Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the amount of (a) dry and (b) wet towage of decommissioned oil and gas infrastructure that will use (i) Western and Northern Isles and (ii) Pentland Firth sea lanes in each year from 2017-18 to 2019-20.

Arrangements for the towage of decommissioned oil and gas infrastructure, and the routes they may take, are commercial decisions and government does not collect data to allow for a meaningful forward estimate to be made.

Those managing such operations will need to comply with national and international conventions and regulations applying to shipping and the decommissioning of oil and gas infrastructure.