Chamber and committees

The end-year flexibility funding allocated to the environment and rural development portfolio totals some £76 million, including a planned carry forward of £21.3 million for the Fisheries Decommissioning Scheme. The additional funding will allow us to deliver a number of important policy outcomes, focused on improving environmental standards, reducing the impact of environmental issues on local communities, investing in the research base and working towards efficient and sustainable farming and fisheries.

• £8.000 million will be used to fund the Water and Sewerage Charges Reduction Scheme.

• £4.000 million will cover the transition and dissolution costs associated with the creation of Scottish Water and the winding up of the three former water authorities.

• £0.850 million will deliver improved public health through better management of private water supplies.

• £3.000 million will be used to deliver a grant scheme to facilitate improvements in bathing water standards where agricultural practices are major contributors to pollution.

• £2.750 million will go to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to allow it to replace its ageing west coast survey vessel and allow more effective monitoring of coastal water quality. This sum also covers SEPA's increased workload in implementing environmental legislation.
• £3.000 million will go to local authorities and SEPA to clean up derelict and contaminated land that is creating health risks or causing blight on local communities.
• £0.950 million will be used for a diverse range of initiatives to improve the local environment. This will complement the £95 million the Minister for Finance and Public Services announced for local government on 26 June, and will focus on areas where the Executive can add value by setting a national framework.
• £1.000 million will go to delivering a high profile public awareness campaign on the key issues where changing individual behaviour can make a difference to the quality of our environment.
• £0.550 million will go towards litter initiatives to deal with a problem that many people say affects their quality of life. The initiatives will be delivered through Keep Scotland Beautiful.
• £3.380 million will be used to implement and enforce improved controls on ozone depleting substances, in line with a new EC regulation, and to drive forward the Executive's climate change policies.
• £1.500 million will be used to provide testing equipment to identify the reasons for poor air quality and to take action to reduce emissions from transport-related sources. Action will be targeted on the air quality management areas in the centres of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
• £0.690 million will be used to fund research and projects to help build an evidence base for policy decisions needed in the coming years and facilitate uptake of policies based on voluntary approaches. Research will cover a diverse range of issues from studies on goose populations to consulting on management of radioactive waste.
• £0.430 million will go towards smoothing the establishment of our new National Parks, including funding of elections to the park authority.
• £0.100 million will go to the Central Scotland Countryside Trust to help them with accommodation costs.

• £21.3 million is existing budgetary provision carried forward to complete the Fisheries Decommissioning Scheme.
• £3.7 million will provide the initial budget for the construction of a new fisheries protection vessel.
• £3 million will allow, exceptionally, for a total provision of £63 million for the 2003 less favoured areas support scheme which is paid early in the calendar year.

• £1 million will go towards expanding the use of electronic reporting of cattle movements and to develop systems for electronic identification of animals.

• £4 million will be invested in research facilities.
• £2 million will be added to the budget for agri-environment schemes in the current year.
• £1.4 million will go to meet the financial needs of SEERAD's three Executive agencies which are responsible for fisheries protection and research and for agricultural science.

• £9.4 million will allow the Forestry Commission to deliver its planned programmes despite the drop in timber prices.