Seòmar agus comataidhean

Contracts exist with the City of Edinburgh Council in respect of the following properties currently occupied by the Scottish Parliament:Parliamentary Headquarters (George IV Bridge)Committee ChambersCannonball House369 and 375 High StreetUnder the current arrangements options to renew are not necessary, as these contracts continue on a monthly basis unless and until terminated by mutual agreement. Discussions are on-going with the City of Edinburgh Council as to an end date consistent with the migration to the new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood. These discussions will incorporate a review of rent. Annual rentals payable in advance of this review are as follows : Parliamentary Headquarters (George IV Bridge) - £763,281.48Committee Chambers - £214,395.60Cannonball House - £37,622.76369 and 375 High Street - £122,957.52A contract, with an option to extend, exists with the Church of Scotland in respect of the Scottish Parliament's occupation of the Assembly Hall. Current rent payable is £110,000 per year, payable in equal quarterly amounts. In terms of the contract, a rent review is currently under way. The option to extend has been exercised and negotiations are on-going on a suitable expiry date in relation to migration to Holyrood.Contracts also exist in respect of two properties at the Tun development in Holyrood Road, Edinburgh. The first of these provides office accommodation and will expire on 28 May 2017, although a break clause was negotiated allowing the contract to be terminated on 28 May 2004. This will allow the Holyrood Project Team to continue to operate after occupation of the new building. The current annual rent payable in respect of this property is £69,590. The other contract is in respect of the Visitor Centre and will expire on 28 August 2004. The annual rent payable amounts to £24,750.The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body also holds a licence for occupation of office accommodation at the MWB Business Exchange in St Andrew Square. The licence will expire on 31 July 2003 but may be extended. The current annual rental of £718,650 will increase to £754,582 from 1 January 2003.Members will note the substantial reduction in rental expenditure expected after occupying the new building.

Post offices and postal services are reserved to the UK Government. I understand that details of financial support for rural post offices will be announced shortly by the Department of Trade and Industry.

All funding consequentials contribute to a block allocation to the Scottish Executive. The flexibility this gives ministers is considered a key element of the devolution arrangements. There was not a sufficient case for running a separate Scottish pilot on the project now known as Your Guide. DTI recently announced that the project would not receive further funding. The Scottish Executive remains in close contact with both DTI and Consignia regarding possible alternative projects.

No, amnesic shellfish poisoning is a matter of public health. Its existence increases the need for further conservation of scallop stocks, and I am persuaded following extensive consultation that technical conservation measures are the best way of achieving such conservation. However, I do intend to consider carefully the points made to and by the Rural Development Committee before finalising and laying the statutory instrument in question.

FSAS have advised me that between the years 2000 and 2002 they have spent £238,000 on research into amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP). In the case of monitoring and the taking of samples, it is impossible to separate spend on ASP from other algal toxins. The following table details total FSAS spend on the shellfish algal toxin monitoring programme per year since the creation of the agency.Cost of Shellfish Algal Toxin Monitoring Programme Since Creation of FSAS

Financial Year	Total Monitoring Costs(£000)	Total Sampling Cost(£000)	Total FSAS Budget(£ million)
2000-01	207	140	5.1
2001-02	466	307	5.9
2002-present	292	233	5.5

In addition, £100,000 per annum is spent on monitoring phytoplankton in Scottish waters.

Consignia, post offices and postal services are reserved to the UK Government. The Performance and Innovation Unit's report Counter Revolution: Modernising the Post Office Network (June 2000) showed that the future viability of the network was challenged by the introduction of automated credit transfer. The Department of Trade and Industry are concentrating on supporting the Post Office's efforts to build up new business opportunities, including universal banking services, in order to mitigate the effects of the move to automated credit transfer.

No. Disclosure of information which would harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion is exempted from the commitment to provide information under the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information.

The next step is a matter for the UK Government. The Executive has liased closely with the UK Government on what we believe is a substantial case for a public service obligation on the Inverness/Gatwick link.

No. Disclosure of information which would harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion is exempted from the commitment to provide information under the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information.

The case for a bypass for Nairn has not been identified as a priority when considering potential projects for the motorway and trunk roads programme and there are no plans at present to take forward such a scheme. I have not received representations on this matter from either Highland or the Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership (HITRANS).