- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 10 December 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is envisaged that under the option of transferring assets and land in perpetuity to a not-for-profit trust, as set out on page six of the paper Climate Change and the National Forest Estate - Consultation on forestry provisions in the Scottish Climate Change Bill, such a trust would be prevented from selling on any land that it was given to manage.
Answer
Under one option set out in the consultation paper, a not-for-profit trust could be given the task of holding in perpetuity the national forest estate land that had been leased. A trust could, however, also be given flexibility to sell any newly created woodland, which it had established using the proceeds of a lease, in order to generate funds to create more woodland. However no decision on that or any other actions possible for a trust have been made.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 10 December 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what safeguards it envisages will be inserted into the leases for management and cutting rights over the national forest estate to safeguard biodiversity, access, leisure and recreation.
Answer
Offering management leases and cutting rights is a potential option for releasing capital from the national forest estate which could be used to fund woodland creation projects to help mitigate climate change. This option is included in a public consultation currently being carried out on
Climate Change and the National Forest Estate at
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7KUMVM.
The consultation closes on 27 January 2009. All responses will be carefully considered and will be taken into account as part of a wider options review being carried out by Forestry Commission Scotland.
The consultation exercise and options review will help inform Forestry Commission Scotland''s deliberations on the range and nature of the safeguards to be included in any leases.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 10 December 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the transfer of Forestry Commission assets and land in perpetuity to a not-for-profit trust is an option being considered by the Scottish Government, as set out on page six of the paper Climate Change and the National Forest Estate - Consultation on forestry provisions in the Scottish Climate Change Bill.
Answer
As the consultation document indicates, this is one of the options to be considered as part of the consultation exercise and the options review being carried out by Forestry Commission Scotland.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 10 December 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the impact of the current economic downturn has been factored into the financial assumptions behind the proposals for the leasing out of at least 25% of the national forest estate.
Answer
Offering management leases and cutting rights is a potential option for releasing capital from the national forest estate which could be used to fund woodland creation projects to help mitigate climate change. This option is included in a public consultation currently being carried out on
Climate Change and the National Forest Estate at:
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7KUMVM.
The consultation closes on 27 January 2009. All responses will be carefully considered and will be taken into account as part of a wider options review being carried out by Forestry Commission Scotland.
The impact of the current economic downturn is one of the many factors that will influence our decision on the leasing option.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 December 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the Air Quality Screening Tool for Biomass Combustion in Scotland as identified in the report prepared for the Scottish Government entitled Measurements and Modelling of Fine Particulate Emission (PM10 and PM2.5) from Wood-Burning Biomass Boilers provides an appropriate basis for environmental health officers and planners to advise on the individual and cumulative particulate impacts of the wood–burning biomass energy elements of planning applications.
Answer
Yes, the screening tool developed in the report is being incorporated into technical guidance for air quality reporting for local authorities to determine the cumulative impact of biomass boilers on fine particulate matter levels in urban areas. It can also be referred to for advice by local authorities on reducing any local impacts of biomass boilers on fine particulate matter levels in rural areas with regards to a minimum stack height.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 20 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the Scottish Government’s pledge of £100 million to alleviate a chronic housing shortage will be spent in Edinburgh.
Answer
The £100 million accelerated funding will be split £30 million in 2008-09 and £70 million in 2009-10. To date £9 million of project expenditure has been announced and further tranches covering the £30 million will be announced over the coming month. We are prioritising bringing forward new construction but also spending on off the shelf units and land acquisitions where this is strategically sensible and offers good value for money.
Edinburgh is a local authority which has seen its levels of resources protected this year receiving a total of £36.1 million in 2008-09. Projects within Edinburgh are therefore not currently being prioritised for the accelerated £30 million. No decisions have been taken on the allocation of the accelerated £70 million in 2009-10.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 October 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 12 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-10724 by Michael Russell on 13 March 2008, which issues were identified as requiring attention and what steps have been taken in the normal course of government business or are planned in the near future; in particular, what steps have been taken in relation to (a) a specialist environmental court, (b) dispute resolution, (c) public participation and access to justice and (d) the EU environmental liability directive and, if no steps have been taken or are planned, why these matters are no longer considered to require attention.
Answer
Scottish ministers are not persuaded of the need for a specialist environmental court.
They will however shortly be seeking the Lord President''s views on ordinary court procedures with particular reference to meeting the requirements of the Aarhus Convention and European Directives for public participation in environmental decision making. As notified through the UK Government to the European Commission on 5 September 2008, this will cover decision making in relation to the EU Environmental Liability Directive.
The second public consultation exercise on the EU Environmental Liability Directive ran from 16 May to 8 August 2008. The draft Environmental Liability (Prevention and Remediation) (Scotland) Regulations published with the consultation are being revised with stakeholders. The revised regulations will be laid shortly.
More generally, the Scottish Government supports the use of alternative dispute resolution where it is feasible and appropriate to do so and is funding a number of mediation projects across a range of policy areas, currently including health, justice, housing and education.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 29 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 25 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to incentivise energy efficiency at (a) domestic level and (b) utility level for generation and transmission.
Answer
The Scottish Government is taking a number of steps to incentivise energy efficiency.
At a domestic level:
We recently launched the Energy Saving Scotland advice network - a one-stop shop for advice on energy including energy efficiency, renewables and personal transport.
We will launch a new home-help service in the autumn, which will remove the hassle factor by offering intensive and tailored face to face support to help people find home installation solutions that are right for them.
We have secured the commitment of the energy companies to funding Scotland''s share of the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT). This could be worth at least £107 million each year for home energy efficiency improvements and savings of £83 million each year in household fuel bills.
We will be introducing the Home Report in December 2008 to raise awareness of energy efficiency at the point of house sale. This will signpost to the Energy Saving Scotland advice network to help households undertake improvements.
We are committing £45 million each year over the next three years to continue to help tackle fuel poverty. We have already made thousands of Scottish homes warmer and more affordable to heat by installing energy efficiency measures through our fuel poverty programmes.
In addition, the Scottish Government will be launching a consultation on further measures to improve the energy performance of existing homes later in the year.
At the utility level for generation and transmission, this is largely a matter for the companies and organisations involved, although we are keen to see losses minimised and the promotion of energy efficiency wherever possible. We are also due to hold meetings shortly with the main energy supply firms to discuss how they might promote better energy demand and management with their major industrial and large-scale consumers.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 24 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-15716 by Stewart Stevenson on 10 September 2008, what investment is being made and action taken to ensure that there is no repeat of the flooding incident that took place between Waverley and Haymarket stations during summer 2008.
Answer
The recent flooding in Princes Street Gardens was due to a severe downpour. The volume of water was overwhelming and the drainage systems (both railway and local authority which the railway feeds into) could not cope. Network Rail is developing a scheme that will protect the railway from similar future downpours.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 29 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 24 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to reduce the current time-lag in aggregate reporting of greenhouse gas emissions.
Answer
Together with the UK Government and the other devolved administrations, we are planning to commission a review of the current disaggregated greenhouse gas inventory that will include investigating whether data can be published earlier.
