Claudia Beamish

22 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the need to increase the efficiency of biomass power plants.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Because of the multiple energy uses to which biomass can be put, the limits to supply, and the competition for that supply from other non-energy sectors, we need to encourage the most efficient and beneficial use of the available biomass resource. The Scottis…

22 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the security of supply of biomass for biomass power stations.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government has ensured that there is online planning guidance for planning authorities as well as scoping guidance for applications under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. This guidance sets out the requirement to assess security of supply …

15 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it has made available for the Low Carbon Skills Fund.

Answer · Angela Constance: £945,000 has been made available for the Low Carbon Skills Fund since its launch in October 2010 until 31 March 2012. Year Funding (£) 2010-11 585,000 2011-12 360,000 Total 945,000

15 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many employees have received training funded by the Low Carbon Skills Fund.

Answer · Angela Constance: In the 15 month period between October 2010 and December 2011, training for 396 individual employees was supported by the Low Carbon Skills Fund. However, just over 1,400 training opportunities were supported under the fund in the 18 months since its launch i…

15 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many businesses have received funding from the Low Carbon Skills Fund, broken down by (a) value of award and (b) local authority area.

Answer · Angela Constance: 227 businesses have received funding from the Low Carbon Skills Fund since its launch in October 2010 until 31 March 2012. Number of LCFS applications claimed and value by Local Authority Local Authority Applications Claimed Value of LCSF Claims Paid (£) …

15 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many businesses have applied to the Low Carbon Skills Fund, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Angela Constance: 432 businesses have applied to the Low Carbon Skills Fund since the launch in October 2010 until 31 March 2012. The breakdown by local authority area is detailed in the following table. Local Authority Applications Received Aberdeen City 12 Aberdeenshire…

13 Jun 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making on rolling out an infrastructure for electric cars.

8 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of sites of special scientific interest under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 or predecessor legislation are in favourable condition; what the target for this is in the national performance framework; whether the target has been amended and, if so, for what rea…

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The latest figures tracking the proportion of protected features in favourable condition were released by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) on 29 May 2012. They show that 77% of features at National (Sites of Special Scientific Interest), European (Special Area…

8 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which special protection areas have hen harriers as a qualifying species and what the hen harrier population on the sites (a) was at the time of classification and (b) is based on the latest estimate.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The information requested is provided in the following table (it is not possible to provide estimates for 2012 as this year’s breeding season is still underway). Area Pairs at Time of SPA Classification Year of SPA Classification Pairs at Most Recent Ass…

8 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which (a) special protection areas or (b) special areas of conservation have deteriorated in condition in each of the last five years; what the nature of the deterioration was; what action was taken to repair it; what compensation was paid, and what reports it made to the European Commiss…

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: SNH has recorded the deterioration of one or more features at 36 of the 153 Special Protection Areas (SPA) and 34 of the 239 Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) in Scotland in the last five years. Details have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Informatio…

8 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which (a) special protection areas or (b) special areas of conservation have been damaged in each of the last five years; what the nature of the damage was; what action was taken to repair it; what compensation was paid, and what reports it made to the European Commission.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The information requested has been supplied by Scottish Natural Heritage and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 54061). No compensation has been paid in relation to the incidents and none of the incidents have been reported to t…

8 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action can be taken against land (a) owners or (b) occupiers managing (i) sites of special scientific interest, (ii) special areas of conservation or (iii) special protection areas that have been classified as being in (A) unfavourable and (B) unfavourable declining condition.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Should action be necessary, Scottish Natural Heritage will in the first instance seek to encourage voluntary changes to land management under Rural Development Contracts – Rural Priorities. Where management not covered by Rural Priorities is required, SNH may…

8 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many sites of special scientific interest under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 or predecessor legislation are in (a) satisfactory, (b) improving, (c) unfavourable and (d) unfavourable declining condition, and how many are in the management control of the owner or occupier…

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The information requested in relation to Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) is provided in the following table. Total Number of SSSIs 1,439 Total number of SSSI features 3,711 of which are in satisfactory condition 2,392 of which are in impro…

8 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many special areas of conservation under the EU habitats directive are in (a) satisfactory, (b) improving, (c) unfavourable and (d) unfavourable declining condition, and how many are in the management control of the owner or occupier.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The information requested is provided in the following table. Total Number of SACs 239 Total number of SAC features 885 of which are in satisfactory condition 461 of which are in improving condition 153 of which are in unfavourable condition 188 of…

8 Jun 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many special protection areas under the EU birds directive are in (a) satisfactory, (b) improving, (c) unfavourable and (d) unfavourable declining condition, and how many are in the management control of the owner or occupier.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The information requested is provided in the following table. Total Number of SPAs 153 Total number of SPA features: 610 of which are in satisfactory condition 408 of which are in improving condition 12 of which are in unfavourable condition 44 of …

23 May 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made toward developing alternative methods of measuring GDP to reflect quality of life and the sustainability of Scotland’s development.

