Seòmar agus comataidhean

The funding provided to supportflood prevention schemes promoted since 1999 by Perth and Kinross Council, whichcovers all of the schemes in the catchment of the River Tay, is set out in the followingtable:

Year	Funding Provided (£)
2006-07	1,092,493
2005-06	nil
2004-05	744,747
2003-04	1,714,225
2002-03	1,962,628
2001-02	313,856
2000-01	2,803,215
1999-2000	4,550,455

 

When making a flood preventionscheme the onus is on the local authority to ensure that its scheme is fit for purpose.To assist local authorities in this aim the Executive is issuing guidance to localauthorities on best practice for the promotion of flood prevention schemes underthe current statutory framework in Scotland. The guidance is modular in format: two chapters – oneon economic appraisal and the other covering approaches to risk – have already beenissued and we expect further chapters to be issued over the course of this year.Copies of the chapters issued are available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/10/0794935/49364.

Flood risk management arrangementsare already addressed at a national level. After the extreme flood events of thesummer of 2002, an Ad Hoc Committee of Ministers, chaired by the Deputy First Minister,was instigated to consider the arrangements for addressing flood risk in Scotland. InFebruary 2003 the Cabinet agreed a Statement of Commitments and an action plan inthe form of the National Flooding Framework; this aims to address the problems offlooding through four areas of action, namely awareness, avoidance, alleviationand assistance. In addition, the Flooding Issues Advisory Committee was set up in2005 to assist in the on-going development of national policy on sustainable floodmanagement, and to help implement the National Flooding Framework.

The Scottish Executive has notheld discussions on the provision of funding for Scottish members of the SpecialOlympics team.Sportscotland does not providedirect funding for Scottish members of the Special Olympics team. Further informationon alternative sources of funding for athletes from sportscotland and other organisationsis available at http://www.sportscotland.org.uk/SiteNavigation/Funding/.

The Scottish Executive does notdirectly fund members of the Special Olympics Team.Sportscotland can provide fundingfor athletes, including members of the Special Olympics Team and further informationon a variety of sources of funding for athletes is available at http://www.sportscotland.org.uk/SiteNavigation/Funding/

The Scottish Red Squirrel ActionPlan 2006-2011, published recently by Scottish Natural Heritage, noted the needto identify and implement cost-effective methods of grey squirrel control. Immunocontraceptionis one method currently under consideration; funding is currently being providedfor investigation of this as a potential method of long-term control and trialsare underway to investigate methods of targeting delivery of chemical sterilantfor grey squirrel control.

Communication with the EuropeanUnion on the impacts of non-native species is co-ordinated through the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

I am not aware of any plans tomap grey squirrel populations on a national scale. The Red Squirrel Action planincludes the mapping of red squirrel strongholds and areas where incursions of greysquirrels are most likely, with the intention that control measures will then betargeted on those areas.

Grey squirrels are listed onSchedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. This schedule lists those specieswhich it is illegal to release into the wild. Anyone who releases a grey squirrelinto the wild is guilty of an offence and would be liable to prosecution. The investigationof criminal activity is a matter for the police.

The Red Squirrel Action Planidentifies the need for action by a number of bodies. SNH and FCS both have significantroles in red squirrel conservation activity and the SNH Species Framework will providethe context for developing longer term strategies for action on red squirrels andfor other priority species.