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SCOTLAND

Cairn Gorm Funicular Railway

Mr. Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 14 March, Official Report, column 730, if he will publish the financial and economic assessment of the proposed Cairn Gorm funicular railway provided by Highlands and Islands Enterprise; and if he will make a statement. [35216]

Mr. Kynoch: The financial and economic assessment undertaken by Highlands and Islands Enterprise of the proposed funicular railway is subject to commercial confidentiality.

Mr. Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what level of grant aid has been offered, by his Department or its agencies, to the Cairn Gorm Railway Co. to support the construction of a funicular railway on Cairn Gorm. [35217]

Mr. Kynoch: None. My right hon. Friend is considering a request from Highlands and Islands Enterprise for his approval to the proposed of financial assistance to the Cairngorm Chairlift Co. for the construction of a funicular railway on Cairn Gorm. No decision on the request has yet been taken.

Mr. Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 29 April, Official Report, column 375, if he will list the criteria he will use to judge the application for approval to incur expenditure by Highlands and Islands Enterprise on the proposed Cairn Gorm funicular railway. [35215]

Mr. Kynoch: In considering the request from Highlands and Islands Enterprise for approval of the proposed financial contribution to the Cairn Gorm

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funicular railway, my right hon. Friend will take into account a range of criteria, including the need to ensure that the proposed contribution represents value for money.

Mr. Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what research has been commissioned by (a) his office and (b) the Highlands and Islands Enterprise to estimate the socio-economic benefits of the proposed Cairn gorm funicular railway; what was the cost of this research; and if he will make the results available to the public. [35213]

Mr. Kynoch: No research into such matters has been commissioned by the Scottish Office. The research commissioned by Highlands and Islands Enterprise is an operational matter for the organisation and I have asked the chairman to write to the hon. Member.

Grampian Structure Plan

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he received the Grampian structure plan for consideration; and if he will make a statement. [35690]

Mr. Kynoch: The Grampian structure plan was formally submitted to my right hon. Friend on 13 February 1995.

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he will reach a final decision on the Grampian structure plan. [35678]

Mr. Kynoch: My right hon. Friend will make a final decision on the Grampian structure plan as soon as possible.

Nurses' Pay

Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many trusts to date have made pay offers to nurses; and what steps he is taking to ensure that the review body recommendations are acted upon. [35111]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: To date, 17 NHS trusts in Scotland have made formal pay offers to nurses. Trusts have been advised of agreements reached within the nurses national Whitley negotiating council and should be engaged in local negotiations to seek resolution of this year's pay round.

The timing structure of pay offers is a matter for local management. It is for each trust to decide whether to make public the position it has reached.

Private Estates (Public Funding)

Ms Roseanna Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what guidelines he has issued to ensure that grants and loans received by private estates from public funds are adequately monitored; and if he will make a statement; [35675]

(2) what responsibilities he has for monitoring payments made from public funds to private landed estates; and if he will make a statement. [35693]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: Guidelines on each scheme operated by the Scottish Office Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries Department are issued to all involved in considering applications or authorising payments. They are designed to ensure achievement of the scheme objectives and fulfilment of scheme conditions. There are no special procedures for

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monitoring payments from public funds to particular classes of applicant: standard procedures are applied to all recipients of assistance irrespective of their land tenure status.

Ms Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will introduce mechanisms to ensure that details of public funds given to landed private estates are readily available to members of the public; [35694]

(2) if he will list the publicly funded (a) grants and (b) loans received by the Atholl estate in the financial year 1993-94; what mechanisms were adopted to monitor the use of each payment made in this period; and if he will make a statement. [35696]

Mr. Robertson: Details of public funds paid are subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1974 and cannot therefore be made available without the express permission of the recipient. I have no plans to introduce mechanisms to ensure that details of public funds given to private estates are available to members of the public. Private estates are subject to the same monitoring conditions as all other applicants for financial assistance.

Ms Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond) of 16 April, Official Report, column 450, if he will list the locations of the information relating to financial assistance given to the Atholl Estate since 1979; and if he will make a statement. [35695]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: Details of any financial assistance given to Atholl estate would be held in several locations. Some scheme details are held in the Scottish Office Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries Department's local area office and some in the sub-office covering the area where the estate lands lie. The remainder are held in Edinburgh on the computer records appropriate to each scheme. For closed schemes, where all conditions would have been met, information will no longer be available.

Wheelhouses (Alterations)

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many representations he has received in the last year from the fishing industry in Scotland in connection with the subject of safety improvement grants for wheelhouse alteration; and if he will make a statement on his response to these representations. [35619]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: I have received no representations on this subject.

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what alternative eligibility criteria he has evaluated for safety improvement grants for the alteration of wheelhouses on fishing vessels. [34620]

Mr. Robertson: The Fishing Vessels (Safety Improvements) (Grants) Scheme 1995 does not provide grants for structural alterations to wheelhouses. However, equipment to enhance wheelhouse visibility is eligible for assistance--for example, the installation of wandering steering leads or the building of a dome--glass bubble--

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on top of the wheelhouse with a raised platform underneath upon which the watchkeeper could safely stand, raising his sight level and increasing visibility.

Fishing Grants

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he has taken to monitor the setting up by local authorities of recognised grant assistance schemes in respect of applications for Pesca and Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance funds; and if he will make a statement on the results of that monitoring. [35623]

Mr. Kynoch: My right hon. Friend does not monitor the details of local authority involvement in Community Initiatives. It is the responsibility of the local authorities concerned to ensure that scheme details comply with the relevant regulations. However, Scottish Office officials have held a number of meetings with officials of local authorities and other bodies to offer advice on proposals for schemes, to help ensure that they are consistent with European Community rules and the Pesca programme.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Police Numbers

16. Mr. Purchase: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the ratio of police officers per head of population (a) in Britain and (b) on average in the EU. [34532]

Mr. Hain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the ratio of police officers per head of population in Britain; and what is the current EU average. [34538]

Mr. Kirkhope: In England and Wales, the ratio of police officers to population was one to 407 at March 1996. No comprehensive data are available from which an average for European Union countries could be calculated.

24. Mr. Mark Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to increase the number of police officers on the beat. [34541]

Mr. Kirkhope: My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has promised sufficient resources for 5,000 more officers over the three years to 1998-99, specifically to enhance visible presence on the streets. We have started to give out funding for this. Also, providing high visibility policing so as to reassure the public is one of our key objectives for the police service.

27. Mr. David Martin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Deaprtment is taking to increase the number of police constables over the next three years. [34544]

Mr. Kirkhope: The Government are providing an additional £180 million in funding to enable chief constables in England and Wales to recruit 5,000 more constables over the three-year period from April 1996.

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