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The Good Practice Guidance on Adult Hearing and Fitting Services issued to NHSScotland in March 2001 recommends that digital aids should be supplied whenever clinical judgement indicates that they would provide benefit to the patient involved that would not be provided by other types of hearing aid. There are currently 11 different types of digital hearing aid included within the wide range of hearing aids available through central contracts arranged by Scottish Healthcare Supplies for NHSScotland. Having already introduced digital aids onto their contract range, NHSScotland is not involved in the pilot scheme currently being conducted in 20 sites in England. We will, of course, be interested to see the results of the studies as and when they become available.

The Scottish Executive provides all local volunteer development agencies (LVDA's), including Volunteering Highland, with generous grant towards their running and programme costs. In 2001-02, Volunteering Highland will receive over £41,000 from the Scottish Executive, via Volunteer Development Scotland. In total, Scottish Executive grant funding for the LVDA network in 2001-02 will be around £1.2 million. As a condition of grant, each LVDA is expected to secure match funding. It is incumbent on each LVDA to arrange match funding as part of its on-going business.

No. I am confident that Scottish Natural Heritage have conducted an open and constructive consultation process, and that no further independent investigation is necessary.

The Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) is not a free-standing organisation, but is a forum through which the Scottish Executive, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the teacher organisations can reach collaborative decisions. Negotiations on a range of issues relating to pay and conditions are continuing through the SNCT.In these discussions we are conscious of the commitment of Scottish ministers to attracting a range of talented and committed individuals to the profession, from across the spectrum of Scottish society.

The Scottish potato industry has not sought assistance under this regulation and we have no plans to offer financial support to an industry that has traditionally been self-sufficient.

Neither Thompsons Solicitors and Solicitor Advocates nor Digby Brown Solicitors has been instructed to carry out legal or other services on behalf of the Executive. The procurement of legal and other services by local authorities, Local Enterprise Companies and other public bodies is a matter for the individual body concerned and central records are not held by the Executive.

The fees payable to the Registers of Scotland in respect of such applications and its various information services are the subject of periodic review. The fees applicable to such applications were set in the Fees in the Registers of Scotland Order 1995 (SI 1995/1945) on the basis of an ad valorem scale. That scale bases the fee level for recording and registration on the value of the property transaction, thus maintaining such fee levels in line with the property market and inflation.The fees for recording, registration and information services were the subject of a consultative review in 1998 which led to the Fees in the Registers of Scotland Amendment Order 1999 (SI 1999/1085). That Order left the ad valorem scale for the recording and registration fees in question unchanged.The fees which the agency may charge are set at a level to meet its operating costs, but also to ensure that conveyancing costs in Scotland are kept as low as possible. This policy is consistent with section 25 of the Land Registers (Scotland) Act 1868 which requires that the amount of fees payable shall not be greater than is reasonably sufficient for defraying the expenses of the Registers of Scotland, including the expenses of the improvement of the systems of registration and recording.

Whether Fife Council would decide to release such information, or withhold it on grounds of commercial confidentiality, is a matter for the council. The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill would, if enacted, provide individuals with a right of access to information, balanced by provisions intended to ensure that commercially sensitive information is afforded appropriate protection. Consideration of whether information would be disclosed would be made on a case by case basis.

The total cost for the financial year 1999-2000 is £398,062 and for 2000-01 it is £560,843. Details are:

	Salary	ERNIC	16% Pension Contribution	Total
1999-2000	£310,530	£37,847	£49,685	£398,062
2000-01	£440,884	£49,842	£70,117	£560,843

It is not possible to estimate the total costs for the years 2001-02 and 2002-03 as the number of special advisers in post from time to time is a matter for the First Minister.

The allocation of public funding to individual colleges of further education is a matter for the Scottish Further Education Funding Council. Details of the 2000-01 and 2001-02 grant-in-aid allocation rounds have been made publicly available on the council's website. The council's annual reports also contain an overall summary analysed by college of all funding allocations made during a year. The most recently published annual report by the council is that for 1999-2000. The details of a college's indebtedness and the cost and source of funds to service debt will be set out in the audited annual accounts. College accounts for 2000-01 are required to be laid before the Parliament by 30 April 2002, and those for 2001-02 by 30 April 2003.