Official Report 249KB pdf
The final item is the convener's report. Two letters have been received that are relevant to the committee. The first, which is from Ross Finnie, the Minister for Environment and Rural Development, is a response to the committee's discussions on the legal opinion that we received from Ailsa Heine on the dispute between the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Scottish Power over the burning of sewage sludge pellets as fuel at Longannet power station. The minister sets out the motivation for SEPA's involvement in the action—the agency was following guidance from ministers on the implementation of regulations. The letter also comments that the issue remains live in the courts, because Lord Reed has yet to judge on certain issues. I understand that the judgment will be made towards the end of April. The minister makes other remarks in relation to Scottish Power and Lafarge, which may be of relevance to Mr Home Robertson's constituency, into the bargain. The letter gives us the background to the actions, but notes that, as the issue is with the courts, the Executive can do little to adjudicate on it at the moment.
I note the minister's comments. The definition of waste is all important. The court's judgment was no surprise to the Executive. However, there is a lot of concern in the country about the disposal of sewage sludge to assist with forestry development—a strong argument can be made that the practice is simply a means of disposing of waste. I wonder why the Executive has prompted SEPA to tackle the issue of the burning of sewage sludge pellets at Longannet, when it is not acting on the issue of land disposal of sewage sludge, which can be determined only as waste.
I am happy to write to the minister about that on behalf of the committee. The issue of consistency must be addressed—we must ask why the Government encouraged SEPA to act on one issue but not on another related issue. I am a bit staggered that action is being taken on the matter at all. I am afraid that I find it a bit difficult to get my head round the problem with what Scottish Power is doing. Phil Gallie raises the issue of the spreading of sewage sludge. If I had to choose, I would be much keener for us to burn waste pellets than to spread sewage sludge. As the Government is being a bit inconsistent, we can ask for clarification on that point.
Yes, please.
We have also received a letter from the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Patricia Ferguson, who appeared before the committee last week. The minister wrote to me promptly to set the record straight on points that she made about the allocation of international development aid. We note the minister's comments and we will bear them in mind in the consideration of our report on the inquiry into the G8 summit and the UK presidency of the Council of the EU.
Meeting closed at 16:45.