemore planning applications. However, having received urgent representations from parliamentarians from four different parties expressing concern over these applications, I decided to contact the agency to check there were no misunderstandings or matters of process for SEPA that were unnecessarily holding up proper consideration of the applications. Such actions are wholly consistent with the desire of this administration to improve the process of government and to give a better service to the people of Scotland. I believe I would have been in dereliction of my duties as a minister had I not done so.

My discussions with the Chief Executive of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency on 7 December 2007 in relation to the Aviemore planning applications were undertaken in the normal conduct of my duties. Nobody was present or listened in to these conversations.