Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government is not a formal consultation body for Ship to Ship Oil Transfer Licence applications under the Merchant Shipping (Ship-to-Ship Transfers) Regulations 2010, as amended. Scottish Ministers have written on a number of occasions to the Secretary of State for Transport requesting devolution of this reserved function, including two letters in 2016. In 2007, Scottish Ministers wrote four times to the UK Government's Secretary of State for Transport with regards to concerns over ship to ship oil transfer proposals in the Firth of Forth.

Assessment of potential impact of proposed ship-to-ship oil transfer licence applications, including compliance with the EU Habitats Directive is a matter for the competent authority. For ship-to-ship oil transfer licences that is currently the Secretary of State for Transport, although Scottish Minister's argue such powers should be devolved to the Scottish Government. Ship to ship transfers in offshore waters are not currently regulated. Again, this is an area that is reserved to Westminster. The Scottish Government is not aware of historical ship to ship transfer applications for other chemicals in Scottish territorial waters.

We are currently involved in detailed discussions with the UK Government, and the EU, about an appropriate response to the US Government’s initial request for information, including the need for clarification on a number of issues around domestic legislation on seal management.

The ruling has a 5 year exemption period that means it will not come into force until 1 January 2022.

Previous reports on proposals and policies (RPP1 and RPP2) were produced using a bottom-up approach that identified abatement for individual policies and proposals from sector specific emissions projections. This approach was unable to consider cross sectoral interactions. For the draft Climate Change Plan, the Scottish Government has taken a different approach by using the TIMES model.

The draft Climate Change Plan used the TIMES whole-system energy model to help us understand least-cost ways of achieving emissions reductions by assessing how effort is best shared across the economy. This approach allows us to develop an optimal pathway for meeting Scotland’s emission reduction targets consisting of a carbon envelope for each sector, along with suggested policy outcomes needed to live within the carbon envelope. The draft Plan sets out the package of policies and proposals that are expected to be required to deliver the policy outcomes needed for each sectoral carbon envelope.

In the draft Plan, instead of abatement numbers, the verification of the projected emissions of a particular policy or proposal will be provided by the delivery of the policy outcomes – real life changes on the ground, such as penetration of low emission vehicles. The impact of policies in delivering outcomes and the overall performance on emission reductions will be reviewed regularly through the Plan’s monitoring framework and the greenhouse gas statistics.

The draft Climate Change Plan sets out policies and proposals to meet our ambitious emission reduction targets out to 2032.

Policies are hard and fast action – things we are doing now, or will do soon. Where budget is needed now it has been allocated in the Government’s 2017-18 Budget. A proposal is considered to be a suggested course of action, the details of which might change as this course of action is explored and evidence is gathered. Any required funding – which could be significant - will be the subject of future Budget decisions.

Scottish Natural Heritage currently has no plans to publish a report on the cycle of site-condition monitoring on amphibians which is due to end in 2018.

The Scottish Government is engaging with local authorities and other key stakeholders to identify an early adopter to apply an interim National Low Emission Framework (NLEF) approach to put in place Scotland’s first low-emission zone by 2018. A number of local authorities have already expressed an interest in their Local Air Quality Management 2016 report to explore the feasibility of a low-emission zone.

The Scottish Government provided funding to collect National Modelling Framework (NMF) traffic data for Glasgow and Edinburgh in 2016, with similar data to be collected for Aberdeen and Dundee in early 2017. Informed by the NMF outputs, local authorities will use the final NLEF appraisal process during late 2017 to both identify the most appropriate location(s) for a LEZ, and underpin a Traffic Regulation Order to support LEZ enforcement.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-06502 on 6 February 2017. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-06502 on 6 February 2017. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-06502 on 6 February 2017. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government welcomes and will consider all evidence and representations in developing an Inshore Fisheries Bill. Discussions with a range of key stakeholders will take place ahead of any formal work on a Bill, to help ascertain where improvements to legislation may be considered to ensure healthy, sustainable and profitable fisheries.