§ Mr. MacdonaldTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has any plans to privatise the Royal Navy's fisheries protection role.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe Royal Navy provides a fishery protection service for both the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) and, in the North Sea, for the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland (DAFS). At present there are no plans to change these arrangements. Additionally, DAFS owns vessels and aircraft and MAFF charters civilian aircraft which are employed on fishery protection duties. I understand that there are at present no plans to change these arrangements either.