Examination of Witnesses (Questions 55
- 59)
WEDNESDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2010
MS LINDA
ROSBOROUGH
Q55 Chairman: Can I welcome you,
Linda Rosborough. Could you introduce yourself formally, please?
Ms Rosborough: My name is Linda
Rosborough. I work for the Scottish Government as a civil servant
and I work in the equivalent of the MMO, Marine Scotland, which
is a part of the Scottish Government, I am Head of Marine Planning
and Policy.
Q56 Chairman: Thank you for helping
us today. How would you characterise the relationship between
the Scottish Government and the Commissioners? Is there a dialogue?
Ms Rosborough: Yes, there is a
dialogue and the formal position of course is that the administration
of the Crown Estate is a reserved matter and therefore the Scottish
Government and the ministers in the Scottish Parliament have no
direct role in scrutiny or oversight of its administration, but
we do work with The Crown Estate on a wide number of issues and
have a large number of working groups and ad hoc arrangements
on which they engage with us.
Q57 Chairman: Again, I just want
to be clear, do ministers get involved in this dialogue with the
Commissioners?
Ms Rosborough: Yes, ministers
have meetings, not on a regular basis but on an ad hoc basis as
issues arise of the importance that ministers might wish to seek
a meeting or, vice versa, The Crown Estates might seek a meeting
with Scottish ministers.
Q58 Chairman: Who would that involve,
the Secretary of State?
Ms Rosborough: It could involve
the First Minister.
Q59 Chairman: So how often would
the First Minister see the Commissioners?
Ms Rosborough: Certainly within
the last year it has happened. I do not recall when it has happened
before that. It would not be a regular matter.
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