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Mr. Stewart: The latest estimate of the likely costs to the Government of the public local inquiry into the proposed super-quarry at Lingarabay is £120,000.

The matter of contributing to the costs which will be incurred by the Western Isles island council in participating in the inquiry has been the subject of correspondence between, among others, my right hon. Friend and the convener. He has considered the request carefully but has made it clear that he is unable to make an exception to the statutory requirement for such costs to be met by the council.

Historic Scotland Agency

Mr. Kynoch: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has completed the review of the Historic Scotland executive egency; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Lang: I have reviewed Historic Scotland at the end of its first three years as an executive agency and have concluded that agency status should continue.

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Historic Scotland's performance has been evaluated, and it has taken significant steps forward, in particular:

it has consistently achieved almost all of its targets

it has made significant improvements in the delivery of services to all its customers.

Historic Scotland's framework document has been revised and I have placed copies in the Libraries of both Houses.

Tourist Boards

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish an up-to-date list of all the (a) chairs and (b) non-executive directors of each tourist board, indicating the gender and occupation of each individual.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 24 October 1994]: Area tourist boards in Scotland are established by local authorities under discretionary powers. They are generally either associations or companies. Members of their committees are mainly either appointed as representatives of local authorities or are elected from within the tourism industry membership. I am arranging for a copy of the current lists to be sent to the hon. Member and placed in the Libraries of the House.

Land Ownership and Use

Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much land, in hectares, is owned by the Crown Commission in Scotland; and if he will publish a breakdown in terms of (a) forestry, (b) agricultural land in productive use, (c) agricultural land in set-aside, (d) sporting land, (e) inland waters, (f) coastal waters, (g) urban land and property and (h) crofting land.

Mr. Lang [holding answer 28 October 1994]: Each year the Crown Estate Commissioners publish an annual report which contains a schedule of all Crown Estate properties including a breakdown by Scottish regions and individual estates.

At 31 March 1994 the total acreage of agriculture and forestry lands held by the Crown Estate in Scotland amounted to 34,947 hectares. This comprised predominantly, land let through agricultural tenancies and included areas also used for sporting purposes. Principal forestry areas amounted to around 4,290 hectares. The Crown Estate owns approximately half of the foreshore and almost all of the seabed around the coast of Scotland although ownership does not extend to fresh water lochs.

The urban holdings in the ownership of the Crown Estate amounts to some 10 hectares with a further97,500 sq ft of office space. No land is held under crofting tenure.

Rent-to-mortgage Scheme

Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the total cost for (a) publicity and (b) administration of the rent- to-mortgage scheme since the date when this policy was first implemented; and how many tenants in each sector of public housing have (i) applied to take part in the scheme and (ii) signed an agreement.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 31 October 1994]: Advertising of the pilot rent-to-mortgage

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scheme in spring 1991 and spring 1992 cost £381,000 and some 21,000 responses requesting further information were received. The right to buy and the statutory rent-to-mortgage--introduced in September 1993--were promoted together in campaigns in autumn 1993 and spring 1994, at a cost of £512,000, and over 12,400 responses were received.

The administration of the rent-to-mortgage scheme is a matter for local authorities, Scottish Homes and the new town development corporations; information on administration costs is not held centrally.

The number of applications to purchase and complete sales under the rent-to -mortgage scheme up to July 1994 by each sector is shown in the table: