Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Health Workforce and Performance Directorate asked NHS Lothian to quantify exactly the number of patients and the length of time they were waiting. The original report received by Scottish Government did not have these details which required a longer timescale in order to gather such information.

The response to the addendum to this report is contained in a letter which I have sent to the Office of the Convener of the Health and Sport Committee. A copy of this covering letter and the report itself were both placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre on 9 January 2012.

A copy of this report was placed in Scottish Parliament Information Centre on 9 January 2012.

Following Forestry Commission Scotland’s (FCS) competitive negotiation processes six development partners were identified for hydro and wind developments (four for wind and two for hydro). Through that process FCS negotiated market leading rates of community benefit of £5,000 per megawatt installed per year (index linked) to be shared by local communities. Communities also have an opportunity to invest in specific schemes, subject to the proviso that the combined Forestry Commission and community interest in the project does not exceed 49% (exact details vary between developers).

Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) has received 75 expressions of interest from Community Councils, Development Trusts, and other community-based organisations. FCS will be contacting all these organisations to update them on progress and advise on next steps.

The Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) website will continue to give updated information about the number of option agreements that have been signed with developers and provide links to the developers’ websites for more detailed information.

The timescale will vary according to the detail of individual potential developments. Forestry Commission Scotland expects to enter into option agreements for a number of potential sites over the first half of 2012. Other potential sites will be subject to further investigation to determine whether they are realistic development possibilities; in some cases this may take up to five years.

Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) expects to receive around £30 million per annum in income from renewable energy generation on the National Forest Estate. This is based on achievement of FCS’s 2,000 megawatts installed capacity target, and takes into account all actual and potential developments (including those resulting from the 2010-11 competitive negotiation process).

The areas of the national forest estate on which communities can potentially take forward renewable developments are being identified on maps published on Forestry Commission Scotland’s website. The map for community-led hydro generation schemes is already available. A similar map for community wind developments will be added towards the end of January 2012, and will include land within the Scottish Borders and Scottish Lowlands Forest District as well as land within the areas covered by the five Wind Lots.

The maps and guidance for communities are available at:

www.forestry.gov.uk/website/forestry.nsf/byunique/infd-8f2ez7.

For both size categories, communities that wish to do so are being encouraged to investigate potential schemes. To assist them, Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) has placed on the FCS website a map of areas which are available for community-led hydro projects, along with a guide on the options for community involvement in projects on the National Forest Estate and will do the same for wind towards the end of January 2012.

The maps and guidance for communities are available at: www.forestry.gov.uk/website/forestry.nsf/byunique/infd-8f2ez7.