16 May 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure that universities continue to have a presence in rural areas.

10 May 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what transitional arrangements are in place to ensure that changes to the Scotland Rural Development Programme do not result in a drop-off in the support offered by the programme.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Setting out transitional arrangements is not an issue simply restricted to Scotland and the rest of the UK but one that has been raised as a concern by a number of member states who are worried about the negative impact that could be caused by a break in fund…

10 May 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-03057 by Richard Lochhead on 25 October 2011, how much it has budgeted for the Scotland Rural Development Programme in 2012-13 and how much of this remains.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The budget for the Scotland Rural Development Programme (excluding Forestry) in 2012-13 is £177.8 million. Including Forestry, the budget is £213.8 million. As of April 2012, £10 million of this has been spent and there is a further £155.5 million in currentl…

10 May 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-03057 by Richard Lochhead on 25 October 2011, what plans it has in place to ensure the continuation of funding for the Scotland Rural Development Programme in 2013-14.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The budgetary figures set out in question S4W-03057 for 2013-14 for each scheme under the Scotland Rural Development Programme remain unchanged. The current programme will end on 31 December 2013 and we are working with others to press the Commission to give …

2 May 2012 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that, following the reduction in its operating budget, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency does not reduce the number of inspections that it carries out.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government protected SEPA’s budget as far as possible given the settlement imposed on us by the UK Government. We are working with SEPA as part of our joint better environmental regulation programme so that their delivery of environmental protect…

26 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the recommendations in the WWF Scotland report, Electric Vehicles: Driving the change, whether it will (a) produce an action plan, (b) develop a national infrastructure, (c) commission a review of market models for a recharging infrastructure and (d) work with local governmen…

Answer · Keith Brown: Electric Vehicles (EVs) are a central part of the Scottish Government's commitment to achieving almost total decarbonisation of road transport by 2050. We welcome the comprehensive report by WWF Scotland, which will help inform our work with stakeholders to a…

18 Apr 2012 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take as a result of the Court of Session judgement on the Moonzie Farm rent review case in relation to Section 13 rent reviews to ensure that the views of tenant farmers and tenants are taken into consideration .

21 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) cormorants and (b) other piscivorous bird species are killed annually under licence.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Licences may be issued under Section 16(1)(k) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) by Scottish Ministers, for the purpose of preventing serious damage to fisheries or inland waters. The Scottish Government transferred the licensing function to Scottish …

21 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of how the cormorant licensing system in England impacts on the population trends of the species at designated sites in Scotland.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: No assessment has been made regarding any impacts which the cormorant licensing system in England may have on the population trends of the species at designated sites in Scotland.

21 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the wintering habits of cormorants breeding on designated sites.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Studies undertaken by Scottish Natural Heritage in Caithness and at Loch Leven, and information gathered from other ringing recoveries, have allowed an assessment of the wintering habits of cormorants breeding on designated sites. These studies have concluded…

21 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of cormorant population trends on designated sites and the factors that influence these.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The assessment of the population trends of cormorants in Scotland includes: the monitoring of designated sites in Scotland which have breeding or wintering cormorants as a qualifying feature, carried out through Scottish Natural Heritage’s Site Condition Moni…

7 Mar 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what contingency plans it has put in place to ensure the continuing sale of mackerel in view of the possible loss of the Marine Stewardship Council certification at the end of March 2012.

23 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of seal licence returns for 2011, it will amend seal licence conditions to specify that seals may not be killed or taken when females of the species of seal for which the licence has been issued are likely to be in an advanced stage of pregnancy or have dependent pups.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: A number of seal licences issued in 2011 and also in 2012 include, where considered appropriate, specific additional conditions restricting the numbers of seals killed during key breeding seasons. Marine Scotland will continue to monitor this issue and introd…

23 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many seals were shot in 2011 (a) in open sea, (b) at or near fish farms, (c) in rivers or estuaries and (d) at seal haul-outs under the seal licensing scheme.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The seal licence conditions specify that seals cannot be shot on land. In the first three quarters of 2011, 162 seals were shot near fish farms and 200 seals were shot in rivers, estuaries and near coastal netting stations. None were shot in the open sea outw…