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The road was completely openedto traffic on 25 July 2003. The contract anticipated that the road should havebeen opened in March 2003. Delays to the opening were the result of difficultiesexperienced by the contractor partly as a result of exceptionally severeweather conditions and a fatal accident on the site.

Student support is devolved.The value of outstanding student loan amounts is uprated annually in line withinflation in order to maintain the value of the amount borrowed constant inreal terms. The method of calculation is set out in part V of the Education(Student Loans) (Scotland) Regulations 2000 as amended.

It was made clear when theInquiry was announced that it is a non statutory Inquiry and , as such, has nostatutory power to compel the attendance of witnesses nor the production ofevidence. In his opening statement to the inquiry, Mr John Campbell, QC, Counselto the Inquiry, emphasised the co-operation received with the production ofmaterial, both by civil servants and by the private sector. Mr. Campbellfurther commented “Thus far, as I have said already, and in this short time sofar taken up, the level of co-operation has been impressively high”.

The First Ministerraised these issues at a meeting with Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State forCulture, Media and Sport, in September. Although details are not yet finalised,a scheme is planned which will allow those customers who currently have asatellite viewing card and who wish to continue to receive the commerciallyfunded public service channels without paying a subscription to Sky or anotherpay TV broadcaster, to get a new card. Customers will be offered theopportunity to purchase the card at a cost of £23.50.

The Scottish Executive promotes the use of LPG through itsfunding of the Energy Saving Trust’s PowerShift and associated autogas andvehicle conversion programmes, and its rural petrol stations grant scheme. Thesupply of LPG fuel is, however, a commercial matter.

Documentary evidence hasbeen, and continues to be, made available to the Holyrood Inquiry. The SPCB, aslegal owner of the Holyrood project in succession to the then Secretary ofState, is bound by contractual and other obligations created in addition to anyentered into by the SPCB since the transfer date. Where obligations ofconfidence subsist, documentary evidence is marked accordingly. Where the inquiryconsiders that any part of such material ought to be made public, the consentof the parties involved will require to be obtained.Relevant legal advice, forexample, supplied to the SPCB has been and is being made available to the inquiryand is marked confidential. It is expected that such advice would not be madepublic.

Copies of submissions to theBusiness Improvement Districts consultation paper have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 29738).

The Permanent Secretary hasintroduced management changes to strengthen and sharpen the capacity of themachinery of government to support ministers when they work collectively. Theorganisational changes, which are not the subject of any written pressbriefing, bring together mainly existing parts of the administration alongsideexisting elements of the Office of the Permanent Secretary.

The group charged withhorizon scanning is a sub-group of the existing management group, chaired bythe Permanent Secretary and including some members of the management group. Itwill be supported by the strategy unit, which has been drawn from the previouslyexisting policy unit. No additional costs are incurred for this group. The performanceand innovation unit will consist of ad hoc teams established on a project byproject basis charged with taking forward specific studies to deliver optionsfor policy or delivery improvement. The additional cost of establishing andservicing this unit is expected, given its ad hoc working arrangements, to besmall, but cannot be estimated precisely at this stage. A senior figure withappropriate experience, probably gained at least partly in the private sectorwill head and oversee the work of the performance and innovation unit on apart-time basis. Remuneration, if any, will be settled when someone isidentified for the role. The delivery unit has been drawn from the previously existingpolicy unit and there are no additional costs associated with it.

National Farmers UnionScotland issued a news release on 26 September urging the Executive to publishits plans for implementing the reduction in expenditure from £63 million in2003 to the budgeted figure of £61 million. Changes to the 2004 Less FavouredArea Support Scheme (LFASS) are still under discussion with the EuropeanCommission.