Rural Affairs and the Environment
Before we start themed question time, I say that Bill Kidd has sent me an apology for failing to be here for his question today. I have accepted the apology in the spirit in which it was given.
Recycling
Scottish households are steadily increasing the amount of material that they recycle. Significantly, the new set of figures shows that for the first time they are recycling more than 40 per cent of their waste. In some local authorities that figure is approaching 60 per cent—a clear reflection of the efforts being made by local authorities and, of course, households across Scotland.
Although some councils such as West Dunbartonshire Council are now recycling more than 52 per cent of household waste and are therefore recycling more than they send to landfill, others are still not over the 50 per cent mark. How can the Scottish Government, while taking into account any mitigating local circumstances, ensure that best practice is being shared among councils so that others can learn from good examples and achieve similar success?
Gil Paterson raises a very important point about ensuring that best practice is spread throughout local authorities, given that some are doing much better than others—albeit that there are mitigating circumstances, including geography and other issues.
The cabinet secretary just mentioned leadership. What about funding, which is one of the issues that were raised in the recent Audit Scotland analysis of local government performance on waste management and recycling?
Sarah Boyack will be aware of the very difficult financial constraints facing the Scottish Government due to cuts from the Westminster Government in London. Despite that, I am sure that she will welcome the fact that we rolled over the zero waste budget in the recent spending review, which will be debated in Parliament this afternoon. That shows our commitment to ensuring that appropriate funding is available to local authorities.
The percentage of waste that is being recycled in the island local authorities in the Highlands and Islands is noticeably below the national average. What support can the Scottish Government give those authorities, where economies of scale are much more difficult to achieve due to the low and dispersed populations there?
As I said in a previous answer, the Scottish Government recognises that there are different circumstances in different parts of Scotland, particularly in terms of the island communities. It so happens that when I spoke to COSLA a couple of weeks ago, the islands representatives called in to the meeting via conference call, which was a good idea, and I gave them a commitment to look at some of the specific challenges facing our island communities. We will do more work on that with our island authorities.
United Nations Climate Change Conference
The outcome at Durban represents a significant success for the European Union in that, for the first time, the major emitter nations have been brought together behind a timetable for a global climate treaty to be agreed by 2015 and in force by 2020. There is an opportunity now to build on that success, which has boosted certainty about the global low-carbon future, in which Scotland, as the green energy capital of Europe, can have a competitive advantage. However, there will be many challenges for the global community in the years ahead in delivering on the commitments that were made at Durban.
With Scotland being a world leader in the climate change agenda, what lessons and experience was the minister able to share with conference delegates?
One of the key elements of my message in my meetings with other leaders was that despite being a developed modern nation we can set ambitious climate change targets. Our target of a 42 per cent reduction in emissions by 2020 is—with that which is now set in the United Kingdom—the highest legally enforced target in the world. Our agenda of creating new industry from the opportunity that is presented by renewable energy has attracted widespread interest, and we will continue to engage with as many people internationally as we reasonably can.
How, specifically, will the outcomes of the Durban conference impact on the Scottish Government’s target of reducing CO2 emissions by 42 per cent?
Under the land use, land-use change and forestry agenda, some progress was made in taking forward the inclusion of wetlands—or, in our case, peatlands—in the calculation for sucking in carbon dioxide and reduction in methane emissions. Early in the new year, we will host in Edinburgh a meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s panel on wetlands. We have the specific prospect of improvement in that situation and reward for the work that we are already undertaking to restore peatlands.
Radioactive Contamination (Dalgety Bay)
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency expects to receive from the Ministry of Defence a draft remediation plan by January 2012 and a final version by the end of February 2012. If the MOD fails to provide the plan, SEPA has stated its intention to designate the land, under legislation, as radioactive contaminated land, by the end of March 2012. I believe that the MOD still has an opportunity to take the lead and bring this issue to a close without the need to designate the land, but to do that it must start to fulfil its obligations to the people of Dalgety Bay and deliver credible plans to remediate the contamination.
