Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Policing Bureaucracy Task Force was established by the Home Office in 2001 to consider ways of increasing police officer visibility in England and Wales. The Executive was not asked directly to input to the work of the task force and I am not aware of any Scottish force being approached.HM Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland is due to publish the results of a thematic inspection into public reassurance and police visibility in Scotland in November 2002.

Reducing unnecessary bureaucracy in the police service is clearly an important matter and we are always open to ways to reduce this. The Policing Bureaucracy Task Force, set up by the Home Office in 2001 to consider ways of increasing police officer visibility in England and Wales, collected information on the number of pro forma documents as part of its work. While information on pro forma documents used by Scottish police forces is not collected centrally by the Executive, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland is due to publish the results of a thematic inspection into public reassurance and police visibility in Scotland in November 2002.

There are currently two reviews of the criminal justice system in Scotland. That being conducted by Lord Bonomy is examining the operation of the High Court, while a committee chaired by Sheriff Principal McInnes is looking at the system of summary justice. I expect both of these reviews to produce proposals for the modernisation of the Scottish criminal justice system.Sir Robin Auld's Review of the Criminal Courts in England and Wales focused exclusively on the courts and legal system in England and Wales but contains a number of proposals that could have relevance for Scotland. As noted in the replies to questions S1W-27759 and S1W-27760 on 15 August 2002, we are following their development with close interest.

The number of recipients receiving public subsidy under the main Common Agricultural Policy schemes according to the following bands for the 1998 to 2002 financial years are as follows:

Financial Year	Range	No. of Producers
1998-99	£0 - £10,000	13,421
	£10,001 - £20,000	3,367
	£20,001 - £30,000	2,204
	£30.001 - £40,000	1,384
	£40,001 - £50,000	863
	£50,001 - £100,000	1,413
	£100,001 over	324
1999-2000	£0 - £10,000	12,693
	£10,001 - £20,000	3,326
	£20,001 - £30,000	2,096
	£30.001 - £40,000	1,310
	£40,001 - £50,000	899
	£50,001 - £100,000	1,533
	£100,001 over	384
2000-01	£0 - £10,000	12,890
	£10,001 - £20,000	3,230
	£20,001 - £30,000	2,115
	£30.001 - £40,000	1,407
	£40,001 - £50,000	864
	£50,001 - £100,000	1,573
	£100,001 over	385
2001-02	£0 - £10,000	13,420
	£10,001 - £20,000	3,084
	£20,001 - £30,000	2,024
	£30.001 - £40,000	1,373
	£40,001 - £50,000	925
	£50,001 - £100,000	1,680
	£100,001 over	432

The information requested is not held centrally. BSE is a notifiable disease and cases are required to be notified to the Divisional Veterinary Manager at the local Animal Health Divisional Office of the State Veterinary Service, which operates throughout Great Britain. Since November 1988, 8,256 clinical cases of BSE have been notified in Scotland as at 20 September 2002. Compensation is paid at 100% of market value under the Transmittable Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) (Scotland) Regulations 2002. Compensation was increased from 50% to 100% in February 1990 and is paid by the Department of the Environment, Fisheries and Rural Affairs on behalf of all the GB Agriculture Departments. A further 75 cases of BSE in its pre-clinical phase have been detected in Scotland under the surveillance of fallen stock for bovines over 24 months. Compensation is not payable in these cases.

The Scottish Executive publishes figures on the net worth of Scottish agriculture each year in the Economic Report on Scottish Agriculture (ERSA). The 2002 edition contains annual data back to 1993 (the 1992 figures can be found in the 2001 edition of ERSA). The same document also provides information on net worth by type and size of farm.ERSA can be accessed via the Scottish Executive website.The relevant editions of the economic report on Scottish agriculture can be found at the following addresses:ERSA 2002 Table A3; http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/agri/era2-06.asp ERSA 2001 Table A3; http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/agri/ersa01-07.asp.

A total of 1,970 payments amounting to £177,033,102 were made to producers in Scotland by way of compensation for the loss of their animals culled due to foot-and-mouth disease.The Livestock Welfare Disposal Scheme and the Light Lamb Scheme paid out £13,058,811 and £1,895,147 for 119,164 animals and 187,861 light lambs respectively.

Estimates of the effect of indirect support measures depend heavily upon assumptions about world market conditions and will vary as commodity markets fluctuate and as domestic support measures evolve. Nevertheless the value of indirect market support to agricultural producers may be calculated as a component of a measure known as a Producer Support Estimate (PSE). The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) produce PSE figures at the EU level annually. By following the methodology used by the OECD it is estimated that the value of indirect market support to Scottish agricultural producers for the calendar years 1990-2000 was as follows (figures for later years are not yet available):

Year	Market Support (£ million)
1990	386
1991	455
1992	374
1993	304
1994	391
1995	255
1996	167
1997	194
1998	212
1999	245
2000P	155

^PProvisional.

Figures on farm income, subsidy and receipts are reported on an annual rather than a weekly basis. On average, the estimated percentage contribution of direct agricultural production subsidies to annual Net Farm Income was 520% in 1998-99, 670% in 1999-2000 and 450% in 2000-01. Data are not yet available for 2001-02, but forecasts suggest a figure of 270%.Figures on farm incomes subsidy and receipts, based on Farm Accounts Survey data, are available in the Scottish Executive's annual Farm Incomes In Scotland publication. This can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/agri/fiis-00.asp.

Forestry grants scheme payments in respect of planting on agricultural land are made to both agricultural producers and to those who cease farming after planting. It is not possible to differentiate between the two groups. Figures for the years requested are as follows:

	£ million
1998-99	9.59
1999-2000	9.71
2000-01	11.86
2001-02	11.94

After planting, woodland owners need not remain in agricultural production.