Officials of the ScottishExecutive are working with the search consultants Odgers to identify potentialcandidates for appointment as interim Chair of Scottish Water. They were askedto commence this work on 2 February 2006, when it had become clear to the Executive thatthere were problems with Scottish Water’s delivery plan that might lead to thedeparture of Professor Alan Alexander as Chair of Scottish Water.

The Scottish Executiveapproved the arrangements underpinning the creation and operation of Scottish WaterSolutions Ltd for the delivery of Quality and Standards 2 in July 2003. the Executive is currently considering Scottish Water’s capital deliveryproposals for the delivery of Quality and Standard 3 but to date no decisionhas been taken.

When Professor AlanAlexander was re-appointed to the Chair of Scottish Water on 1 April 2005 he wasrequired, within eight weeks of Scottish Water having decided to accept theWater Industry Commission for Scotland’s determination of charges for 2006-10, to submit tothe Executive for its approval a delivery plan for 2006-10. Before the plan wassubmitted to the Executive, Scottish Water was to ensure that its regulators(the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Drinking Water QualityRegulator and the Water Industry Commission for Scotland) agreed that the planconstituted a reasonable basis for delivering the Executive’s objectives forScottish Water in the period and that it contained milestones or other interimtargets by which progress towards achievement could be measured.

This requirement was set outin the letter of 1 April 2005 to Professor Alexander from the Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development that accompanied Professor Alexander’s letter ofre-appointment. The letter was copied to the each of the regulators, including the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.  Copies of the letter can be viewed onthe Scottish Executive website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/Water/17583/resignation.

The Scottish Water(Delegated Limits etc) Directions 2003 sets out the financial limits delegatedto the Board of Scottish Water. The Scottish Water
(Delegated Limits etc) Directions 2003 are published on the Scottish Executivewebsite.

The creation of an entitysuch as Scottish Water Solutions would fall outside the Scottish Water’s delegatedlimits. Scottish Water would therefore have to seek the approval of ministersthrough the submission of a robust business case.

School meals are provided byindividual local authorities. The total gross expenditure by local authorities onthe provision of school meals in the years since 1999 is shown in the table below.This information is reported in the annual Local Government Finance Returns.

Year	Gross Expenditure (£ Million)
1999-2000	96.7
2000-01	91.4
2001-02	94
2002-03	93.6
2003-04	98.9m
2004-05	102.9

Source: Local Financial Returns(LFR1).

These figures include expenditureassociated with implementing Hungry for Success recommendations.

As the previous answers made clear, these were operational matters for Scottish Water, and I understand that they have now supplied you with the information requested in your earlier questions.

The total subsidy to farmers in Scotland, net of administrative costs, between 1999 and 2004 is shown in table 1.

Table 1

Year	Total Value of Subsidies (£ Million)
1999	454.8
2000	456.8
2001	458
2002	503.6
2003	518.5
2004	531.8

 

The Scottish Executive has beenin touch with the Commission through UK authorities to make clear its view, basedon legal advice, that the Rule of 85 is not compatible with the age provisions of the Equal Treatment directive. The Scottish Executive is not aware that the reportedcomments of the Commission have addressed that precise point.

We have made good progress in various ways since October 2004. The introduction of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and the involvement of carer organisations in the associated guidance has helped to improve support to young carers. The Executive commissioned a Mori poll to help identify the number of young carers and their level of caring. That poll was undertaken in schools early in 2005, and the report was published on 7 September.

Last year, the Executive commissioned a major study on the future of unpaid care in Scotland. I announced the publication of the results of that study in September and subsequently discussed it with carers organisations. The report looked specifically at young carers and includes a recommendation relating to the development of a national young carers strategy and the creation of a national forum for young carers. We are presently liaising with key stakeholders to scope the report’s 22 recommendations, including those on young carers, and I will respond to the report in the spring.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-22371 on 30 January 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the parliament website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.