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Asked by: Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrat - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether, in respect of the current proposals to revise the British Underwater Training and Evaluation Centre range at Kyle of Lochalsh, the new 82 square kilometre area is based upon the current take-up zone or will include the no travel zone; whether the revised Ministry of Defence area map is based on existing inner or outer limits; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The 82 square Km area is the existing byelawed area of the Raasay Ranges and includes the British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre. This is divided into an Outer Area (around 56 square Km) in which no trawling or dredging is permitted, and an Inner Area (around 26 square Km) in which no fishing activity at all is permitted. The proposed byelaw extension is for a single range area (around 110 square Km) in which no fishing activity (including dredging or trawling) will be permitted, although this does include the possible creation of local agreements, that would permit controlled creel fishing or dive fishing in the area. In addition, the water-space around the island of Rona that is at present unavailable for fishing will also be released under the current proposals.
Asked by: Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrat - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if, in respect of the current proposals to revise the British Underwater Training and Evaluation Centre range at Kyle of Lochalsh, he will list the initial consultees involved prior to his letter of 3 November 2014 to the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber and others; what input was sought from Marine Scotland; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Philip Dunne
On 19 August 2013 the Minister for Defence Equipment and Support (Philip Dunne) wrote to the right hon. Member to inform him that the Department was looking favourably on QinetiQ's proposals for new investment to sustain the operations of the Ministry of Defence Raasay Ranges. In addition, the Minister wrote to the then Deputy First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon and the constituency Member of the Scottish Parliament, David Thompson. In parallel officials wrote to the Highland Council and Highland and Islands Enterprise in order to seek their views on the proposal. Marine Scotland was not consulted at that stage, as the consultation focussed on new investment and implications for jobs at the site.
The views of Marine Scotland were sought in late 2014 in relation to the planned installation of new cabling to support the proposed relocation of the in-water equipment at Raasay.
Asked by: Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrat - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with mobile phone operators on the effects of adverse weather on their systems; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
I have had no specific discussions with mobile phone operators on the issue of adverse weather, but there is a regular dialogue on issues of concern to both industry and Government.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills works closely with the telecoms industry, in particular via the pan industry and government Electronic Communications – Resilience & Response Group (EC-RRG) which leads on enhancing resilience levels and the preparation and exercising of incident response.
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