Given the concern expressed by many of my constituents in adjacent Dunfermline and throughout west Fife, is the cabinet secretary confident that the MOD will properly address the matter, especially in light of the fact that, at a recent meeting in Dalgety Bay that was attended by local MP Mr Gordon Brown, it was claimed that under the previous Labour United Kingdom Government the MOD apparently accepted responsibility for the contamination but that that position had been reversed under the current UK coalition Government?
Bill Walker highlights a number of good points and the best outcome for the people of Dalgety Bay and the other adjacent communities will be for the MOD to step up to the plate on this very important issue. Indeed, it is important that it does so. The member asks me whether I am confident that that will happen. Obviously, I would much rather give the MOD the benefit of the doubt, but my confidence—and, more important, the confidence of the local community—is being sapped. I hope that the MOD recognises the seriousness with which the local community treats the issue. The best outcome will be to avoid the land being designated as contaminated by radioactivity—we do not want to go there unless we really have to—but that decision ultimately lies not with me but with SEPA. However, I hope that the MOD takes the necessary steps.
Cities (Environmental Issues)
On 28 November 2011, the Scottish Government and a range of partner organisations launched Scotland’s environment web, which brings together information on Scotland’s environment in one place and in an easily accessible format. The site provides straightforward descriptions of the state of the environment and key messages that highlight our progress in protecting it in a way that is relevant to all areas of Scotland.
On the back of Gil Paterson’s question, I wonder about Scotland’s largest local authority, Glasgow City Council, which is among the poorest performers when it comes to recycling household waste. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency released figures at the tail end of last month that show that only 26.8 per cent of the more than 66,000 tonnes of household waste that were produced in the second quarter of this year was recycled. How can the Scottish Government work with Glasgow City Council to ensure that recycling is given higher priority in our biggest city, and that much more of our household waste is recycled?
Zero waste Scotland is working closely with Glasgow City Council to give it every possible assistance. I am sure that the council will value that and that zero waste Scotland’s assistance will help it to deliver on the ambitious targets that have been set for waste reduction across Scotland.
Raising awareness is an important part of promoting environmental sustainability in our cities and elsewhere, but funding is also an issue in relation to recycling rates. Does it remain the case that local authorities are funded on the volume of recycling that is currently taking place rather than according to the support that is required, in particular for the tenemental housing in Glasgow, which creates a logistical problem?
It is clearly important that councils throughout Scotland and everyone in industry and business step up their efforts on recycling. There is a financial benefit to everyone involved when they reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill. I am sure that Glasgow City Council, to which the member referred, and other councils, have the necessary incentives to ensure that they raise their game.
Rural Priorities (Funding)
The total funding awarded under the rural priorities scheme since 2008 is £480 million.
Can the cabinet secretary give an update on projects such as diffuse pollution catchments, including those in my region at Eyemouth? Will the reduced commitments—as I understand it—under the rural priorities budget mean a scaling down of that work, which supports farmers and is important to maintaining good water quality?
I will be happy to send Claudia Beamish more details about the specific issues in her region. I think that she refers to concerns about agri-environment funding, which she and other members have written to me about in recent weeks. I am confident that the demand for agri-environment funding will be met as we move forward. That is evidenced by the high approval rate in the September funding round, in which 82 per cent of applicants were successful. That is above the acceptance rate in some previous years, which I hope shows that demand is being met. Of course, I have already announced a full agri-environment round, which will take place in 2012.
Greylag Geese (Orkney)
The impact of greylag geese in Orkney was examined in the report on the “Orkney Greylag Goose Feasibility Project”, which was commissioned by Scottish Natural Heritage, and in the Scottish Government’s “2010 Review of Goose Management Policy in Scotland”, which was published in February 2011. The Orkney study concluded that, due to a number of factors, including the dispersed nature of wintering flocks, it would be premature to consider a standardised scheme across Orkney.
I thank the minister for his reply and for his letter of 11 December, which gave some helpful pointers. I would be grateful for clarification—if not now, then subsequently—on a couple of issues that he has not mentioned. He made no mention of extending the open season, which suggestion has been raised in the past. In a letter in July there was reference to consideration of sustainable harvesting of species. It would be helpful to know whether there will be sale of goose meat. The minister said in the letter of 11 December that the national goose management review group is considering a range of options for managing goose populations. More detail on that would be helpful for my constituents.
