Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government has not withdrawn Fairer Scotland Funding (FSF) from the Capital City Partnership. The Community Planning Partnership for Edinburgh, The Edinburgh Partnership, was awarded £22.798 million from the Fairer Scotland Fund from 2008-11 to work together to tackle area-based and individual poverty, and to help more people access and sustain employment opportunities. The ring fence from the Fairer Scotland Fund (FSF) was removed in 2010-11 to provide local partners with increased flexibility in how to use resources to tackle local priorities. The regeneration resources associated with the former FSF have been retained and maintained within the 2011-12 local government finance settlement.

In addition the Scottish Government has been able to maintain the overall share of the budget for local government at 34.5%, the same as 2010-11.

Any consultation on future funding for local projects is the responsibility of local partners.

We will be working with the Capital City Partnership to explore alternative measures for funding projects.

Allocations of the Fairer Scotland Fund to each local authority area for 2009 and 2010-11 are as follows.

Local Authority Area	Funding in 2009-10	Funding in 2010-11
	(£ Million)	(£ Million)
Aberdeen City	2.481	2.843
Aberdeenshire	1.038	1.286
Angus	0.988	1.24
Argyll and Bute	0.965	1.104
Clackmannanshire	2.043	2.263
Dumfries and Galloway	1.634	1.694
Dundee City	8.286	8.131
East Ayrshire	4.621	4.589
East Dunbartonshire	0.523	0.621
East Lothian	0.413	0.546
East Renfrewshire	0.575	0.526
Edinburgh, City of	7.599	7.554
Eilean Siar	0.545	0.5
Falkirk	1.955	2.212
Fife	4.692	5.675
Glasgow City	51.491	51.969
Highland	1.959	2.354
Inverclyde	6.125	5.78
Midlothian	0.718	0.817
Moray	0.422	0.5
North Ayrshire	5.427	5.258
North Lanarkshire	14.339	13.19
Orkney Islands	0.345	0.5
Perth and Kinross	0.847	1.2
Renfrewshire	6.348	5.654
Scottish Borders	0.527	0.739
Shetland Islands	0.348	0.5
South Ayrshire	1.452	1.67
South Lanarkshire	8.164	6.117
Stirling	0.752	0.906
West Dunbartonshire	5.507	5.067
West Lothian	1.88	1.993
Total	145	145

 

It is for each Community Planning Partnership to decide the balance of investment between tackling area-based and individual poverty, and helping more people access and sustain employment opportunities.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-38778 on 26 January 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Marine renewables and offshore wind will make a significant contribution to our renewable energy targets and contribute to our wider environmental objectives, particularly in relation to climate change.

The climate change benefits associated with marine renewables and offshore wind will benefit marine biodiversity as well as society and the environment more generally. It will provide Scotland with a better mix of sources of power by reducing dependence on fossil fuels. The development of a marine renewables and offshore wind industry will also contribute to economic growth, including significant potential for new sources of employment in coastal communities.

The potential impacts for biodiversity are dependent on the design of wave, tidal and offshore wind projects, construction and operating plans, location of the proposed development and biodiversity features of interest. The potential impacts include habitat loss, disturbance of marine species, collision risk with marine species and barrier effects to migration of marine species. Developments also have the potential to provide artificial reefs, through the placement of manmade structures on the seabed.

The Scottish Government is taking a planned approach to the development of wave, tidal and offshore wind energy sectors in a sustainable manner. The Scottish Government undertook a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to examine the wider environmental effects of wave and tidal power which was published on 31 March 2007.

Marine Scotland proposes to undertake an SEA maintenance exercise to update the 2007 SEA. This will incorporate Habitats Regulations Appraisal to assess potential impacts on Special Areas of Conservation, and Special Protection Areas and to ensure that the requirements of the Habitats Directive are met. Proposed developments will also be subject to environmental impact assessment including Habitats Regulations Appraisal at the project level. The marine licensing process will also consider the potential for impacts on European protected species.

The Scottish Government is also supporting a research programme on the environmental impacts of marine renewables to increase knowledge of the likelihood of potential impacts, provide a better baseline for environmental assessments and research mitigation strategies. Surveys have also been undertaken in the Pentland Firth to improve knowledge of the distribution of marine biodiversity features and inform licensing decisions.

Applications for funding through the National Renewables Infrastructure Fund will be considered by Scottish Enterprise (SE) and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). SE and HIE both require that projects obtain the necessary planning consents prior to the provision of funding. This will include environmental impact assessment of projects, where it is required.

A Strategic Environmental Assessment of the National Renewables Infrastructure Plan has been undertaken in accordance with the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005. The results may be used by the site owners when progressing their site-specific proposals.

The National Renewables Infrastructure Plan (N-RIP) Stage 1 and 2 reports identify Scotland''s key locations that can support the development of a globally competitive offshore renewables industry. The reports set out the indicative infrastructure requirements and associated economic returns that could be generated. All projects associated with N-RIP will be required to follow planning and/or consenting procedures, including consents under the Harbours Act and/or the Town and Country Planning Act, and (in future) dredging licences under the Marine (Scotland) Act where dredging may be proposed.

In respect of planning, the National Marine Plan will take cognisance of the N-RIP. Scottish Government officials will also be working closely with planning authorities to ensure that N-RIP objectives are taken into account in the preparation of main issues reports and development plans.

The Scottish Government regularly contributes to discussions with the European Commission, UK Government and EU member states on marine renewables and offshore wind energy issues. It contributed to the development of recently published EU Guidance on Wind Energy Developments and Natura 2000 and is represented on several UK groups including the UK Renewable Energy Deployment Environmental Issue Board.

There has been no specific correspondence so far with the European Commission, UK Government and EU member states regarding the potential for marine renewable projects to affect special areas of conservation and European protected species. However, ongoing work on Habitats Regulation Appraisals and other environmental assessments provide the basis for consideration of these issues and discussions with relevant countries and the European Commission where necessary.

The EU Guidance on Wind Energy Developments and Natura 2000 can be found via the following link http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/management/guidance_en.htm.

The Scottish Government does consider that the document referred to will be a material consideration in the determination of applications for relevant energy development made under the Electricity Act 1989.