§ Mr. WallaceTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he intends to(a) publish and (b) announce his response to the consultants' report on the future of shipping services to the northern and western isles; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LangI have recently received the report of KPMG Management Consulting on subsidies for shipping services in the highlands and islands and I am studying carefully its conclusions and recommendations. However, it is too early for me to say when I will be in a position to announce any decisions in response to the report. The report contains a considerable amount of commercially sensitive information which was made available to the consultants on a strictly confidential basis, and would not therefore be suitable for publication. I shall, however, give consideration as to whether it would be possible to publish the main findings and conclusions of the report without breaching commercial confidentiality.