Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government is providing local government in Scotland with over £10.3 billion in 2013-14. Moray Council’s needs-based share of this total amounts to £181.6 million and the vast majority of this funding, including the funding for flood prevention contingency measures, is being provided by means of a block grant. It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities including the Scottish Government’s key strategic objectives.

The clearance of road drains and gullies in Moray is a matter for the local authority, the trunk roads authority or operating company as appropriate. However, in the case of land drainage, this is usually a matter for the relevant landowner and, where this involves dredging or clearing watercourses and ditches, they should contact the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency for advice in case this requires an application for an authorisation under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011.

Data on business sites by industrial sector are available from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR). The IDBR, maintained by the Office for National Statistics, is a database of all enterprises registered for VAT and or PAYE, covering 99 per cent of economic activity in the UK. Those excluded are small businesses with no employees and an annual turnover below the VAT threshold (£73,000 as at March 2012).

Business sites are categorised on the IDBR according to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC). It is not possible to obtain figures for the exact categories requested due to the SIC structure. The data in the following table are the closest SIC equivalents and are provided from the latest year from which data are available.

Table 1: Business sites in selected codes (SIC2007), Scotland, March 2012

Source: Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR), Office for National Statistics

Notes: Business site counts are rounded to the nearest 5.

Business sites are the individual sites within an enterprise i.e. every shop, branch, office.

The Scottish Government Oil and Gas Analytical bulletin summarises a range of forecasts for future oil prices, and provides projections of North Sea tax revenue under a number of different price assumptions. An oil price of $113 per barrel is used in scenarios 2-4 to model an outcome where recent price levels are maintained in future years but fall in real terms. As outlined in the bulletin, this value is consistent with the price forecasts produced by a range of external organisations such as; the US Energy Information Administration, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Ernst and Young ITEM Club.

For Forestry, the potential requirement of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is central to the information we provide to those carrying out forestry projects. This information is available on the Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) website and from local FCS offices. As part of the normal application process for forestry proposals FCS consider whether they need to be assessed under EIA (Forestry) regulations.

For agricultural projects, there is advice and guidance on the Scottish Government farming web pages which details the EIA requirements. However, due to a number of circumstances there are relatively few applications annually:

The principles of EIA are enshrined in Cross Compliance, which is the minimum standard of regulatory compliance all farmers must adhere to, in order to receive their basic subsidy payment;

Much of the land that would be considered appropriate to improve has been improved during the last century, often receiving support from agricultural grant;

The remaining land, which includes all semi-natural habitats (unimproved grass, heath, moorland, scrub and wetlands) and environmental designations is uneconomic to improve and the level of awareness of EIA requirements amongst farmers is considered to be high.

Generally, there are few opportunities for farmers to improve semi-natural habitats. Those that wish to do so apply through the formal process.

All of the Cross Compliance regulations and requirements, along with the specific EIA information, is also on the Scottish Government Website, and available from local agricultural area offices.

Forestry projects are considered under the Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) (Scotland) Regulations 1999. The regulations provide a structured approach to evaluating environmental impacts to ensure that potential environmental impacts are adequately assessed. Forestry projects are also assessed to ensure they meet the requirements of the UK Forestry Standard.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (Agriculture) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 came into force in Scotland on 1 January 2007 and constrain operations to carry out “intensive” agricultural operations on uncultivated or semi-natural land, or large scale restructuring projects on agricultural land, where the result would have a “significant” impact on the environment.

Where new development is proposed, including the construction of tracks, this must be considered in light of statutory provisions on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which requires an assessment of the likely significant effects of certain projects on the environment, before development consent can be granted.

Tracks constructed for agricultural or forestry purposes benefit from permitted development rights, meaning that a planning application and specific consent are not required provided certain criteria, set out in legislation, are met. Tracks constructed for other purposes require planning consent to be obtained from the relevant planning authority.

Where a track intended for agriculture purposes requires an EIA, it no longer benefits from permitted development rights and a full planning application would need to be submitted to the planning authority and the environmental assessment taken fully into account.

Tracks for forestry purposes are subject to consideration by the Forestry Commission Scotland under specific provisions contained within the Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) (Scotland) Regulations 1999.

For forestry projects, details are made available to the public through the public register of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA). Once an Environmental Statement is received details of the application for consent are published in local newspapers inviting comments from the public. Details are also provided to Statutory Consultees such as relevant countryside bodies and local authorities. The public and Statutory Consultees have 28 days to submit comments on the project and Environmental Statement.

In terms of agricultural operations covered by the EIA regulations, when an application is received the statutory consultees must be consulted, on both the level of detail required for the full application (Environmental Statement) and the potential environmental impacts. Thereafter, the application is made available to the public via the public register.

Agricultural area office staff receives many informal requests regarding activity that may require an EIA during the course of their duties. In addition, it should also be noted that area staff carry out numerous land inspections under Cross Compliance.

Members of the public that are concerned about agricultural activity that is considered to damage the environment can report these operations to the local agricultural office and the issue will be investigated.

In terms of Forestry projects, the potential cumulative effect of projects are accounted for in two ways, firstly by considering the cumulative effect of different types of environmental impacts associated with the project and secondly by including any other forestry projects that have been carried out on adjacent land (including that on land in different ownerships) to a proposed project.

For agricultural operations, there are national and local records kept on the number and location of applications. Given the stringent nature of the Cross Compliance implications, and the farming industry’s awareness of these regulations, there are only a small number of applications a year. Therefore it is considered unlikely that there should be any negative cumulative effects in relation to these specific applications and operations.