- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to encourage commercial enterprises to recycle.
Answer
Scottish Government is taking forward a number of actions under the Zero Waste Plan that will encourage the commercial sector to recycle more. Key actions include the development of a Waste Prevention Programme, introduction of a 70% recycling target for all of Scotland''s waste and new legislative measures that will place restrictions on the wastes that can be landfilled or go for incineration.
Additionally, Zero Waste Scotland will be working to identify key waste streams and sectors, including the commercial sector, with a view to establishing sector-specific programmes of work to help deliver the Zero Waste Plan.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to encourage commercial enterprises to minimise public sector waste.
Answer
It is not the role of the commercial sector to minimise waste arising in the public sector.
The Zero Waste Plan for Scotland sets out a Number of actions that will be implemented to address all waste arisings, irrespective of the sector in which it arises. These actions include development of a Waste Prevention Programme, in line with the EU Waste framework Directive, in order to place prevention at the heart of Zero Waste policy.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the food used across the public sector is imported from outwith the European Union.
Answer
This type of information is not readily available across the public sector. The Scottish Government however does lead by example by recording the quantity of Scottish sourced produce used in its catering contract, which, in many cases is 100% Scottish sourced.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on the new entrants to farming and young farmers scheme in each year since 2007.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-34432 on 18 June 2010. 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.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of public sector waste is recycled.
Answer
Information on the percentage of public sector waste recycled is not held centrally.
The Scottish Government has a target to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill by recycling 80% of the total waste it produces as an organisation, by 2011. There are also targets to reduce total waste by 10% by March 2011 (this has already been met), and by 25% by 2020, relative to 2006-07 levels.
In the Scottish Government''s Environmental Performance Annual Report for 2008-09, it was reported that 73% of all waste was recycled over that period. In addition, waste arisings also dropped by 2%.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the food used across the public sector is imported from other EU countries.
Answer
This type of information is not readily available across the public sector. The Scottish Government however does lead by example by recording the quantity of Scottish sourced produce used in its catering contract, which, in many cases is 100% Scottish sourced.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the food used across the public sector is locally grown.
Answer
Use of Scottish sourced food within the public sector varies depending on the food type and sector. The Scottish Government leads by example in its catering contract and has significantly increased the quantity of Scottish sourced produce to 100% in many cases. Through Scotland''s National Food and Drink policy we have also committed to raising awareness of the origin of food supplied through public sector contracts.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications there have been for support measures under the new entrants to farming and young farmers scheme in each year since 2007.
Answer
Support measures for new entrants to farming under 40 years of age is available under the Rural Priorities element of the Scotland Rural Development Programme, established in 2008.
The Setting up young farmers “ interest rate relief option under Rural Priorities provides specific support for young farmers in providing interest rate relief on loans to develop a farming business. The option has recently been revised to include provision for a one-off establishment grant.
For certain other options, young farmers may also claim an additional 10% grant. It is not possible to provide a detailed breakdown of this additional funding using current reporting systems.
Full details of the options available are on the Rural Priorities website:
www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Farmingrural/SRDP/RuralPriorities.
The following table sets out the levels of uptake of the interest rate relief option.
| Year | Applications | Approved | Approved Value |
| 2008 | 8 | 8 | £164,580 |
| 2009 | 16 | 11 | £234,576 |
| 2010 | 8 | 7 | £168,873 |
| Total | 32 | 26 | £568,029 |
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 16 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive in what areas the 7,500 hectares of new trees referred to by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment at the Forestry in the Low Carbon Economy conference on 2 June 2010 will be planted.
Answer
The approved planting is distributed throughout Scotland. The main regions are Highland and Dumfries and Galloway; significant amounts are also planned for Borders, Grampian and Argyll.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 June 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 16 June 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hectares of new tree-planting it is planning to undertake in the next 12 months.
Answer
There are 7,500 hectares approved for planting in 2010-11, and we expect that figure to increase, aided by the significant improvements we have made to the rates of grant available through the SRDP and by streamlining administration. In addition, Forestry Commission Scotland''s (FCS) repositioning programme will facilitate more planting (around 1,000 hectares) on the national forest estate, while a pilot scheme being developed by FCS to lease land from farmers also aims to increase planting levels.
