§ Mr. OnslowTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what progress his Department has made with the installation of fish-counting equipment on rivers in Scotland, and the north Esk in particular; and what steps he has taken to make information on such equipment available to those responsible for salmon stocks in other parts of the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe installation of fish counters and associated civil engineering works in Scottish rivers is a matter for district salmon fishery boards and salmon fishery proprietors.
With the agreement of the appropriate boards and proprietors, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland has installed fish counters for research purposes in the River North Esk at Logic and, more recently, in the Girnock Burn, Aberdeenshire. Tests of the "Logie" design of fish counter, developed with the assistance of the Department, show a high level of accuracy with regard to both upstream and downstream movements of fish.
The results of observations made on counter performance have been widely reported in scientific papers and in the published proceedings of symposia organised by 791W the Institute of Fishery Management and the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology and in reports by the Department's freshwater fisheries laboratory at Pitlochry.
The Department has advised a number of district salmon fishery boards and interested parties about suitable locations and in-river works for fish counters on the rivers Aray, Berriedale, Dee (Aberdeenshire), Spey, Tay and Thurso. Advice has also been given to a number of water authorities in England and Wales. I understand that the "Logie" counter has been demonstrated, for example, at the game fair at Kelso in July 1988 and that a number of counters have been sold by its manufacturers.
Number of pupils receiving free school meals Region division or Island authority 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 Border 1,769 1,572 1,365 773 966 1,097 1,113 1,136 1,065 1,203 1,184 Central 6,496 5,594 4,708 5,084 5,853 6,584 6,443 7,311 6,975 8,046 7,740 Dumfries and Galloway 3,959 3,581 2,851 2,017 2,265 2,705 2,718 2,765 2,950 2,826 2,994 Fife 8,424 7,632 6,443 6,146 6,935 7,263 6,719 8,639 8,172 9,025 8,927 Grampian 6,342 6,564 5,935 3,225 3,709 4,117 4,318 4,704 4,800 5,593 5,967 Highland 4,299 4,272 3,674 2,339 2,813 3,415 3,438 4,312 4,355 4,643 4,960 Lothian 17,568 17,141 14,655 13,162 14,145 12,854 12,413 14,201 13,711 14,689 15,773 Strathclyde 94,357 84,999 72,881 74,565 79,406 85,426 82,348 84,096 84,659 87,362 87,147 Argyll and Bute 1,861 1,709 1,497 1,336 1,443 1,563 1,525 1,469 1,510 1,560 1,555 Ayr 12,601 11,329 10,592 10,579 10,801 12,295 12,690 13,202 12,540 13,266 12,899 Dumbarton 8,255 7,204 5,734 5,823 6,838 7,972 7,385 8,103 8,622 9,340 9,027 Glasgow 39,239 37,234 31,743 32,913 34,156 36,045 33,791 33,947 34,059 34,671 35,337 Lanark 21,558 17,827 15,135 15,885 16,631 17,172 17,316 16,959 16,759 16,823 16,585 Renfrew 10,843 9,696 8,180 8,029 9,537 10,379 9,641 10,416 11,169 11,702 11,744 Tayside 10,020 9,234 8,208 5,610 6,597 7,380 7,702 7,854 8,154 7,921 8,720 Orkney 393 393 385 412 389 520 512 477 429 438 432 Shetland 244 223 155 163 189 183 236 246 232 270 263 Western Isles 1,840 1,781 1,358 1,215 1,280 1,409 1,375 928 1,125 1,178 1,112 Scotland 155,711 142,986 122,618 114,711 124,547 132,953 129,335 136,669 136,627 143,194 145,219
§ Mrs. Margaret EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in theOfficial Report the current charge levied for a school meal in each regional and divisional education authority.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe information is as follows:
Region Division or Island Authority Charge for a Fixed Price School Meal (pence) Borders 50 Central 60 Dumfries and Galloway 60 Fife 50 Grampian 163 273 Highland 70 Lothian 155 260 Strathclyde 64 Argyll and Bute 64 Ayr 64 Dumbarton 64 Glasgow (City) 64 Lanark 64 Renfrew 64 Tayside 165 270 Orkney 60 Shetland 60 Western Isles 70
1978 1983 1987 Age Male Female Male Female Male Female Under 40 — 4 6 7 3 12 40 to 45 5 3 3 10 9 13 46 to 50 6 11 7 9 15 22