Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive is content that the policy which implements our obligations under Community law in respect of infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) is compatible with fundamental rights. We await the outcome of the reference to the European Court of Justice, which will give an authoritative view on the question of compensation which is being sought by one of the fish farming companies directly affected by the disease.

It has been the policy of successive governments not to compensate for losses due to disease or other natural phenomena in the marine environment. The Scottish Executive see no case to change that position.

Access to international blue whiting fisheries is established following negotiations between the EU and other coastal states, most notably Norway under the aegis of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC). Recent years have seen a considerable and unsustainable increase in effort on this fishery by non-EU countries, with the EC maintaining conservation measures to limit access.

It would be wrong to reward such unsustainable "olympic" fishing by establishing a related track record.

In view of this situation, at the December Fisheries Council, Ministers reserved their position on blue whiting, stating in the Council minutes "the Council and Commission will revert to this issue, as appropriate, if negotiations in NEAFC in early 2000 do not result in efficient regulatory measures for the fishing of blue whiting in the Regulatory Area".Scottish Executive officials have been fully involved in formulating the current EU negotiating position, and the EU team is well aware of the importance to the Scottish pelagic fleet of continued access to this fishery.

My statement on 26 January identified two areas affecting the water industry where the Executive intends to consult.

The first is competition in the industry and how to ensure that it benefits customers, while public health, environmental and social objectives continue to be met. I plan to publish a consultation document on this in April.

The second is the standards that the water authorities should meet during the period to be covered by the next strategic charges round to be carried out by the Water Industry Commissioner. These will eventually be published in the next Quality and Standards Paper. Prior to that the Executive will consult on them in draft form in the autumn.(In addition, I said in my statement that the Executive is considering whether it can improve on the protection from the full impact of water and sewerage charges already provided to the less well off by the current arrangement linking charges to Council Tax banding. We plan to consult on this during the course of the summer.)

The level of, and proposed increase in, water and sewerage charges depend on the Council Tax banding of a household's property, and the water authority area within which the household is located. Water and sewerage charges are a relatively small element of household expenditure, and the overall effect on the cost of living is similarly small. Nevertheless the Executive is concerned about the impact of charges on low-income households. It is considering whether there is any scope to improve on the protection already provided by the link between charge levels and Council Tax bands.

I have had three meetings with Alan Sutherland since his appointment as Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland on 1 November 1999. I expect to have further meetings with him from time to time, but no date has been set yet for our next meeting.

No.

The Scottish Executive fully supports the aim of the multi-annual guidance programmes, which is to ensure sustainability of fishing by balancing fishing capacity against resource availability. That is in the long-term interests of our industry, as is the important principle of relative stability.The multi-annual programmes are Europe-wide initiatives and the Committee's report needs to be considered, along with other relevant issues, at that level. The Scottish Executive will continue to be fully involved in such discussions, including on any successor arrangements to the current multi-annual guidance programme.

The proposed increase would comprise, I understand, the second increase over a period of more than three years to reflect inflation and the economic costs of conducting marine surveys.The added costs to individual vessel owners arising out of the proposed increase would be negligible. There would seem to be no case for survey costs to the industry to be subsidised by the taxpayer. On that basis, the Scottish Executive does not intend to make representations to DETR regarding the proposals.

I am not aware of any such plans.