§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what use his Department has made of private detective agencies or investigators during 1995–96 and 1994–95; what agencies have been employed; for what purposes; and at what cost to his Department. [30566]
Lord James Douglas HamiltonThe information is set out in the table.
work on farmland bird numbers is also being funded through Scottish Natural Heritage, the Government's statutory adviser on nature conservation matters.
Examples include the joint funding of the Natural Environment Research Council-led special project on large-scale processes in ecology and hydrology. Three of the projects in that programme are concerned with aspects of bird populations, including analysis of trends. Scottish Natural Heritage has funded research into farmland bird numbers through a Joint Nature Conservation Committee contract let with the British Trust for Ornithology.