The EU Constitutional Treaty Protocol on the Application of the Principles of Subsidiarity and Proportionality specifically provides for the involvement of regional parliaments with legislative powers in the operation of the subsidiarity mechanism. This involvement does not extend to non-legislative regions or local authorities.

In co-operation with the UK Government and through the First Minister’s presidency of the group of EU regions with legislative powers, the Scottish Executive has successfully argued for the retention in the Treaty of important references that enhance the role of the regions with legislative powers and reinforce the principle of subsidiarity in European decision-making.

In particular, the Treaty provides in the Protocol on subsidiarity, in the case of framework laws, for any legislative proposal from the European Commission to contain a statement of its implications for the rules to be put in place by member states, including, where necessary, the regional legislation.

Figures available from the Accounts Commission are:

Authority	Household Waste Recycled (%)	Commercial and Industrial Waste Recycled (%)	Total Waste Recycled (%)
2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Aberdeen City	3.6	5.8	8.2	9.5	5.0	4.8	4.6	5.7	7.5
Aberdeenshire	16.4	21.0	13.8	1.2	1.5	8.1	13.3	17.0	13.0
Angus	14.7	18.5	23.1	14.8	27.2	29.4	14.8	20.2	24.3
Argyll and Bute	11.5	8.9	8.9	4.7	5.0	10.5	8.9	7.7	9.1
Clackmannanshire	4.4	4.6	6.6	0.0	0.0	6.0	4.2	4.4	6.6
Dumfries and Galloway	4.0		4.1	0.0		0.0	3.5		3.6
Dundee City	7.4	24.4	24.1	4.2	14.8	17.3	6.3	21.1	21.9
East Ayrshire	2.3	2.5	3.8	14.8	15.5	14.8	3.7	4.0	5.0
East Dunbartonshire	6.0	7.8	10.5	0.0	6.4	9.7	5.3	7.6	10.4
East Lothian	6.2	6.5	12.9	0.0	0.0	3.0	5.3	5.6	11.6
East Renfrewshire	8.2	13.1	15.3	3.4	3.3	3.9	7.8	12.2	14.5
Edinburgh, City of	5.5	5.2	8.4	0.0	3.8	5.0	4.3	4.9	7.7
Eilean Siar	0.0	1.0	7.1	0.7	2.6	0.8	0.4	1.9	5.0
Falkirk	7.6	7.3	10.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	6.0	5.6	6.8
Fife	2.2	2.0	5.0	3.4	3.2	6.0	2.4	2.2	5.2
Glasgow City	3.3	4.7	6.2		5.1	6.4		4.8	6.2
Highland	2.0	2.0	4.4	2.3	1.9	1.5	2.1	1.9	3.5
Inverclyde	3.8	4.8	5.6	0.0	0.0	6.4	3.1	4.0	5.8
Midlothian	3.3	4.0	4.4	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.1	3.8	4.1
Moray	3.5	5.2	9.6	6.2	8.6	15.7	4.6	6.6	12.2
North Ayrshire	8.0	6.6	13.9	0.0	0.0	1.0	6.9	5.8	12.3
North Lanarkshire	1.3	5.7	13.5	0.0	14.4	15.7	1.1	7.3	13.8
Orkney Islands	16.0	20.6	16.0	0.1	6.1	6.6	13.4	16.0	13.3
Perth and Kinross	17.9	18.6	18.6	9.6	2.6	13.5	16.4	15.8	17.7
Renfrewshire	4.7	5.6	9.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.9	5.0	8.4
Scottish Borders	15.2	18.7	13.8	2.1	2.5	1.0	11.4	13.6	9.7
Shetland Islands	11.0	10.3	5.6	17.5	10.3	5.5	12.0	10.3	5.6
South Ayrshire	6.4	5.9	6.9	5.2	2.8	17.4	6.0	5.1	10.7
South Lanarkshire	6.6	12.1	12.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	5.5	11.1	12.4
Stirling	8.0	10.1	11.6	7.3	5.1	7.2	7.8	8.4	10.2
West Dunbartonshire	9.0	9.8	10.2	0.7	0.9	1.9	5.3	6.1	6.6
West Lothian	3.4	6.1	10.1	5.8	4.5	7.3	3.9	5.7	9.8

