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Most road traffic law is reserved to the Westminster Parliament and there were no specific implications for devolved matters contained in the Road Safety Bill. The greater part of the bill proposed to amend existing legislation, particularly the Road Traffic Act and the Road Traffic Offenders Act, and extended throughout Great Britain. However, the bill fell with the dissolution of Parliament.

Where any case involving a foreign national is reported by the police to the Procurator Fiscal, a prosecution will be raised it there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to do so.

No. These issues are reserved. Consequently we do not intend to seek Parliamentary time for such a debate.

However, the Scottish Executive works with the UK Government to help develop effective responses to terrorism and related national security issues, including the non-proliferation of chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear weapons.

No. These issues are reserved. Consequently we do not intend to approach the Committee in this regard.

However, the Scottish Executive does work with the UK Government to help develop effective responses to terrorism and related national security issues, including the non-proliferation of chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear weapons.

The Scottish Executive works with international partners through the UK Government to develop effective cross-border responses to terrorism and related national security issues, including the non-proliferation of chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear weapons.

Policy on defence and the nuclear deterrent is reserved to Westminster and, as such, is a matter for the UK Government.

I am not aware of any occasions on which the Scottish Executive have suggested that lottery funding comes from the Exchequer. The National Lottery has been a great success story bringing £1.7 billion to almost 25,000 projects in Scotland since 1994 and transforming funding for the arts, heritage and sport as well as funding flagship projects in health, education and the environment and provided a valuable source of funding for charities. The National Lottery is UK public funding, but  it is accounted for separately from Exchequer funds.

Many projects supported by the lottery are also supported by Exchequer funds, with some lottery distributors aligning their lottery and Exchequer funding to maximise effectiveness. There are also examples of major projects and initiatives which are co-financed by the Executive and lottery distributors. Scottish ministers are actively involved in the work of the National Lottery in Scotland and therefore take part in a variety of announcements involving lottery funding.

The Prime Minister has stated publicly that the key themes of this year’s G8 summit will be climate change and Africa. I, my ministerial colleagues, and our officials, have regular discussions with our counterparts in the UK Government on various aspects of these very important issues.

We work closely with the UK Government on a wide range of law enforcement related issues – including counter-terrorism. This work plays an important role in helping to formulate the UK policy on tackling counter-terrorism, including commitments made in the forum of the G8.

The Scottish Executive works with international partners through the UK Government to develop effective cross-border responses to terrorism. The Scottish Police Service and the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency work successfully with a wide range of agencies from around the world on a variety of key law enforcement issues, including counter-terrorism.

As part of our efforts to raise Scotland’s International Image announced by the First Minister on 1 July 2004 international journalists from both Poland and the Czech Republic visited Scotland in Autumn 2004. The cost of the visit amounted to £6,805.78 and resulted in a range of television and other media coverage in Poland and Czech Republic. We continue to work with these established links to ensure that Scotland and Fresh Talent continues to receive attention as the initiative goes forward. Officials recently attended the DNI Careers-Work Fair in Wroclaw and the Perspectives 2005 Careers and Education fair in Warsaw to promote Scotland as a destination of choice for migrants from Poland seeking new opportunities. A range of media activity was also included in the visit and we expect additional coverage in the Polish media to reinforce Scotland’s Fresh Talent ambitions. The cost of the visit amounted to £3,163.91. Poland is second only to the United Kingdom in terms of visitors to www.scotlandistheplace.com, which reflects the existing strong links between Scotland and Poland and the increased promotional activity we have undertaken. In recognition of these strong links with Poland we have asked First Public Relations to ensure that we continue to reinforce Scotland’s strengths and to take advantage of suitable opportunities as they present themselves.

In general, promotion to the accession states is an integral part of the wider international promotion of Scotland activity through our website and distribution of Fresh Talent information leaflets via the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, British Council and Scottish Development International. In addition, all ministers promote Scotland as a place to visit, study and work both during overseas visits and when receiving visiting foreign dignitaries.