Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14496 on 9 April 2001.

Since the beginning of this year, no representations have been received by the Executive in support of the phasing out of reliefs from water charges for the voluntary sector. In the same period, approximately 47 representations have been received against the decision.

Officials routinely maintain contact with a wide range of bodies in the subject areas for which they are responsible to ministers and will continue to do so.

Additional technical measures, which may or may not include new mesh sizes, will be the subject of negotiations between the EU and the Norwegian authorities beginning on 18 April. Issues relating to the timing of implementation of any new measures will be considered. The Executive has already made clear its views about the need for appropriate lead-in times.The Executive does not believe the Scottish fishing fleet would be disadvantaged should there be any delay to the introduction of any new measures.

This information is not held centrally, although we are aware of at least one Scottish owned company that manufactures wind turbines and another developing offshore renewable energy technology.One of the principal objectives of our policy in respect of the promotion of renewable energy is to help Scottish industry to benefit from the increasing exploitation of renewable energy in Scotland. We have been working closely with both economic development agencies to do this.

No such licence was sought or granted. The imported fish were intended for use in the television advert but they were not in fact used for that purpose. We understand that although the import documentation was not appropriate, in that the fish were not eviscerated, the disposal of the fish did not pose any significant health risk for native stocks. There are no controls on the movement into Scotland of food imported elsewhere in the UK.

The statistical information requested is not available.Information is available in relation to the number of reports received, solemn and summary court disposals and non-court disposals. The latter not only includes and specifies cases marked no proceedings but also those cases disposed of by warning, conditional offer, fiscal fine, diversion or referral to the Reporter. This information is recorded for each Procurator Fiscal's Office. It is also collated and published each year in the Annual Report of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service which provides both national and regional statistics. The regional statistics relate to the six regions within the Procurator Fiscal Service, which correspond to the Sheriffdoms in Scotland. Statistics are not recorded with reference to parliamentary regions. The information collated in relation to court disposals relates to the number of cases and not charges.

The statistical information requested is not available.

The reference to the establishment of regional advisory committees in the European Commission's Green Paper on the future of the Common Fisheries Policy reflects the hard work already undertaken by UK fisheries departments and the UK fishing industry.The Executive has also promoted the idea of a strengthened regional dimension to the CFP with its contacts from other member states. In particular, amongst northern states, familiar with the way in which the various stock recovery plans have been developed, there is an increasing recognition of the benefits of a more regional and inclusive approach.

The measures referred to in the Fisheries Research Services' news release of 13 March 2001 were offered as a general piece of advice about changes that fishermen could make to their gear to substantially reduced discards. They did not refer to the Scottish Executive's proposals at that time, as outlined in my letter of 9 March 2001 to the Scottish Fishermen's Federation.