§ Mr. MacdonaldTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will instruct the Crown estate to make the minutes of the fish farming advisory committee and the chairman's report publicly available.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe advisory committee is an independent body, is not under the direction of the Crown estate, and is free to decide its own procedures. Minutes of the committee's proceedings are circulated to the bodies represented on the committee and it is open to members of the committee to disseminate information regarding the committee hearings to interested parties. The Crown estate's decision as to whether to grant a site lease is made available to interested parties and others, on request.
However, I am drawing the hon. Member's suggestion to the attention of the chairman of the committee, who will write to him in due course.
§ Mr. MacdonaldTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the location, type of development, reasons for referral and date of all applications that have been referred to the Crown estate's fish farming advisory committee; and if he will include the committee's recommendations and the Crown estate's decision in each case.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe information requested is as follows:
§ Mr. Allan Stewart[holding answer 25 November 1991]: My right hon. Friend's timetable for comments on the first consultation document, "The Structure of Local Government in Scotland", has been extended to 31 December 1991. Thereafter, further consultations will be undertaken to establish the details of the new structure and whether any organisational and management changes are necessary.