Seòmar agus comataidhean

Following the recent, rapiddeterioration of the condition of both the toilet block and surrounding area itwas necessary to physically close all but one lay-by area on the night of 28 June 2006.

The toilet block has beenclosed securely and height control gates erected to restrict the use of the upperparking areas to cars only. The lower drive-through lay-by provides parking forall other vehicles. Rubbish and waste has been uplifted and disposed of and thewhole area tidied. Arrangements will now be made for multi-organisation discussionsto determine how best to manage the facility in the future.

Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for moreinformation if required.

As noted in my response to question S2W-27172 on 12 July 2006, the remit and scope for the review of education and outreach will be considered in the next two to three months. The methodology will be planned to take into account the views of members, their staff and schools/other educational establishments.

Members may of course direct comments and views to the Head of Public Affairs at any time over this period to inform the review.

The Rule of 85 has to be removedfrom the Local Government Pension Scheme by 1 October 2006in order to comply with EC Directive 2000/78/EC. Today I am commencing a consultationexercise on removing the Rule and implementing transitional protections for existingscheme members. The consultation documents are available on the Scottish PublicPensions Agency website on the Pensions Reform and Taxation Page and can be accessedusing the following link http://www.sppa.gov.uk/pension_reform/PRLGPSConsultations.htm.

Following extensive discussionswith representatives of the local government trades unions and COSLA, the ScottishExecutive is now consulting on the terms of the protection to be provided for existingscheme members when the rule is removed. Full transitional protection to 2020 willbe provided to existing members who decide to retire before age 65 if they haveattained age 60 and would have satisfied the rule by that date.

The consultation exercise, whichalso covers tax changes resulting from the Finance Act 2004, will run until 31 July 2006. This timetablewill allow the regulations to be made and come into force on 1 October 2006.

We will also continue discussionswith trades unions and COSLA, and aim to consult widely later this year, on costed,realistic options for a new Local Government Pension Scheme specifically tailoredfor Scotland, with the objective of improving the benefits of thoseworkers who retire on the lowest benefits, and having modernised arrangements inplace for April 2008.

We are currently consulting onchanges that might be made to the Renewables Obligation Scotland (ROS) in orderto provide a source of long-term, increased funding to wave and tidal energy generators.Changes to the ROS should provide a strong market signal to developers and suppliersthat Scotland is the best location to site and operate their devices.

We have also recently allocated£8 million for marine energy development which will be spent over the next two years.This money will be used to develop the infrastructure, environmental understandingand technology in order to advance the development of wave and tidal electricitygeneration in Scottish waters.

It is our intention toconsider how the current education and outreach service can be furtherdeveloped to meet the SPCB’s strategic priorities around supporting members andengaging the public.

Naturally all services haveto evolve and the move to Holyrood, and the recent reviews in visitor servicesand events, have presented some new opportunities which we wish to explore.

Further detail on the remitand scope of the review will be planned in the next two to three months.

We attach great importanceto the future of CalMac staff should another operator be successful in its bid.We will do everything we can, within EU and domestic legislation, to secure thecontinued employment of those staff and the protection of their terms andconditions, and pension rights. We will ensure that the protection available toCalMac employees is as robust as possible.

We consider that Transfer ofUndertakings (Protection of Employment) is very likely to apply to anytransferring employees as a consequence of the tendering of the Clyde and Hebridesferry service. Transferring employees would be entitled to be employed on thesame terms and conditions as they had at the point of transfer.

In addition, the contractwill include mechanisms for protecting the terms and conditions of the existingworkforce during the contract period. We will include provisions in thecontract that make it clear to bidders that, if the successful operator wishedto cut staff costs, they would be responsible, from their own resources (i.e.outside the terms of the subsidy arrangements) for the cost of any redundanciesor compensation involved. In addition, any in year savings in staff costs thatarose would be taken into account in the annual profit claw back and wouldproduce an equivalent reduction in subsidy in subsequent years through thebudget restatement process. This should create a major disincentive to anyoperator considering reducing the terms and conditions of existing staff orreplacing the existing staff with lower paid personnel.

I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-21352 on 16 December 2005. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament's website the search facility forwhich can be at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-26220 on 12 June 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament's website the search facility for which can be at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The main purpose of the StrategicWaste Fund is to provide resources to meet the targets in the National Waste Planon waste prevention, recycling and diverting waste from landfill. Resources providedto local authorities through the Strategic Waste Fund are, therefore, closely relatedto National Waste Plan objectives. Nevertheless, we expect local authorities whenthey are considering whether to use the services of community sector groups to takeaccount of all the potential benefits which such groups can provide.

The Scottish Executive recognisesthat bodies applying to INCREASE, our grant scheme for the community recycling sector,have objectives beyond waste. Therefore, the assessment criteria for INCREASE indicatesthat the assessment of applications will take account of the “benefits of the Projectboth in terms of tonnes diverted from landfill and other non-waste benefits suchas social inclusion, rehabilitation, employment of disadvantaged people, and redistributionof goods to the local community”. The assessment criteria for INCREASE can be foundat:

www.increase-programme.org.uk.

Environment and Rural AffairsDepartment officials, in conjunction withScottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, have held several meetings withrepresentatives of a number of key commercial interests to discuss their plans forthe cultivation and processing of bog myrtle oil in Scotland.

A comprehensive report, producedby independent consultants, on the potential for this new product to benefit Scottishproducers and the rural economy, indicates that current demand can be met from wildharvest but that optimising future development will depend on further agronomicresearch. This is likely to require the establishment of a number of plantationsin various parts of Scotland. Options are now being explored for taking this researchforward, with support from public agencies, although immediate progress requiresthe provision of further information on the proposed research which is currentlyawaited from the private sector partners.