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Fishing

Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the proportion of the Scottish catch of spring fish taken by rod; and what proposals he has to limit the rod catch to conserve stocks. [12168]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: As netting catches of salmon and netting effort have declined over the years the proportion taken by anglers has increased and now represents about 80 per cent. of the overall catch of spring salmon. Any recommendations on the exploitation of spring fish contained in Lord Nickson's task force report, which is due shortly, will be considered fully.

Local Government Finance

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the amount of grant-aided expenditure to each local authority for 1996-97 to support the provision of valuation for non-domestic rating. [11310]

Mr. Kynoch: The lands valuation grant-aided expenditure assessment is distributed in proportion to the number of non-domestic rateable subjects. The relevant GAE figures for each local authority for 1996-97 are shown in the table.

	Grant aided expenditure £000
Aberdeen City	573
Aberdeenshire	659
Angus	310
Argyll and Bute	460
Scottish Borders	406
Clackmannanshire	91
West Dunbartonshire	181
Dumfries and Galloway	540
Dundee City	401
East Ayrshire	275
East Dunbartonshire	148
East Lothian	184
East Renfrewshire	110
Edinburgh	1,186
Falkirk	314
Fife	837
Glasgow	1,748
Highland	947
Inverclyde	159
Midlothian	134
Moray	329
North Ayrshire	327
North Lanarkshire	552
Orkney	107
Perthshire and Kinross	450
Renfrewshire	345
Shetland Islands	126
South Ayrshire	303
South Lanarkshire	578
Stirling	278
West Lothian	274
Western Isles	133

27 Jan 1997 : Column: 70

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the amount of grant-aided expenditure to each local authority for 1997-98 to support the provision of valuation for non-domestic rating, valuation for council tax and electoral registration services. [11311]

Mr. Kynoch: The valuation for council tax and electoral registration grant aided expenditure assessments are each distributed in proportion to the number of dwellings valued for council tax. The lands valuation GAE is distributed in proportion to the number of non-domestic rateable subjects. The relevant GAE figures for each local authority for 1997-98 are shown in the table.

			GAE (£000)
	Valuation for council tax	Electoral registration	Lands valuation
Aberdeen City	371	140	545
Aberdeenshire	339	128	636
Angus	179	67	287
Argyll and Bute	160	60	424
Clackmannanshire	76	29	84
Dumfries and Galloway	243	91	520
Dundee City	265	100	368
East Ayrshire	189	71	242
East Dunbartonshire	155	58	132
East Lothian	139	52	174
East Renfrewshire	126	48	107
Edinburgh	761	286	1,109
Falkirk	226	85	297
Fife	560	211	749
Glasgow	1,057	398	1,597
Highland	350	132	956
Inverclyde	143	54	154
Midlothian	118	44	125
Moray	137	52	318
North Ayrshire	222	84	293
North Lanarkshire	482	181	532
Orkney	34	13	100
Perthshire and Kinross	218	82	415
Renfrewshire	286	108	329
Scottish Borders	181	68	390
Shetland Islands	36	13	109
South Ayrshire	180	68	270
South Lanarkshire	460	173	556
Stirling	128	48	263
West Dunbartonshire	157	59	159
West Lothian	224	84	260
Western Isles	49	18	130

Lockerbie

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made for his consideration of the Lockerbie case of the acquittal of Juval Avir; and what notification he has received from the US authorities in respect of Juval Avir's previous employment by international intelligence services. [11309]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Juval Aviv was acquitted after trial in the United States of defrauding the General Electric Capital Corporation in 1991. The jury's verdict in that matter has no bearing on the validity of the case against the two Libyan accused in respect of the Lockerbie bombing. It is our understanding that in 1990

27 Jan 1997 : Column: 71

the adviser for countering terrorism to the Prime Minister of Israel stated in response to an inquiry from the United States President commission on aviation security and terrorism that

"Juval Aviv does not work and has never worked for the Intelligence Community of the State of Israel. Furthermore, he has never been attached or connected to it."

BSE

Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his latest estimate for the number of selective cull subjects which may already have been slaughtered under the over-30-months scheme; and if he will make a statement. [12462]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 2 December 1996, Official Report, column 568, to his earlier question on this subject. The position remains the same.

Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he intends to put forward to the European Commission on the staged removal of the export ban to ensure that (a) Scottish beef herds and (b) Northern Irish beef herds are included in the first wave of exemptions; and if he will make a statement. [12577]

Mr. Robertson: Proposals for a UK certified herds scheme will be presented to the European Commission shortly. The proposals are intended to facilitate exports of beef and beef products from animals in the UK whose movements are fully documented and which could be certified as having no association with BSE.

Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when the results of his Department's study of maternal transmission of BSE will be published; and if he will make a statement. [12578]

Mr. Robertson: Interim findings of the long-running study on maternal transmission were released in August last year. These are now being given further consideration in view of subsequent evidence and it is expected that the final results will be made available soon.

Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if (a) hill livestock compensatory allowances, (b) beef and (c) suckler cow premium payments will be paid to those producers who will no longer be able to meet the animal retention conditions of those schemes due to the requirements of the over-30-months scheme or the selective cull; and if he will make a statement. [12644]

Mr. Robertson: We are consulting with the European Commission on the position of animals slaughtered under the selective cull while in a retention period for the schemes listed. The normal retention period rules apply to animals entering the over-30-months scheme.

Land Court

Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will introduce amendments to crofting law to require applications to the land court for the resumption of tenanted land to receive the same publicity as applications to the Crofters Commission to decroft vacant or untenanted croft land; and if he will make a statement. [13028]

27 Jan 1997 : Column: 72

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: Before approving an application for the resumption of tenanted land from crofting tenure, the Scottish land court must be satisfied that the land is required for a "reasonable purpose" as defined by the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993. The land court may make such inquiries as it considers necessary before coming to a decision on any application.

Although the procedures differ somewhat from those specified for the consideration of decrofting applications by the Crofters Commission, they do, nevertheless, provide protection against land being unnecessarily removed from crofting tenure. My right hon. Friend has no plans to amend the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993.

Public Bodies

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what European legislation non-departmental public bodies have to abide by in awarding contracts; and what redress is available when these guidelines have not been met in the award of a contract. [12156]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 23 January 1997]: In circumstances where non-departmental public bodies are contracting authorities, they are, when awarding contracts, subject to the general provisions in the treaty of Rome--for instance, non-discrimination--and the EC procurement directives covering supplies, services, works and the associated remedies. These directives have been converted into the following UK regulations--the Public Supply Contracts Regulations 1995, the Public Services Contracts Regulations 1993 and the Public Works Contracts Regulations 1991.

The remedies directive, EC/89/665, requires that member states provide for national means of redress. In the UK this has been achieved through provisions in the UK regulations referred to above, which give aggrieved providers the right to bring an action in the High Court, or Court of Session in Scotland.

The European Commission also has powers under the treaty of Rome and EC/89/665 to challenge a contracting authority's actions in respect of the award of a contract in the event of a provider raising a complaint with it. The treaty of Rome also allows the Commission various other legal means by which an award procedure may be challenged.

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