Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government does not have specific targets or restrictions for tree planting on different classes of agricultural land.

In considering applications for tree planting on agricultural land Scottish Forestry takes into account the guidance produced by the Woodland Expansion Advisory Group.

This stated that the focus of woodland creation should not be on prime agricultural land within classes 2.1 to 3.1, where only small scale planting should be considered. The guidance states that there was more scope for planting on non-prime agricultural land within classes 3.2.4.2, but that the main focus of tree planting should be on grazing land within classes 5.1-6.3.

NatureScot has not made any species control agreements in northeast Scotland. Species control agreements can be useful where inaction on a particular land holding is jeopardising the success of a coordinated control project. Working with landowners on a voluntary basis is a more effective way to secure a long-term commitment to tackling invasive plants.

The Scottish Invasive Species Initiative works with hundreds of landowners to control invasive plants on riverbanks in northeast Scotland. As infestations are brought under control, landowners are asked to sign voluntary agreements to continue the control work. As of 7 October 2022, 34 landowners had signed voluntary agreements to control giant hogweed in northeast Scotland.

See also answer to question S6W-09427 on 29 July 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

A species control agreement (SCA) is a voluntary agreement between a relevant body and a land owner or manager. NatureScot has not issued any species control agreements within that period. Scottish Forestry has issued a single species control agreement for Rhododendron ponticum, while SEPA issued a species control agreement for North American signal crayfish in 2019. The Scottish Government (Marine Scotland) issued four species control agreements for Didemnum vexillium in 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

A species control order (SCO) is a compulsory instrument which can be used to compel certain actions in regard to invasive non-native species and these may be used in situations where an SCA has failed. None of the relevant bodies have needed to make a species control order because there has never been a situation where an owner has failed to cooperate with a species control agreement.

Scottish Forestry is leading a review of the UK Forestry Standard in partnership with the other UK administrations. Stakeholders are currently being consulted on a revised draft of the Standard which includes a proposed reduction in the maximum threshold for use of a single species from 75% to 65%. This change will help enhance the resilience of Scotland’s forests to a changing climate and increasing threats of pest and diseases. It will not alter the balance of objectives and does not change the proportion of fast growing conifers that can be used.

Over £928,000 has been offered since Sept 2021 under the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) to six separate projects that have invasive non-native species (INNS) management and control as a central priority for action. This figure includes a Galloway Fisheries Trust project entitled ‘Scottish Solway INNS Control and Knowledge Programme’ (£97,564), a Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust project entitled ‘Beyond the Endrick’ (£247,755) and a W L Farm project entitled ‘The Glen - Habitat Restoration’ (£126,740).

Three RSPB-led projects have also been funded on rainforest restoration (£180,000), the eradication of stoats from Orkney (£220,377) and the RSPB’s Biosecurity for LIFE project (£56,309) which is primarily focused on preventing INNS reaching islands rather than on eradication. I have included this last project for completeness and because preventing the establishment of INNS in areas where they are not present is also extremely important.

In the most recent call for applications to the NRF, a further five applications for projects involving INNS management and control have been received. Decisions have yet to be made concerning these and the successful projects will be announced in the coming months.

As autonomous institutions, universities are responsible for their own entry requirements and admissions policies, therefore the Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of eligible students resident in the UK that were not successful in gaining a place at Scottish medical school, or the reasons for these decisions by individual institutions. Higher education institutions can provide feedback, when requested, to anyone whose application to study has been unsuccessful.

Licensing fees must not be set at a level greater than the amount necessary to recover establishment and running costs. Guidance to licensing authorities on setting licence fees is contained within Chapter 3 of our short-term lets licensing guidance part 2: Supporting documents - Short term lets - licensing scheme part 2: supplementary guidance for licensing authorities, letting agencies and platforms - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Guidance sets out that licensing authorities are expected to have regard to minimising licence fee costs. It also encourages licensing authorities to offer lower fees for home sharing and home letting licences than for secondary letting. However, the exact fee levels are a matter for licensing authorities, and will likely depend on a number of factors such as volume of short-term let activity in their area, approach to physical property inspections and geography.

Licensing authorities must review their fees from time to time to ensure that revenue from fees remains in line with the running costs of the licensing scheme, as required by Paragraph 15(2)(a) of schedule 1 to the 1982 Act, as inserted by the Licensing Order.

The cost of repairing the funicular has been met by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the Scottish Government following approval of the business case by HIE’s Board and Scottish Ministers. Funding was ringfenced for this purpose and did not impact the funding available to other outdoor ski centres. Following the identification of the cost increases, additional funding has been provided by the Scottish Government to HIE in the current financial year. This has been funded by emerging underspends elsewhere across the capital budget and does not therefore impact on the funding available to other outdoor ski centres.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has confirmed that the timetable for repairs to the funicular had to be extended due to unforeseeable delays caused by the weather and Covid. In addition, technical challenges resulted in additional works needing to be carried out. Significant cost inflation in the construction sector and the weakness of sterling in international exchange rates also contributed to the cost increase.

I have asked Stuart Black, HIE’s Chief Executive, to write to you direct with a full explanation of the cost increase.

The information requested is not collected or held centrally by the Scottish Government and would require to be obtained from Health Boards.