I am glad that Liam McArthur has had that letter, which is an extensive one.
Scaring techniques in an offshore archipelago like Orkney tend to result only in moving geese from one island to another. The island of Islay has a very good scheme to manage geese. Would the minister commit to further studies on the impact of the greylag geese in Orkney with a view to introducing an appropriate management scheme in the future?
Jamie McGrigor makes a perfectly reasonable point about the nature of the Orkney islands. In that respect, the techniques that are applied in Islay will not necessarily transfer readily to Orkney. The key will be the simplification measures that we are undertaking to ensure that it is easier to shoot geese, as appropriate. The programme of shooting could be co-ordinated so that movement of geese such as the member referred to is not simply a consequence with no real benefit.
Climate Change Delivery Plan
The “Climate Change Delivery Plan: Meeting Scotland’s Statutory Climate Change Targets” was published in June 2009 and it described four transformational outcomes that are necessary in order to achieve Scotland’s long-term emissions reduction targets. The delivery plan was followed in March 2011 by “Low Carbon Scotland: Meeting the Emissions Reduction Targets 2010-2022”, which is the Scottish Government’s first statutory report on proposals and policies setting out specific measures for reducing greenhouse gases. The measures draw on the transformational outcomes described in the delivery plan. A second RPP will be published next year, describing how emissions targets to 2027 can be met.
I very much welcome that answer from the minister. A number of respected environmental groups have expressed concerns that the current RPP, although it is a fine document, does not necessarily set out which groups are responsible for which actions and how each of them will be funded. Can the minister give some insight into whether that will be addressed in the next RPP or in other statutory reports that are required by the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009?
Discussions on the next RPP are at an early stage. It is certainly true that the Government is not the sole source, or even the major source, of funding for many of the policies and proposals in RPP 1. I expect that in the next report on policies and proposals, that will be the case as well. It is important to realise that there is a break between policies that are committed to by the Government and funded appropriately, and proposals that will, of course, be dealt with at a later stage, which in the case of the next RPP will perhaps be after 2020. The absolute certainty that the member seeks might not be present in RPP 2, but we have listened and we will respond.
Waste Targets
I expect that all local authorities will have met the 70 per cent recycling target by 2025, and that many will have exceeded it. Scotland has already met the 2013 European Union landfill diversion target, with 12 local authorities now recycling over 50 per cent of the household waste they collect, and two thirds recycling over 40 per cent.
I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Building on some of the discussion on previous questions, what specific action does the Government take to monitor how councils are progressing against the targets? Where progress is slow, will the Government consider introducing specific local action plans in order to be proactive with councils in moving them towards achieving the targets?
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has responsibility for monitoring the progress of local authorities, hence its publication of the targets for levels of recycling for households and so on, and progress towards those targets.
Dumfries and Galloway Council made great strides in its recycling record when it built an Ecodeco plant—an energy from waste plant—in Dumfries some years ago. Since then, SEPA’s reinterpretation of European Union recycling statistics has called into question the impact of the council’s considerable investment. What action is the cabinet secretary taking to work with the council to address the situation?
I very much welcome the fact that Dumfries and Galloway Council is committed to taking a lot of action in the coming years to help us to meet our national targets. I was told at a meeting with the leadership of the council two or three weeks ago that the council is very committed to that.
Sheep (Electronic Identification)
Electronic identification of sheep was introduced to enhance traceability and enable efficient and effective disease control. Since its introduction in January 2010, we have worked very closely with all stakeholder groups to keep Scottish sheep farmers and crofters informed of their regulatory requirements.
The cabinet secretary will be aware of the call from NFU Scotland for reform of the regulations regarding sheep EID. Has he given any thought to the call for an approach that would accept a single flock tag from nine months, and which would require an upgrade only to double-tag EID when an animal leaves a farm? Alternatively, an opportunity exists to introduce to the proposed cattle EID regulations provisions that could be used to modify current sheep EID standards.
