No payments can be made to members of the Scottish Transport Group pension schemes before the Scottish Transport Group is wound up.

An Agriculture Council was scheduled for that week and it was thought that Mr Finnie would attend. The meeting was cancelled but because of an administrative oversight the information which had been entered on the department's database was not amended. Steps have now been taken to prevent similar errors occuring in the future. Information on ministerial attendance at EU meetings provided to the Parliament's Reference Centre has been amended.

We are in regular contact with the UK Government on a range of issues.

Once the Scottish Transport Group is wound-up the Scottish Executive will be able to access the records held by the Trustees to the pension schemes. We expect these records will require some updating particularly as regards current addresses. In advance of wind-up, however, we have taken the following steps towards such updating: we have set up a dedicated phone line with voicemail advising callers to write to us for a pro-forma to register their interest and a letter providing background to the announcement; we have spoken and/or written to the main trade unions advising them of the position and have provided them with material to pass to their members who are making enquiries; we have written to the Confederation of Passenger Transport to explain the position and asked them to provide our information to all their Scottish bus company members, again supplying pro-formas for pension scheme members to send to us to help verify records; we have written to CalMac in similar vein (some of their employees will have been in STG pension schemes); and we propose to set up a departmental web page from which access to the latest information and pro-forma will be available.

The treatment of the surplus represents unfinished pre-devolution business. The UK Government's long established position has been that the surplus should go to the UK Exchequer, and the Scottish Assigned Budget Settlement has been progressed on that basis.There is no legal entitlement on the part of Scottish Transport Group pension scheme members to share in the surplus. Scottish Ministers have, however, agreed with the Chancellor of the Exchequer that ex-gratia payments should be made to STG pension scheme members which would be broadly equivalent to the final settlement for National Bus Company pension scheme members south of the border. An appropriate amount has accordingly been earmarked for distribution.

The initial identification of individual sites to participate in these trials takes place independently of government and is the responsibility of the Supply Chain Initiative on Modified Agricultural Crops, a body representing the interests of the industry including the National Farmers Union within its membership. The proposed sites must meet the criteria set out by the impartial Scientific Steering Committee which oversees the UK farm-scale evaluation programme. They are selected to represent a variety of conditions, such as climate, ecology and soil type as well as farm type and are intended to provide a representative sample of UK agriculture.The Scientific Steering Committee members are:Chairman:Professor Christopher Pollock, Research Director of the Institute of Environmental and Grassland Research.Members:Dr Nicholas Aebisher, Deputy Director of Research for the Game Conservancy TrustDr Alastair Burn, English Nature;Professor Mick Crawley, Imperial College;Dr David Gibbons, Head of Conservation Science, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds;Mr Jim Orson, Director Morley Research Centre;Dr Nick Sotherton, Director of Research for the Game Conservancy Trust;The Scottish Executive is represented on this committee by officials from the Rural Affairs Department who attend meetings and act as assessors.

The Scottish Executive is required to operate within European and UK Legislation on the deliberate release of genetically modified crops. Under Directive 90/220/EEC consent can only be refused where scientific evidence is available to suggest that the release would cause harm to human health or the environment. The legislation does not permit an application to be rejected solely in response to local opposition. A decision on that basis would be illegal.

Neither the governing European Directive 90/220/EEC nor the Environmental Protection Act 1990 require or provide a basis for consultation on any aspect of a proposed release.The recently adopted package of revisions to EU 90/220/EEC makes increased provision for public consultation. In the coming months the Scottish Executive will be seeking the views of stakeholders as to how the implementation of the revised Directive should be taken forward.

The decision to postpone the Project Assessment Committee (PAC) meeting scheduled for 2 February was taken following the tabling of a motion to annul these regulations further to concerns being expressed by the Scottish Parliament's Rural Development Committee about the scheme's governing regulations.A news release announcing this decision was issued on 31 January and an explanatory letter was sent to PAC members on the same day. Copies of both documents have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. no. 11550).

It is not sportscotland's practice to disclose to third parties whether or not it has received an application from any particular person or group.