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M80

Mr. Galbraith: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he intends to announce the route for the new M80; and if he will make a statement. [1754]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The results of the consultation exercise recently carried out on the two route options are still being analysed. My right hon. Friend will consider the merits of each route once this and other relevant information is available to him.

Mr. Norman Hogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many representations he received on the two options proposed for the M80 extension between Stepps and Haggs; how these were distributed between the two options; and if he will make a statement. [1221]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 1 November 1996]: Forty-three representative bodies gave evidence at the consultation forum held to determine views on the two route options. In addition, over 800 letters have been received. A number of concerns were raised in relation to each of the route options, and analysis of the responses is still in progress.

Mr. Hogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to announce his decision on the line of route for the proposed M80 motorway between Stepps and Haggs; and if he will make a statement. [1224]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 1 November 1996]: The results of the consultation exercise recently carried out on the two route options are still being analysed. My right hon. Friend will consider the merits of each route once this and other relevant information is available to him.

1 Nov 1996 : Column: 389

Castle Urquhart

Mr. Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to reach a conclusion on Historic Scotland's proposals for car parking and related commercial developments at Castle Urquhart, Inverness-shire; and if he will make a statement. [1591]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: This is not a matter for my right hon. Friend, as the application is currently before the planning authority, Highland council. I understand that the council is in the process of setting up a working party to meet with Historic Scotland to consider the way forward.

"Wildlife and Agriculture in Scotland"

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what response he has sent to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds about the recommendations in "Wildlife and Agriculture in Scotland: A Secure Future". [1003]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: My noble Friend the Minister with responsibility for agriculture and the environment has been sent a copy of this report, which he hopes to discuss with representatives of the RSPB in due course.

Government Expenditure and Revenue Document

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will provide the same information for the 1994-95 "Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland" report as that provided for the 1993-94 report, referred to in his answer of 17 October, Official Report, columns 1141-42; and if he will make a statement; [1463]

(2) how many of the 2,250 copies of the "Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland" report were distributed in response to people who had written in requesting one and how many were sent out unsolicited; how many staff, and at what grades were involved in the research and writing of the document; what are the average annual costs of employing members of staff at these grades, including the share of running costs and support costs; what percentage of these staff's annual time was concerned with the report and related work; and if he will make a statement. [1464]

Mr. Michael Forsyth: The Scottish Office produced 2,500 copies of the report "Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland, 1994-95". The publication date was Monday 21 October 1996 and, to Tuesday 29 October 1996, approximately 600 copies have been distributed. The cost of design, printing and publishing the document was £5,384 and the cost of the launch and publicity was £25. The cost of research staff time involved in its production cannot be identified separately.

Accurate information on the distribution of the "Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland, 1993-94" report is not available by the type of detail requested.

The work undertaken by staff on the "Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland" reports was carried out as an integral part of their normal work of providing economic advice and statistics and cannot separately be identified.

1 Nov 1996 : Column: 390

Female Staff

Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many women are currently employed by his Department; and what proportion this is of the total. [1258]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: At 1 April 1996, there were 2,200 female staff in the Scottish Office core and its executive agencies other than the Scottish Prison Service: female staff accounted for 42 per cent. of the total. At that date, there were 615 female staff in the Scottish Prison Service, accounting for 14 per cent. of the total.

Child Care

Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of the (a) women who are mothers and (b) men who are fathers who are employed by his Department have received assistance from the Department with child care. [1292]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The Scottish Office operates a number of family-friendly working practices that indirectly assist staff with child care. These include the provision of two contracted workplace nurseries, flexible working hours, alternative working patterns, maternity-paternity leave and paid-unpaid special leave. We do not hold statistics on the total number of mothers or fathers who have benefited from these arrangements.

Green-field Sites

Mr. Norman Hogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the total area of green-field sites he expects to be developed in the next five years. [1222]

Mr. Kynoch [holding answer 1 November 1996]: My right hon. Friend has made no estimates of this nature.

Home Affairs Budget

Ms Roseanna Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much and what percentage of the Scottish Office budget has been allocated to home affairs in each year since 1990 at 1996-97 prices; and if he will list the categories of expenditure. [1476]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 31 October 1996]: The table sets out expenditure by the Scottish Office Home Department, other than on social work services, and Scottish Courts Administration, together with total expenditure within the Secretary of State's responsibility. The table includes expenditure by central Government only: it does not include expenditure by local authorities. Comparisons over years are affected by the Secretary of State taking on responsibility for additional functions. The principal instances are set out in full in chapter 1 of the publication "Serving Scotland's Needs--The Government's Expenditure Plans 1996-97 to 1998-99", Cm 3214, a copy of which is in the Library.

£ million, 1996-97 prices

	1990-91	1991-92	1992-93	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97
	Outturn	Outturn	Outturn	Outturn	Outturn	Outturn	Plans
Total expenditure within the Secretary of State's responsibility	11,758	13,301	13,849	14,376	14,677	14,734	14,494
Home affairs
Central Government expenditure
Legal Aid Fund	78	87	115	126	131	129	133
Legal Aid Administration	7	8	8	9	7	7	7
CICB Compensation	21	23	23	21	19	23	36
CICB Administration	2	2	2	2	2	2	3
Other services related to crime	2	2	2	2	3	3	5
Scottish Prison Service	150	157	148	164	172	165	174
Police	20	22	20	25	25	27	27
Fire Service	2	2	3	3	3	4	4
Civil Defence	4	3	2	2	2	1	1
Miscellaneous Services	1	1	1	2	1	2	1
Police Superannuation	0	0	1	0	1	1	0
Fire Superannuation	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scottish Courts	72	83	86	85	62	60	59
	Central Government grants to local authorities current grants
Police	260	267	276	288	286	294	316
Civil Defence	4	3	4	3	3	3	3
Capital grants
Civil Defence	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Police	1	0	2	1	1	1	0
Total home affairs expenditure	690	660	694	733	718	740	769
Home affairs percentage of total expenditure within the Secretary of State's responsibility	5.9 per cent.	5.0 per cent.	5.0 per cent.	5.1 per cent.	4.9 per cent.	5.0 per cent.	5.3 per cent.

Figures adjusted to 1996-97 prices using the GDP deflator.

1 Nov 1996 : Column: 391

1 Nov 1996 : Column: 391

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