 

The percentages are based on the tonnages of waste that are recycled or composted. Ash used for daily top cover at landfill sites is excluded. All figures for 2001-02 for Dumfries and Galloway and the commercial and industrial and total waste figures for Glasgow for 2000-01 have been excluded as the figures supplied to the Accounts Commission are considered unreliable.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Since I was appointed a minister in 1999 I have frequently met opposite numbers from the UK Government at both Cabinet and junior ministerial level to discuss issues of common interest. For example there have been regular meetings with UK Ministerial colleagues at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in advance of meetings of EU Council of Ministers to agree UK negotiating lines. It would be impractical to list the dates and subjects of all such meetings I have attended as a minister.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

The following table gives details of the average total build cost of homes approved for construction through registered social landlords and other bodies by Communities Scotland, and its predecessor organisation, in each of the last 10 years.

Average Total Build Cost Of Houses Approved For Funding 1994-95 to 2003/04 (£ million)
1994-95	0.051
1995-96	0.054
1996-97	0.056
1997-98	0.056
1998-99	0.059
1999-2000	0.061
2000-01	0.066
2001-02	0.071
2002-03	0.074
2003-04	0.079

Note: these figures relate to the average total build cost and not the average grant provided.

According to data collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency, 13 Scottish higher education institutions ran single and/or joint degree programmes in chemistry in each year between 1998-99 and 2002-03.

These institutions were University of Abertay Dundee, The Robert Gordon University, The University of Paisley, Glasgow Caledonian University, Napier University, The University of Edinburgh, The University of Glasgow, The University of Strathclyde, The University of Aberdeen, Heriot-Watt University, TheUniversity of Dundee, The University of St Andrews and The University of Stirling.In 2002-03 Bell College also ran a degree programme in chemistry.

For the session 2004-05, information from the UCAS and institutional websites indicates that chemistry is no longer offered as a single subject and/or part of a degree programme at the University of Stirling and Napier University.

A key aim of A Science Strategy for Scotland, published by the Scottish Executive in August 2001, is to ensure that enough people study science to a standard which will enable the future needs of the country to be met. However, the Executive does not have a policy in connection with the numbers of people taking particular degrees except in a few well-defined areas. My answer to question S2W-8365 answered on 7 June 2004 is also relevant. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’swebsite, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The world’s first commercial wave energy project - in Islay - received support under the Scottish Renewables Obligation. More recently, the Executive has contributed over £2 million towards the establishment of the wave test facility at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney. Discussions with our funding partners to extend the Centre to accommodate tidal projects are at an advanced stage.

The Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland (FREDS), which I chair, recently published a report identifying the way ahead for marine energy in Scotland. Three members of the sub-group which produced this report have since been among the partners which have formed the consortium based UK Centre for Marine Renewable Energy, which will drive forward some of the key tasks identifiedby the report.

Following the FREDS marine energy report, the DTI announced a £50 million UK fund for marine renewables. We will work closely with DTI colleagues on the details of this scheme. We will also consider how best the Executive can support marine developments from within our own renewables programme budget.

There are no plans to acquire these statues. Phase 1 of the Parliament’s Art Strategy is now complete and decisions on the nature of phase 2 will be considered by the SPCB next year.

New scientific information generated by the Fisheries Research Service in partnership with the Scottish fishing industry has been made available to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). The ICES Advisory Committee on Fishery Management is scheduled to publish advice on monkfish for fisheries managers on 22 October. By way of immediate action, we have secured around 705 tonnes of monkfish quota in international swaps with other member states during the course of this year and we will continue to pursue this avenue in the coming weeks.