§ Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the delay in commissioning his Department's recently acquired Fokker aircraft for offshore fishery protection patrols; how long he expects this duty to have to be covered by Cessna Titans from the inshore patrol service or other temporary arrangements; and what will be the cost of this delay.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe provisional date for the acceptance trials of the Fokker F27–200 being acquired to undertake fisheries surveillance is 8 July 1987. The tender specification called for an aircraft to be delivered by 31 July 1987 and the acquisition contract indicated a delivery date of 1 June 1987. In order to have the endurance of the selected aircraft enhanced by the installation of extra fuel tanks a revised delivery date of early July was agreed. The introduction of the aircraft is therefore on programme. The interim surveillance Dornier 228 ceased operations on 26 June 1987 and the Cessna Titan will operate temporarily in the offshore role until mid/late-August when the Fokker F27 and aircrew have completed their pre-operational training. No additional costs are involved.