§ Mr. WallaceTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment his office has made of the effectiveness of fisheries protection in Scottish waters; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir Hector MonroThe Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency will shortly publish its first annual report. This will262W analyse performance and the effectiveness of fisheries enforcement in Scottish waters. A key indicator of the effectiveness of fisheries protection is the number of hoardings achieved. The number of hoardings of fishing vessels in Scottish waters has increased from 1,406 in 1985–86 to 2,513 in 1991–92.
§ Mr. Raymond S. RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about performance targets for the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency for 1992–93.
§ Mr. LangFor the financial year 1992–93 I have set the following targets:
Target Aerial surveillance—percentage of hours flown on task 85 Aerial surveillance—cost per aircraft sighting £95 Marine surveillance—number of boardings at sea 2,500 Marine surveillance—cost per boarding £2,600 Sea fisheries inspectorate— cost per log sheet check £40.71 50 per cent. of cases for prosecution to be reported within six weeks of offence being detected and 90 per cent. within eight weeks. Number of cases where court proceedings are taken as percentage of offences reported to prosecuting authorities 75 In order to ensure that the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency uses its resources efficiently, I have set it a target to achieve cash releasing efficiency gains of 6 per cent. over 1991–92.
The chief executive will be directly accountable to me for the achievement of these targets, which will be reported in the agency's annual report.