Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive will ensure that the Scottish Horse Passport Issuing Organisations can provideinformation to the national equine database on the same basis as that provided byEnglish and Welsh horse passport issuing organisations.

The Executive will not be makingany representations to, or be represented at, the National Equine Forum on 25 March 2004.

Sportscotland awards an annual development grant to the Scottish Equestrian Association, which it recognises as the umbrella body for equestrianactivities in Scotland, to develop the sport. This has been setat £16,500 over the last three years and will beincreased to £29,730 in 2004-05.

Under the Lottery SportsFund, sportscotland awarded equestrianism £321,694 in 2001-02, £98,632in 2002-03 and £465,775 in 2003-04 over a number of its grant programmes.

Information on funding from local authorities is not held centrally.

The New Opportunities Fund does not have an explicit remit or programme to support equestrian activities. It has occasionally, through some of its broader grant schemes, awarded funding to a small number of individual projects that incorporate an equestrian element but it is not possible to disaggregate the amount of funding specifically for equestrianism.

UK Sport provides funding to the British Equestrian Federation (BEF), therecognised governing body of horse sports in the UK. The BEF was awarded Exchequer grants of £187,000 in 2001-02 and 2002-03 and £203,666 in 2003-04.

Over the last three years, UK Sport has awarded the BEF £2,663,334 lottery grant towards the delivery of the Federation’s World Class Performance Plan. A further £50,500 was released over the past year to support individual training needs in preparation for this year’s Olympic Games.

UK Sport has also supported BEF under its governing body modernisation programme. In 2003-04 the Federation received £150,000 towards the costs of a review of its organisation and structure and a revision of its constitution.

The following is a corrected answer (published on 23 April 2003); seebelow.

Mr Frank McAveety: Sportscotland awards an annual development grant to the Scottish Equestrian Association, which it recognises as the umbrellabody for equestrian activities in Scotland, to develop the sport. This has been set at £16,500 over the last three years and will be increased to £29,730 in 2004-05.

Under the Lottery Sports Fund, sportscotland awarded equestrianism £321,694 in 2001-02, £98,632 in 2002-03 and £45,449 in 2003-04 over a number of its grant programmes.

Information on funding from local authorities is not held centrally.

The New Opportunities Fund does not have an explicit remit or programmes to support equestrian activities. It has occasionally, through some of its broader grant schemes, awarded funding to a small number of individual projects that incorporate an equestrian element but it is not possible to disaggregate the amount of funding specifically for equestrianism.

UK Sport provides funding to the British Equestrian Federation (BEF), therecognised governing body of horse sports in the UK. The BEF was awarded Exchequer grants of £187,000 in 2001-02 and 2002-03 and £203,666 in 2003-04.

Over the last three years, UK Sport has awarded the BEF £2,663,334 lottery grant towards the delivery of the federation’s world class performance plan. A further £50,500 was released over the past year to support individual training needs in preparation for this year’s Olympic Games.

UK Sport has also supported BEF under its governing body modernisation programme. In 2003-04 the Federation received £150,000 towards the costs of a review of its organisation and structure and a revision of its constitution.

For statistical purposes industries are classified accordingto the UK Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities 1992,produced by the Office of National Statistics. There is no specific categoryfor the equine industry in these classifications so consequently information onthe contribution of the equine industry to Scotland’s rural economy is notcurrently available.

I will be meeting the ScottishEquestrian Association in May to discuss how the Executive can help theindustry.

The Executive’s objectives for all sectors of Scottishindustry, including the equine industry, are built around the need to improvecompetitiveness and productivity, as set out in the Framework for Economic Developmentin Scotland and a Smart Successful Scotland.

Officials in the Executive’sEnvironment and Rural Affairs Department have on-going communication withrepresentatives of the Scottish EquestrianAssociation (SEA).

I have agreed to meetrepresentatives of the SEA in the near future to hear their views on issuesrelating to the equine industry in Scotland and the role of the public sector.

A public consultation onequine passports was held last summer. Consultation on a review of animalwelfare, including the licensing of riding establishments and livery yards, isimminent. There are no plans to consult on riding school approvals and healthand safety at work is a reserved matter. The views of stakeholders on thepossible inclusion of equines in the proposed National Fallen Stock Scheme havealready been sought and are being considered by the board of the nationalfallen stock company.

The following countries reciprocate with Scotland:

Commonwealth and Ex-Commonwealth Countries

(Dealt With Under Part I of The Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) 1972 Act)

Anguilla Australia Barbados Bermuda Brunei Canada (1) Falkland Islands Fiji Ghana

Gibraltar Hong Kong India Isle of Man Kenya Malta Nauru New Zealand

Norfolk Islands Papua New Guinea Singapore St Helena South Africa Tanzania, United Republic of (2) Turks & Caicos Islands Zimbabwe

 

Hague Convention Countries

(Dealt With Under Part I of the 1972 Act)

 

Australia Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany

Belgium Italy Luxembourg Netherlands (3) Norway Poland Portugal

Lithuania Slovakia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey

USA States – Final Orders Only

(Dealt With Under Part I Of The 1972 Act)

Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Connecticut Delaware Florida Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana

Maine Maryland Massachusetts Minnesota Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Jersey New York North Carolina North Dakota

Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania South Dakota Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

 

UN Convention Countries

(Dealt With Under Part Ii Of The 1972 Act)

Algeria Australia Austria Barbados Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil Burkina Faso Cape Verde Central African Republic Chile Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Ecuador Finland France (4)

Germany Greece Guatemala Haiti Holy See (Vatican) Hungary Israel Italy Luxembourg Macedonia Mexico Monaco Morocco Netherlands (5) New Zealand Niger Norway Pakistan

Phillippines Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sri Lanka Sriname Sweden Switzerland Tunisia Turkey Uruguay Yugoslavia

 

USA States – Applications Only

(Dealt With Under Part Ii Of The 1972 Act)

 

Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada

New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Wisconsin Wyoming

Notes:

1. Except Quebec, Prince Edward Island.

2. Except Zanzibar.

3. Including Kingdom in Europe and Netherlands Antilles.

4. Including Comoro Archipelago, French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Dependencies, St Pierre and Miquelon, and the overseas departments of Guadeloupe, Guiana, Martinique and Reunion.

5. Including Kingdom in Europe, Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.

The figures are as follows:

Year	Country	Number
1999		None
2000	Australia	1
2001	France	1
	Ireland	1
	USA	1
2002	Australia	1
	Ireland	1
	USA	4
2003	Canada	1
	France	2
	Germany	1
	Holland	1
	Ireland	1
	Portugal	1
	Spain	1
	USA	1
2004	USA	1

 

The applicationssuccessfully enforced in a specific year were not necessarily received in thatyear. Moreover these figures do not take into account applications which arestill live.

The number of applications coming in to Scotland and going out from Scotland through the central authority is as follows:

Year	Number
1999	19 outgoing; 41 incoming
2000	11 outgoing; 34 incoming
2001	8 outgoing; 28 incoming
2002	19 outgoing; 48 incoming
2003	21 outgoing; 27 incoming
2004	6 outgoing; 10 incoming

The report of the publiclocal inquiry into the proposed superstore at Westway Retail Park hasrecently been completed and the Scottish Ministers are now giving carefulconsideration to the Reporter’s findings and recommendation. A decision will beissued in due course.