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Meat entering Scotland must come from an approved country and establishment which has food safety and hygiene standards compatible with European legislation. At the port of entry into the EU, documentary and physical checks may be undertaken on the boxed meat for presence of specified risk material (SRM) for BSE. Meat imported into the UK from other EU member states is checked at the point of destination for the presence of SRM.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-19555 on 27 October 2005. 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.

All meat, imported into the EU, must come from an approved country and establishment to ensure that the food safety, hygiene standards and animal welfare standards are compatible with those in the EU. The European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) undertakes inspections of the authorities of countries outwith the EU to check their standards.

Regulation (EC) No. 999/2001 laying down the rules for prevention, control and eradication of certain TSEs came into force in 2001. It requires that meat imported into the EU be accompanied by a health certificate declaring that the product is free from Specified Risk Material (SRM) and mechanically recovered meat and that the method of slaughter used prevents contamination from SRM. Imports of meet from designated BSE-free countries are exempt from this requirement.

In the EU, all intra-community trade has been subject to a permanent feed ban since 1 September 2003. It prohibits the feeding of processed animal protein to livestock kept for the production of food.

The Scottish Executive is not currently funding any projects into the pathologies of spongiform encephalopathies. The Chief Scientists Office would be happy to look at any proposals for research.

The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 does not place specific duties on the Home Office or on contractors who may be involved in the operation of Home Office facilities. The act places certain duties on local authorities relative to the provision of services to safeguard and promote the welfare for children in their area who are in need, except where disapplied by UK legislation.

The First Minister has stated that Scottish children’s services should be involved in advance of removals of asylum seeker children with families and this is being taken forward as part of on-going work on the protocol.

Meat entering Scotland must come from an approved country and establishment which has food safety and hygiene standards compatible with European legislation. The European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office undertakes inspections of the authorities of counties outwith the EU to check their standards. At the port of entry into the EU, documentary and physical checks may be undertaken on the boxed meat for presence of specified risk material (SRM) for BSE. Meat imported into the UK from other EU member states is checked at the point of destination for the presence of SRM.

The venue schedule in the London 2012 candidature file shows that Hampden Park will stage football matches on 25, 26, 28, 29 and 31 July and 1, 3, 4 and 6 August 2012. There will be both men’s and women’s matches at Hampden.

The Scottish Executive and agencies such as sportscotland, Scottish Enterprise, VisitScotland and the Scottish Arts Council will develop their working relations with the UK Government and other key organisations responsible for delivering the Games and Team GB’s participation in them. These include the newly established London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) and the Olympic Delivery Authority to be established by the London Olympics Bill currently before the Westminster Parliament.

The Nations and Regions Group established during the bid phase is being reconstituted by LOCOG to provide a mechanism for planning and co-ordinating input from all the UK nations and regions to the delivery of the Games and their associated benefits. Mr Charles Allen – a Scot – will continue to chair this Group on which the chair of sportscotland, Ms Julia Bracewell, will serve as the Executive’s nominee. We are also reforming the Scottish Co-ordinating Committee, established during the bid phase, under Ms Bracewell’s chairmanship to oversee and co-ordinate the development and implementation of strategies aimed at ensuring that the potential benefits to Scotland of the 2012 Games are realised and maximised.

The Scottish Co-ordinating Committee will be supported by a new team within the Executive to co-ordinate work on the 2012 Games and the Executive’s input to the bid to stage the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The observed five-year survivalof Scottish residents diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in the period 1997-2001who subsequently underwent surgery is 18.1% (1,136 cases). This includes patientsdiagnosed in later years who have less than five years of follow-up.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

From 1 April 2002 the number of GRO grant schemes for low cost home ownership and the number of homes provide from these schemes are as follows:

Completed Schemes:

2002-03 = 20 schemes providing 794 homes.

2003-04 = 12 schemes providing 284 homes.

2004-05 = 25 schemes providing 718 homes.

Approved Schemes:

2002-03 = 20 schemes providing 475 homes.

2003-04 = 24 schemes providing 782 homes.

2004-05 = 16 schemes providing 353 homes.

There were no approvals or completions for affordable rent under the GRO Grant for Market rent scheme since 1 April 2002.