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The Executive has been supporting developing work by Partnerships UK for some time with Argyll and Bute Council. Good progress has been made with the council in developing a variant model, founded on the standard public private partnership model, but dealing with the issues of internal distribution of surpluses (ie non-profit distributing) and stakeholder involvement. The 25 June announcement of over £1 billion in schools infrastructure by Cathy Jamieson supported this project with revenue support for an investment value of £80 million. However, the test of whether this model will work lies in a live procurement situation, and the funding announcement now allows Argyll and Bute, supported financially by the Executive and with the continued expertise of Partnerships UK, to enter the procurement stages. It will take about a year for that process to reach the stage where we can properly assess whether this variant model has been successful as a new delivery vehicle.The Executive evaluated the SNP's Scottish Investment Trust proposal last year. Whilst it had in principle the advantage of aggregating borrowing to lever in more competitive lending rates, the proposal was flawed in claiming that a private sector trust would be able to access borrowing rates at the same low rates as Government itself. If to achieve this the Government had to act as guarantor to the trust, then loans to the trust would count as public expenditure and assets created would score as on the public sector balance sheet. If that were the result, then some key advantages of PPP would be negated. Also, there were unanswered questions about issues such as control over appointments as trustees, and accountability over such a powerful funding body influencing public infrastructure investment.Other trust models claiming to be based on not-for-profit objectives have been publicised. However, to date none has been submitted for consideration of revenue support from the Executive. Unless new issues emerge, and until it is ready for wider application in due course, the Executive will continue to focus its interest in new developments efficiently and with strong technical support in the Argyll and Bute model.

The report entitled Report on the First Year of the New Trunk Road Operating Companies, 2001-02 will be published on Wednesday 4 September 2002. The report, which has been prepared by the Performance Audit Group, will be available on the Scottish Executive's web page and copies will be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre. Further copies can be obtained directly from the Performance Audit Group by writing to them at 16 Abercromby Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6LB.

No such reports have been received.

This report has been published today and copies have been made available to the convener and members of the Rural Development Committee. A copy has been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. Number 22294) and the report can be viewed on the website of the Royal Society.

Amendments have been tabled to the Police Reform Bill, currently before the UK Parliament, to fulfil this commitment by amending the Employment Rights Act 1996 so that police officers in England, Wales and Scotland are covered by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. These are due to be considered by the Standing Committee on the Bill on 27 June 2002.

Significant progress is being made. On 25 June, Cathy Jamieson and I announced support for capital investment of £1.15 billion in Scotland's schools - across all 15 local authorities which submitted bids. This emphasises the strong commitment of Scottish ministers to the modernisation of our schools estate.

In December 1999 the UK Government announced its four-point plan on organophosphates (OPs). This included funding a comprehensive series of research studies into areas of uncertainty that had been identified in the 1999 report from the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment. The first of these studies - commissioned by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - is due to report its findings later this year.

The Scottish Poisons Information Bureau is the main source of advice to the NHS on treatment of poisoning for a wide variety of toxic substances including organophosphates. Their TOXBASE database gives details of treatment options for organophosphate poisoning that include decontamination of exposed skin, gastric lavage, protection of the airway and administration of oxygen, atropine, pralidoxime mesylate and diazepam. Selection of the appropriate combination of these treatments depends on the nature and severity of exposure.

The report by SNH, as the reporting body under section 3 of the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000, was submitted to Scottish ministers on 21 August, 2001. We have considered this report very carefully. We are satisfied that the Cairngorms area meets the criteria for designation as a National Park. We are, therefore, publishing today a draft Designation Order for consultation, as required under section 6 of the National Parks (Scotland) Act. This consultation document will be widely distributed and copies have been made available to the Parliament's Reference Centre. The Executive's consultation closes on 22 August 2002, after which the draft Order will be amended as required in light of comments received, before being submitted to the Scottish Parliament for approval in the autumn.

Thirty-three awards made under the Rural Stewardship Scheme were to farmers and crofters with an IACS holding, not including common grazings, of 10 hectares or below in area.