HC Deb 08 April 1986 vol 95 c18W
Mr. Wallace

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what criteria he applies in determining the capital consent for coast protection work for each islands or regional council authority;

(2) if he will state (a) the capital consent allowed to each regional or islands area authority in 1985–86 for coast protection work and (b) the total length of coastline of each islands or regional council area.

Mr. Ancram

No separate capital consent is given for coast protection work. Consent is given each year for a programme which covers water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment, flood prevention and coast protection, on the basis of financial plans submitted by the regional and islands councils and their relative needs. The councils themselves are responsible for setting priorities and for determining what to spend on coast protection. The consents for 1985–86 were:

£ million
Borders 2.00
Central 4.63
Dumfries and Galloway 3.16
Fife 5.50
Grampian 17.10
Highland 4.70
Lothian 11.86
Strathclyde 30.00
Tayside 10.30
Orkney 0.52
Shetland 0.70
Western Isles 1.05

Lengths of coastline assessed for coastal planning purposes (which do not include every area affected by the tidal regime or inlets less than 0.4 kilometres wide) are:

Kilometres
Borders 32
Central 26
Dumfries and Galloway 351
Fife 170
Grampian 295
Highland (including islands) 2,724
Lothian 99
Strathclyde (including islands) 2,281
Tayside 89
Orkney 944
Shetland 1,370
Western Isles 1,813