§ Mr. David Marshallasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what criteria the Forestry Commission employs in deciding whether or not to impose conditions when awarding grants made under the forestry grants scheme regarding the management practices of afforestation, including areas to be left unplanted for amenity or conservation purposes.
§ Mr. John MacKayThe objectives of the forestry grant scheme, to which all applicants have to adhere, include the management of the land to secure good land use and environmental benefits, and the provision of appropriate opportunities for recreation. Every application for grant is considered carefully by the Forestry 493W Commission in the light of these objectives, and consultations are undertaken with other authorities to ensure that the needs of land use, agriculture, amenity and recreation are taken into account before a decision is reached. In many cases modifications, including leaving areas unplanted for amenity or conservation purposes, are made to planting proposals as a result of such consultations.
§ Mr. David Marshallasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what powers the Forestry Commission possesses to ensure that afforestation schemes which are refused grant-aid for whatever reason under the forestry grants scheme do not proceed without grant aid.
(a) Cash prices November 1984 prices Year (1) Total excluding loan charges (2) Loan charges (3) Total (4) (b) Total excluding loan charges (5) (c) Percentage of total revenue expenditure (as at col. 3) met by Rate Support Grant £ million £ million £ million £ million per cent. 1975–76 387.0 57.5 444.5 1,062.4 63.3 1976–77 493.9 79.3 573.2 1,215.3 64.5 1977–78 537.1 87.2 624.3 1,177.3 62.9 1978–79 603.6 91.4 695.0 1,207.5 63.6 1979–80 692.3 101.2 793.5 1,235.8 63.7 1980–81 870.3 119.0 989.3 1,219.4 64.2 1981–82 1,004.4 144.7 1,149.1 1,213.8 62.2 1982–83 1,095.0 162.1 1,257.1 1,215.9 59.0 1983–84 1,167.2 147.9 1,315.1 1,223.1 57.7 1984–85 1,204.3 154.1 1,358.4 1,207.9 56.3 Notes:
1. All expenditure information on a cash basis in columns (1), (2) and (3) is taken from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy publication "Rating Review" and reflects planned expenditure for the years in question. The figures in column (4) include all expenditure relevant for rate support grant purposes, excluding loan charges, and any non-relevant expenditure recorded in the publication. Column (2) gives the level of loan charges relevant for rate support grant and column (3) the total of columns (1) and (2).
2. The figures in column (4) have been converted to November 1984 prices using revaluation factors agreed with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. It is not possible to express loan charges on a fixed price basis.
3. Column (5) provides the percentage of total revenue expenditure (as shown in column (3)) met by rate support grant. The RSG figures have also been taken from "Rating Review". These figures do not include any specific grants paid by the Government to Strathclyde regional council.