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The recent study carried out by Stirling University on the development of a soil protection strategy for Scotland, which we are currently considering, recommended that the proposed Advisory Committee on Scottish Soils should review the available survey data as held by the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute (MLURI) and others. The MLURI are currently undertaking this exercise and expect to report early in the new year.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1O-3987 on 1 November 2001.

In October, I wrote to Railtrack's Administrators seeking assurances that Scotland's interests will be positively addressed during the period Railtrack is in administration.

The Scottish Executive launched Social Investment Scotland on 19 September. This new loan fund will assist social economy organisations by providing loan finance, business development support and technical assistance.A review of the Executive's current policies towards the social economy is currently under way. It will assess the potential of the social economy to contribute to Scottish Executive objectives, identify any strategic initiatives or changes to operational policy that are required to realise the potential of the social economy and set out key action points for the Executive.

As a result of the review of the Enterprise Network last year, it was announced that Local Enterprise Companies (LECs) would change to wholly owned bodies of Scottish Enterprise (SEn) and Highland and Island Enterprise (HIE) whilst retaining company status. SEn and HIE will apply the statutory Code of Conduct to the LECs through their operating contracts and impose uniform standards throughout the network. They could also seek advice from the Standards Commission's Chief Investigating Officer in the event of a complaint about a LEC member even though the commission would not be able to impose any sanctions, and we will encourage them to do so. SEn and HIE will have the authority to appoint or dismiss LEC members.

We are currently considering to what areas the derogation should apply in Scotland. Petrol stations within the size range 100 to 500m³ throughput, for which a derogation could be available, do not need to comply with the requirements of the Directive until the end of 2004. We will therefore make a decision in advance of this date and an announcement will be made in due course.

Careers service companies and their partners have been allocated the following funding to take forward inclusiveness projects over the period 2001-04:

Careers Service Company	2001-04
Lanarkshire	£2,304,668.00
Renfrewshire	£1,200,000.00
Ayrshire	£975,000.00
Borders	£295,637.00
Central	£800,000.00
Career Development Edinburgh and Lothian	£1,850,000.00
Tayside	£859,268.00
Dunbarton and Lomond	£594,500.00
Fife	£1,105,899.00
Glasgow	£1,920,000.00
Grampian (including Moray for year 1 only)	£1,366,091.00
Pan Highlands and Islands Project
Highland	£502,058.00
Argyll	£357,670.00
Orkney	£113,472.00
Shetland	£102,650.00
Western Isles	£142,350.00
Moray (Years 2 and 3 only)	£124,917.00

The Scottish Executive has asked the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to review the charging scheme which covers petrol vapour recovery processes and to propose options for achieving cost recovery. Any proposed changes to the existing charging scheme would be subject to public consultation and approval by the Scottish ministers.

The Executive seeks to protect and enhance the land and water resources required for the nation's sport and physical recreation through the planning system. It is part of local authorities' responsibility to take full account in their preparation of development plans, and development control decisions of the community's need, for recreational space and sporting facilities. Planning decisions must be made in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The development plan will therefore form the basis of decisions made by local authorities and Scottish ministers.National Planning Policy Guideline (NPPG) 11: Sport, Physical Recreation and Open Space, states that there should be a presumption against redevelopment of playing fields or sports pitches and that planning permission should not be granted for their alternative use, unless it has been established that they will not be required in future by the school or community. For the purposes of NPPG 11 a playing field is defined as land of 0.4 hectares or more for any pitch sports, including any adjacent tennis courts and bowling greens, and athletic tracks.Under Article 15 of the General Development Procedure Order, sportscotland must be consulted on proposals for development on land last used as a playing field which has not subsequently been built on and development that is likely to prejudice the use of land as a playing field or lead to the loss of land used as a playing field. If a planning authority is minded to grant a planning permission, and sportscotland has made and maintained an objection to the application, the authority must notify the Scottish ministers who can then decide whether to call in the application for their own determination.Robust planning policies are required to safeguard established open spaces, playing fields and access routes where they contribute to local community needs and enjoyment. Local authorities should lead by example and generally resist development of open space and playing fields in their ownership.

In September we published the Digital Inclusion strategy Connecting Scotland's people - this included initiatives which will promote digital inclusion in rural areas.The public access points initiative will expend some £5 million to create more than 1,000 additional public internet access points, and investment will be particularly focussed on areas of Scotland where access to the web is currently poor. The initiative will provide PCs with internet access in places where people already go - for example doctors' surgeries, shops and hairdressers. This will significantly improve public access to the web across much of rural Scotland. We expect to provide the first PCs early next year.In addition, the Digital Communities initiative will expend some £3.5 million in tackling digital inclusion by creating pilot "digital communities" to connect homes to the internet in two disadvantaged areas of Scotland. The objective is to demonstrate how the internet can increase peoples' opportunities and improve quality of life, but at the same time to inform our further efforts to close the digital divide. The two communities chosen will be announced in March 2002, one of which will be a rural community.As noted in the strategy, we are also examining the feasibility of a range of other initiatives to promote digital inclusion.