Common Fisheries Policy requirements in relation to policing and enforcement apply similarly to all EU member states.

The Executive does not hold centrally information on numbers of community service order supervisors employed by individual local authorities. However, figures for the numbers of community service staff employed as of October 2001 are given in the following table.

Local Authority	Community Service Staff
Aberdeen	12
Aberdeenshire	9
Angus	4
Argyll and Bute	5
Clackmannanshire	2
Dumfries and Galloway	5
Dundee	6
East Ayrshire	10
East Dunbartonshire	6
East Lothian	1
East Renfrewshire	3
Edinburgh	23
Eileanan Siar	2
Falkirk	7
Fife	3
Glasgow	47
Highland	18
Inverclyde	6
Midlothian	5
Moray	5
North Ayrshire	11
North Lanarkshire	26
Orkney Islands	1
Perth and Kinross	0
Renfrewshire	10
Scottish Borders	0
Shetland Islands	2
South Ayrshire	6
South Lanarkshire	18
Stirling	2
West Dunbartonshire	3
West Lothian	2
Total	260

Figures are available by individual local authority for the number of social enquiry reports which give community service orders as a preferred option, and the number of community service orders issued. The latest available figures, for 2000-01, are given in the following table. It is not possible to break these figures down by specific courts within individual local authorities.

Local Authority	Preferred Option - CSO	CSOs Issued
Aberdeen City	154	185
Aberdeenshire	70	84
Angus	12	120
Argyll and Bute	60	71
Clackmannanshire	41	66
Dumfries and Galloway	66	115
Dundee City	270	339
East Ayrshire	67	154
East Dunbartonshire	42	45
East Lothian	83	83
East Renfrewshire	26	39
Edinburgh, City of	346	394
Eilean Siar	15	11
Falkirk	51	94
Fife	186	238
Glasgow City	555	811
Highland	124	170
Inverclyde	105	110
Midlothian	82	79
Moray	50	40
North Ayrshire	82	141
North Lanarkshire	218	227
Orkney Islands	6	6
Perth and Kinross	68	80
Renfrewshire	87	152
Scottish Borders	93	67
Shetland Islands	11	9
South Ayrshire	70	92
South Lanarkshire	350	240
Stirling	36	31
West Dunbartonshire	79	88
West Lothian	91	73
Total	3,596	4,454

We held confidential discussions with the Commission, the presidency and other member states last week and further meetings will be held as appropriate.

The Executive does provide information on attendance at EU meetings.I refer the member to the answers given to questions S1W-6228 on 9 May 2000, S1W-13367 on 29 March 2002, S1W-20175 on 5 December 2001, S1W-22493 on 25 February 2002 and S1W-31063 on 2 December 2002 regarding ministerial attendance; and to S1W-13370 on 2 May 2001 and S1W-31063 on 2 December 2002, regarding official attendance. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The Executive does keep records of attendance at EU meetings.I refer the member to the answers given to questions S1W-6228 on 9 May 2000, S1W-13367 on 29 March 2002, S1W-20175 on 5 December 2001, S1W-22493 on 25 February 2002 and S1W-31063 on 2 December 2002 regarding ministerial attendance; and to S1W-13370 on 2 May 2001 and S1W-31063 on 2 December 2002, regarding official attendance. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The Executive publishes information about ministers' attendance at meetings of the Council of the European Union through post-Council reports submitted to the European Committee. These become part of the Committee papers, which are public documents and are available on the internet at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/official_report/cttee/europe.htm.I refer the member to the answers given to questions S1W-13370 on 5 December 2001 and S1W-31063 on 2 December 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

There is no comprehensive definition of EU waters. The Scottish fishing zone is approximately 127,000 square nautical miles.

Yes; at our request, the UK Permanent Representation to the EU (UKRep) presented a formal copy of the report to the Commission on 22 November 2002.In anticipation of that, and the relevance of the associated data, UKRep had previously written to the Commission about associated details on 2 August 2002. Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department officials followed this up in discussion with the Commission in advance of the EU/Norway consultations held on 20 to 22 November 2002.Some of the results were also discussed within the wider scientific community, particularly at the ICES Advisory Committee on Fishery Management on 9 to 17 October 2002, which the Commission attended as observers.

No. The methodology is as agreed by ICES and was this year reviewed externally and approved by independent scientists from North America. FRS is at the forefront of developments in these analytical techniques.