Chamber and committees

Applying the fit and proper person test in the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025 to all four of SEPA’s regulatory regimes will assist in keeping criminals and illegal operators out of the waste management industry.

The Bill will place legal responsibilities on owners of large landholdings to set out how they use their land and how that contributes to key public policy priorities, like addressing climate change and protecting and restoring nature.

Also, in addition to my answer to S6W-32938 on 17 January 2025 about the new land management tenancy, tenant farmers and small landholders will have more equality of opportunity to deliver net zero improvements to the land they farm and cultivate. This will enable them to become more sustainable and productive in their farming and be rewarded for their investment of time and resources.

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

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) places climate and nature at the centre of our planning system and makes clear our support for all forms of renewable, low-carbon and zero emission technologies. Potential impacts on communities and individual dwellings are important considerations in the decision-making process and all applications are subject to site-specific assessments. Local Development Plans should seek to realise their area’s full potential for electricity and heat from renewable, low carbon and zero emission sources by identifying a range of opportunities for energy development.

All planning applications must be determined in accordance with the statutory development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. For any given area of Scotland this consists of the National Planning Framework and the relevant Local Development Plan(s). If there is a conflict between the policies in NPF4 and Local Development Plans in making any planning decision, the most recently adopted prevails.

When determining applications made under the Electricity Act 1989, representations from community councils and members of the public are taken into account.

The majority of Registers of Scotland fees are set by Order which is subject to the affirmative procedure. The fees were last updated in April 2021. In making a fee order, Ministers will seek to balance affordability with covering the costs of running the registers. RoS is continuously working to improve its efficiency, and thereby keep its running costs as low as possible. 

In October 2024 the average house price for Scotland from UK HPI was £197,000. The RoS fee for a house of this value is £400, which represents 0.2% of the purchase price. 

The Scottish Government owns two bicycles, and we do not lease any bicycles.

Our bicycles are for use in campaign marketing in respect of Net Zero messages, and are not made available to staff for use on official business.

NPF4 places climate and nature at the centre of our planning system and makes clear our support for all forms of renewable, low-carbon and zero emission technologies. Potential impacts on communities and nature, including cumulative impacts, are important considerations in the decision-making process and all applications are subject to site-specific assessments.

While Scottish Ministers can decide to amend the NPF or review it in full at any time, having an established and consistent policy framework enables confidence in the planning system and so we expect to exercise this power sparingly. We have no current plans to amend NPF4.

The Scottish Government’s investment in rail covers a wide range of improvements and decarbonisation of rail services forms part of that, be it fleet replacement, investment in feeder stations, or electrification of railway lines and therefore is integrated into the rail budget figures to be found in the draft budget for 2025-26 in Chapter 8 – Transport

The Scottish Government does not currently plan to increase the availability of bicycles for use by staff. We do not have any plans to increase the availability of other sustainable transport options. 

Our staff already have access to cycle mileage expenses for official business journeys, a cycle to work scheme for commuting journeys, a season ticket scheme covering public transport operators, and discounted personal car hire and car club journeys through our staff benefits package.

NPF4 places climate and nature at the centre of our planning system and makes clear our support for all forms of renewable, low-carbon and zero emission technologies. Potential impacts on communities and individual dwellings are important considerations in the decision-making process and all applications are subject to site-specific assessments.

Where new development proposals come forward, the planning system requires decision makers to weigh up all relevant policies, as well as relevant material considerations, in applying balanced planning judgement.

While Scottish Ministers can decide to amend the NPF or review it in full at any time, having an established and consistent policy framework enables confidence in the planning system and so we expect to exercise this power sparingly. We have no current plans to amend NPF4.