§ 9. Mr. MacdonaldTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he next expects to meet Highlands and Islands Enterprise to discuss funding. [19577]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonI shall meet the board of Highlands and Islands Enterprise later this year to discuss its latest operating plan and the funding that it requires.
§ Mr. MacdonaldThe Minister will know that the fishing industry is very important to the Highlands and Islands Enterprise area and that there is great concern about the prospect of Spanish access to the west coast and how it will affect the fishing industry. Is not it necessary to follow the example of the recent agreement between Canada and Spain and insist on an independent and firm system of monitoring and apportionment of that access to ensure that it does not lead to overfishing and the long-term destruction of the fishing industry on the west coast?
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonI certainly agree with what the hon. Gentleman said about monitoring. There is no doubt that fish stocks around the world are coming under increasing pressure, and it is vital that proper conservation measures are introduced. It is equally essential that enforcement and monitoring are imposed. Britain will support sensible measures in the European Union, the United Nations and elsewhere to achieve that.
I also support what the hon. Gentleman said with regard to Spain having restricted access to western waters. It has been kept out of the Irish sea and will have only restricted access to the rest of the Irish box. Its fishing levels in other western waters cannot increase. Spanish fishing will be limited by quotas. The Government will take on board the hon. Gentleman's points.
§ Mr. MaclennanIs the Minister aware of the growing concern in the highlands about the distribution of funds under objective 1, and the fear that the objective—to ensure that the money will go to redress geographical imbalances in economic development, and particularly to deal with sparsely populated areas further from Inverness—is not reflected in the decisions that have been taken, and that the decision not to finance the north coast road in Scotland will put at zero efforts to regenerate the north highlands economy if that matter is not tackled quickly?
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonObviously, objective 1 funding will be of enormous assistance to the highlands, but it cannot satisfy every demand that has been made. Geographical targeting will apply to four programme priorities across a number of sub-areas in the highlands and islands and will be achieved by determining a minimum level of resources to be allocated to each sub-area over the six years of the programme. The minimum will be determined by applying a formula based on relevant indicators to 50 per cent. of the total resources available. That may not cover the road project that the hon. Gentleman mentioned, but it will go a long way to meet the general demands of each part of the highlands.