- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to set targets for the recycling and reduction of (a) commercial and industrial, (b) construction and demolition and (c) agricultural waste.
Answer
The Scottish Government intends to consider setting targets for waste in these sectors as part of the review of the National Waste Plan.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to update planning guidance on waste in order to reflect the new waste targets and, if so, when.
Answer
As the Government indicated in the Parliamentary statement on waste on 24 January 2008, we will ensure that the new National Planning Framework reflects the government''s key objectives on waste.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in respect of its new targets on waste, it will pay the fines of local authorities that have submitted plans to it which the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment has not approved.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-9129 on 20 February 2008. 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/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Environment Protection Agency will be expected to give local authorities specific advice in achieving the proximity principle, whereby there is a presumption that all schemes will be located close to the source of the waste and will be of an appropriate scale.
Answer
It is not for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to advise local authorities on the proximity principle. Instead, it is for the land-use planning system to determine the location of plants. SEPA is a statutory consultee on planning applications relating to waste management facilities.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive why, following the recommendations of the Sustainable Development Commission, it has not extended its waste strategy to include commercial waste.
Answer
The Parliamentary Statement on waste policy on 24 January announced the government''s intention to review the National Waste Plan. The review will consider commercial and industrial waste and, as indicated in the statement, the government will consult on new targets to reduce the amount of commercial waste that goes to landfill.
Landfill Tax, a key policy lever in relation to commercial and industrial waste, is a reserved matter. However, the Scottish Government is carrying out or supporting a wide range of work on commercial waste including producer responsibility, the report by the Wood Fuel Task Force and Envirowise, which provides advice to business on waste prevention:
http://www.usewoodfuel.co.uk/Docs/WFTF%20final%20report%20for%20web.pdf, http://www.envirowise.gov.uk/scotland.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the proximity principle will be a material issue for determining planning applications for new waste facilities.
Answer
Although priority must initially be given to the development plan in determining a planning application, other relevant issues may also be considered depending on the facts and circumstances of each case. The proximity principle may therefore be a material consideration in determining planning applications for new waste facilities.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on 24 January 2008, whether it intends to set specific levels for composting.
Answer
The targets announced in my statement on 24 January 2008 were combined targets for both recycling and composting of municipal waste. The review of the National Waste Plan will consider the case for separate composting targets.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of Audit Scotland’s analysis of the greater cost of delivering higher waste recycling targets, what additional resources will be available to meet the higher targets in the Scottish Government’s new waste strategy (a) across Scotland and (b) in each local authority area in each of the next three years.
Answer
The Scottish Government will provide local authorities with record levels of funding over the period covered by the spending review 2008-11. The vast majority of the funding, including the former ring-fenced Strategic Waste Fund
, will be provided by means of a block grant. It will therefore be the responsibility of each local authority to allocate financial resources to meet its obligations, needs and priorities.
In addition to this, Scottish Government''s spending plans for the period 2008-11 included an allocation of £154 million to the Zero Waste Fund. The proposed expenditure across Scotland is £41.1 million in 2008-09; £54.4 million in 2009-10, and £58.7 million in 2010-11. Around £50 million of the total will be spent on support of delivery bodies but the remaining £100 million is intended to be spent on putting the necessary infrastructure in place to meet our longer term waste targets post 2010-11. A short-life working group will shortly be established between Scottish Government and COSLA to determine how this financial resource should be best deployed.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the Scottish Sustainable Procurement Action Plan, as referred to in paragraph 7.25 of Energy Efficiency and Microgeneration: Achieving a Low Carbon Future: A Strategy for Scotland - draft for consultation, March 2007.
Answer
The proposed content of the Scottish Sustainable Procurement Action Plan is with the cross-sectoral Public Procurement Policy Forum for comments. Their views are being considered at present.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 14 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 24 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been budgeted for the next three years for new woodland planting to benefit wildlife through the Scottish Rural Development Plan.
Answer
The 2007-13 Scotland Rural DevelopmentProgramme includes an allocation of £170 million for woodland creation. This equatesto an annual allocation for woodland creation in the region of £24 million. Allof this funding will be delivered through measures under Axis 2 of theprogramme. These are focussed on environmental enhancements which, across a widerange of situations, will deliver direct benefits for Scotland’s wildlife and naturalhabitats.
