§ Lord Melchettasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why an application for funds under Article 3 of Directive 75/268/EEC to protect and conserve sites of importance for nature conservation and areas qualifying for protection under Article 4 of EEC Directive 79/409/EEC has not been included in the draft Integrated Development Programme for the Western Isles.
§ The Earl of MansfieldThe noble Lord's attention is drawn to Article 5 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1939/81 which sets out the measures for which a contribution will be available from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund. The whole of the Western Isles is already designated as a less-favoured area under Article 3(4) of Directive 75/268(EEC).
§ Lord Melchettasked Her Majesty's Government:
What resources will be available under the Western Isles Integrated Development Programme to protect—
- (a the wider environment;
- (b) Sites of Special Scientific Interest;
- (c) areas qualifying for protection under Article 4 of EEC Directive 79/409/EEC; and
What financial resources have been put aside by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland to integrate nature conservation and agriculture, and to protect the environment of the Western Isles, in the proposed Integrated Development Programme.
§ The Earl of MansfieldThe arrangements with regard to the protection of the environment are set out in Chapter 10 and Annex 7 of the programme. It was estimated that the cost of monitoring the environmental impact and liaising with the project team would be of the order of £60,000 over five years. No specific financial resources have been "put aside" by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland.
§ Lord Melchettasked Her Majesty's Government:
From which source the Nature Conservancy Council is seeking funds to protect sites of importance for nature conservation in the Western Isles of Scotland, and why the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland (DAFS) expects other agencies to provide such funds when the Integrated Development Programme for the Western Isles is being promoted by DAFS and funded by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund;
Whether the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland have informed the Department of the Environment (DoE) that funds to protect any Sites of Special Scientific Interest or areas qualifying for protection under Article 4 of EEC Directive 79/409/EEC, threatened by projects promoted under the Western Isles Integrated Development Programme, have to be found from DoE sources; and
1354WAWhether they can confirm that the Nature Conservancy Council's (NCC) grant-in-aid for 1982–83 was fixed to allow the NCC to meet a substantial threat to some of the 35 Sites of Special Scientific Interest on the Western Isles.
§ The Earl of MansfieldHer Majesty's Government are not aware of the substantial threat to any of the Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the Western Isles, whether from projects under the Integrated Development Programme or otherwise. No projects have yet been formulated under the programme, whose terms require all actions to be compatible with the protection of the environment. The implied need to provide significant extra funds to enable the Nature Conservancy Council to meet new threats to such sites is therefore hypothetical.
§ Lord Melchettasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether Scottish Office officials have conveyed the Nature Conservancy Council's views on the Western Isles Integrated Development Programme to European Community officials in both the environment and the agriculture sections.
§ The Earl of MansfieldThe programme was considered by officials in the Environment and Agriculture Directorates who were advised that the programme was prepared by a Steering Committee of officials, including observers from the Nature Conservancy Council. Chapter 10 of the programme contains a statement to the effect that satisfactory arrangements have been made to facilitate the resolution of environmental problems as they arise and confirms that the arrangements outlined therein are intended to complement existing provisions covering the National Nature Reserves, the Sites of Special Scientific Interest and the designated National Scenic Areas within the Western Isles.
§ Lord Melchettasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether agricultural improvement schemes promoted through the Western Isles Integrated Development Programme will be subjected to a detailed cost-benefit analysis, using the standard test discount rate of 5 per cent. and a calculated project life of 50 years or less.
§ Lord Melchettasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether funds will be available under the Western Isles Integrated Development Programme to develop tourist amenities and craft industries, whether funds for this purpose will come from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, and, if not, on which departmental Vote such expenditure will fall, and what estimate of such expenditure the Government have made during the life of the programme.
§ The Earl of MansfieldEstimates of likely expenditure on the development of tourist amenities and craft industries are given in the programme, copies of which are available in the Library. None of the funds for these purposes would be provided by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund. Aid 1355WA may be available from the Western Isles Islands Council, or from the Highlands and Islands Development Board whose expenditure is carried on the Scottish Office Vote under reference Class XV, Vote 3.
§ Lord Melchettasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are aware that the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) have stated publicly that no funds have been allocated within the Integrated Development Programme (IDP) for the Western Isles to activate the mechanism contained in the Programme to ensure that measures taken under the IDP are compatible with the protection of the environment, and that the NCC's stated view is that "This is unsatisfactory and infringes important principles embodied in EEC Environment Policy and the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act"; whether this view has been passed on to the Agriculture Directorate and to the Environment Directorate in Brussels, and if not, why not;
Whether they are aware that the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) have stated publicly that the EEC Agricultural Directorate in Brussels have received a "misleading impression" of the NCC's views on the Western Isles Integrated Development Programme (IDP), whether they will confirm that this impression is not based on anything the NCC had said direct to the Agricultural Directorate, and whether they will confirm that the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland were responsible for passing the NCC's views on the IDP to officials in Brussels; and
Whether they are aware that the Nature Conservancy Council have stated publicly that the integrated aims of the Western Isles Integrated Development Programme "are defeated by the fact that the only funds earmarked are those supporting agricultural and fisheries measures", whether this view has been passed on to the Agriculture Directorate and to the Environment Directorate in Brussels, and if not, why not.
§ The Earl of MansfieldI understand that the Council are content with, and indeed devised, the procedures set out in the programme: as to funds, the European Commission are well aware that we think it unsatisfactory that an integrated programme is not supported by integrated Community provision of funds.
§ Lord Melchettasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will give an assurance that no site of special scientific interest in the Western Isles will be damaged as a result of lack of finance for the Nature Conservancy Council, when £56 million is to be spent in the Western Isles under an Integrated Development Programme.
§ The Earl of MansfieldThere is already a firm assurance in the programme that the actions envisaged are compatible with protection of the environment.
§ Lord Melchettasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will list all those species of birds which are listed on Annex 1 of Directive 79/409/EEC which occur on the Western Isles, and whether any measures to protect the habitats of these species and other migratory birds have been included in the Western Isles Integrated Development Programme.
1356WA
§ The Earl of MansfieldThe following species of birds which are listed in Annex 1 of Directive 79/409/EEC occur on the Western Isles:—
No new measures to protect the habitats of these species and other migratory birds have been or need be included within the Integrated Development Programme which implies no new threat; existing arrangements reinforced by the project assessment procedure outlined in the programme should suffice.
Great northern diver Osprey Cory's shearwater Peregrine Storm petrel Crane Leach's petrel Avocet Bittern Pratincole Night heron Dotterel Squacco heron Golden plover Little egret Wood-sandpiper Black stork Red-necked phalarope Glossy ibis Sandwick tern Spoonbill Roseate tern Greater flamingo Common tern Bewick's swan Arctic tern Whooper swan Little tern White fronted goose Black tern Barnacle goose Eagle owl White-tailed eagle Snowy owl Marsh harrier Short-eared owl Hen harrier Kingfisher Golden eagle Blue-throat Barred warbler
§ Lord Melchettasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Nature Conservancy Council will be involved as appropriate in the administration of the Integrated Development Programme (IDP) for the Western Isles, and, if so, why this is not stated in paragraph 11.14 of the draft programme.
§ The Earl of MansfieldThe organisations to which reference is made in paragraph 11.14 are those concerned with the preparation, receipt and examination of applications for assistance. As indicated in Chapter 10, arrangements have been made for consultation with the Nature Conservancy Council on environmental aspects.