This is an issue which I accept continues to cause a lot of anxiety for sheep farmers. The concession that the member suggests, which would be good for Scotland is, of course, something that we have attempted unsuccessfully to win over the past few years, although we have won other concessions that have made things easier. We met the industry on 7 December to agree a common agenda on some of the outstanding issues with the sheep EID regulations, so that we can go back to Europe and try to win more concessions.
Justice and Law Officers
Automatic Early Release
As set out in our manifesto, we remain committed to ending automatic early release once the criteria that were set by the McLeish commission are met.
On several occasions, we have seen how automatic early release allows some pretty dreadful crimes to be committed and how it fails the victims of crime. The cabinet secretary has been saying for some time that the Government wishes to scrap automatic early release—in fact, that was in the 2007 and 2011 SNP election manifestos. Notwithstanding what the cabinet secretary has said, can he give a commitment that it will be abolished before the end of the current session of Parliament?
As I said, that is part of our manifesto, but we are required to meet the criteria that the McLeish commission set out.
What are the criteria for the abolition of automatic early release and when might the conditions for it be right?
The McLeish commission made it clear that there could be difficulties not simply for the Scottish Prison Service, in terms of prisoner numbers, but for the courts, in terms of the requirements for the judiciary and the shrieval bench, and for social work departments. We must ensure that the requirements are met across the board. We remain committed to that, and our commitment was echoed by the McLeish commission, which included not just a former First Minister but people of great talent and expertise from across the social and economic framework. We must ensure that the criteria that they laid out are met.
I am interested in the cabinet secretary’s explanation of his conditional commitment to the abolition of automatic early release. Has he estimated the costs of meeting the criteria and has provision been made in his department’s budget and other departmental budgets to meet those costs during the current spending review period?
The costs will vary depending on the number of people who are in prison. The Government requires to do what it is doing, which is to ensure that the prison estate is fit for purpose, whether in dealing with the consequences—in due course—of ending automatic unconditional early release or simply in meeting the criteria. The Government will bring HM Prison Low Moss on stream next year, and construction is beginning of HMP Grampian to alleviate the pressure at Craiginches, which the member will know well. We are taking the appropriate steps to ensure that the prison estate is fit for purpose. Those two projects are just part of a longer term strategy to deal with the needs and requirements of the Prison Service across the board.
Question 2, in the name of David Stewart, has been withdrawn. The member submitted an apology.
Criminal Cases (Punishment and Review) (Scotland) Bill (United Kingdom Government Response)
The UK Government replied to my letter on data protection on 13 December. It has asked for further information on the type of personal data that is included in the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission’s statement of reasons in the al-Megrahi case. I have responded and provided contact details to enable direct discussion to take place between the UK Government and the commission on the issues surrounding data protection.
The Scottish Government was quick to publish the letter that the cabinet secretary sent to Kenneth Clarke, but it has failed for more than a week to publish the answer that it received. Given the foregoing answer, why was the cabinet secretary not clearer in his letter about precisely what he wants Her Majesty’s Government to do? Does he seriously expect it to recast the data protection legislation entirely, or does he believe that there are provisions under existing legislation that would permit the release of the statement of reasons?
There are two aspects to the answer. First, I am rather surprised by the tenor of Mr Scott’s question. As he correctly said, we have published our letter. It has always been the Government’s view that we would be as up front and transparent as we could be on al-Megrahi. We have not published the response from Her Majesty’s Government because it is for that Government to give its consent so that we can publish it. As soon as I receive that consent, I will be more than happy to publish the response.
Given the obstacles to the publication of the statement of reasons, such as data protection and the official secrets acts, why has the Scottish Government introduced a bill on the issue?
We are meeting our commitment to do all that we can to enable the release of information. However, we cannot legislate on reserved matters, which is why we have asked the UK Government to disapply data protection legislation so that the commission is further freed from other statutory obstacles in deciding whether to disclose information.
Question 4, in the name of Hanzala Malik, has not been lodged. Question 5, in the name of Rhoda Grant, has been withdrawn, and the member has submitted an apology to me.
Police Entrance Exam
The recruitment of police officers is an operational matter for chief constables.
