§ Mr. Wallaceasked 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. AncramNo 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