I thank the cabinet secretary for his answer. What steps can be taken to equip applicants to achieve their goal of joining the Scottish police force?
I am grateful to the member for raising the issue. I can confirm that the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland is reviewing the standard entrance test and considering a number of ways of ensuring that it correctly assesses potential police officers’ ability to cope with the demands of probationary training. ACPOS is considering the accreditation of prior learning, including academic qualifications from outside Scotland, but it is also taking an holistic approach, looking at the use of assessment centres and situational judgment tests to allow applicants who do not have academic qualifications to join the service.
Violent Crime (Additional Police Officers)
The Scottish Government is continuing to deliver on its target to maintain 1,000 extra police in communities across Scotland, and we are seeing the results.
Reports indicate that a single police force will attract VAT charges in excess of £22 million per year. Given that the Scottish Police Services Authority recently spent more than £100,000 on expert advice to seek an alternative to VAT, without success, will the minister confirm what the VAT position is, and confirm that he has plans to hand to avoid a knock-on effect of job cuts and an adverse impact on services across Scotland?
As the member well knows, there has been a long discussion on the matter between the Scottish Government and the Treasury, and the matter is on-going. As he knows from his experience in the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, the matter was dealt with and VAT was imposed on the SPSA. We felt that that was wrong, and we continue to lobby for a change.
Prison Visiting Committees
I wrote to all visiting committee members recently to thank them for their hard work and dedication. As I wrote in my letter of 5 December to the convener of the Justice Committee, we stand to deliver better outcomes by replacing the current structure of 16 prison visiting committees with a new dedicated independent advocacy service for prisoners.
Many people in my region have asked me to raise the issue and share their concerns about the development. Prison visiting committees should be independent local bodies, and they were widely praised in the consultation process, so why disband them? Who would be in charge of appointing the new independent prisoner advocacy service and monitoring its progress? Who would it be accountable to, and how would it be funded?
The requirement to protect prisoners and review on-going matters in the prison estate is why we have Her Majesty’s chief inspector of prisons. Brigadier Monro does an outstanding job, as his predecessors did, and I pay tribute to him.
Can the cabinet secretary confirm that the new independent advocacy service will make progress in reducing duplication?
I believe that it will. As I said, I envisage that the dedicated independent advocacy service will support hard-to-reach prisoners and prisoner groups, mentor and support prisoners appropriately and professionally, and improve prisoner links with the community. It will replace a service that was established before many of our current checks and balances were in place and it will avoid duplicating the work of HMIP. It will also enable third-sector organisations to work together to provide services, rather than compete against each other.
Does the cabinet secretary recognise that the visiting committees undertake unannounced prison visits, that they often provide objective evidence to Scottish Parliament committees that is based on the wealth of knowledge that their members have gathered on their visits to prisons, and that that advice is sometimes at variance with the initial line from the SPS? In view of that, does he recognise that the two roles that he is talking about—the independent advocacy role and the prison visiting role—do not represent a duplication of work but are independent? In view of that, will he consider retaining both?
As I said to Nanette Milne last week, I will happily reflect on that. However, fundamentally, these matters are dealt with by Her Majesty’s chief inspector of prisons, who also carries out unannounced visits. Equally, as the Government knows to its cost, we pay for challenges by lawyers who seek to defend the rights of prisoners and raise requirements around the ECHR. We think that one body should cover that.
Murder (Influence of Alcohol)
There were no recorded homicides in Tayside in 2010-11, but figures show that, across Scotland, nearly 80 per cent of those who were accused of homicide were reported to have been drunk and/or on drugs when the homicide was committed. Most homicides were committed indoors by someone known to the victim. Those figures confirm what we know—that bargain-basement booze can have a fatal price. We will not shirk from taking tough action on alcohol abuse, and we cannot allow such mindless violence, which has devastating consequences for families and communities throughout Scotland, to continue.
Joe FitzPatrick may ask a brief supplementary question. The answer should also be brief, please.
Can the cabinet secretary give us an indication of the timescale for introducing a bill to set a minimum price for alcohol?
That is fundamentally a matter for my colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy, but she has made it clear that we are intent on doing that, and matters are progressing.