Chamber and committees

Since 1 July 2005 the Scottish Government has paid Planning Authorities two thirds of any new application fee received under the Electricity (Applications for Consent) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2006. The intention of this payment is to ensure the planning authority is appropriately resourced when considering wind farm proposals under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 in their area.

Details of payments made are detailed as follows:

Development	Amount	Council
Mark Hill	£10,000	South Ayrshire
Arecleoch	£13,000	South Ayrshire

 

There have been no new applications in the East Ayrshire area since the introduction of the fee payment arrangements.

Fees relating to applications under the Town and Country Planning Act 1997 are payable by the applicant directly to the planning authority. Records of the fees received by planning authorities under the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications and Deemed Applications) (Scotland) Regulations 2004 as amended, are not held centrally.

First ScotRail was instructed on 11 November 2007 to commence negotiations for the leasing of rolling stock to add to the ScotRail fleet, for the purpose of a number of planned service enhancements. The negotiations were completed and resulted in the leasing of additional rolling stock on 8 December 2007. The additional rolling stock will mean that there will be sufficient capacity in the ScotRail fleet to provide the planned half hourly service between Glasgow and Kilmarnock.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-9564 on 21 February 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.Scottish Parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

As a result of a planned cascade of rolling stock across services, two diesel multiple units can be allocated to improving the Glasgow to Kilmarnock service to a half-hourly frequency.

Increasing services between Ayr and Stranraer is not currently a priority. We have not, therefore, taken any steps to procure additional rolling stock for that purpose.

A range of private and publicsector partners, including the Scottish Government, are taking forward a feasibilitystudy to consider potential carbon storage sites, both onshore and offshore, alongwith an appraisal of options regarding the transportation of CO₂ and an analysis of the commercial and economicmodels for the development of relevant infrastructure in Scotland.

In addition, Scottish Power,in partnership with Scottish and Southern Energy and other partners announced on3 December 2007 that it would undertake a separate technical study identifyingthe feasibility of specific carbon storage sites close to existing power stations.The Scottish Government welcomes the contribution that this study will make to enhancingour understanding of the feasibility of carbon storage in Scotland.

We have been working with theUK Government to ensure that Scotland’s share of any assets released through the Dormant Bankand Building Societies Accounts Bill is spent on Scotland’s priorities.

The Scottish Government intendsto consult widely with the third sector and others in the New Year on the policypriorities for distribution and will welcome all contributions to this discussion.

EventScotland is aware that anumber of local authorities are considering providing funding in support of HomecomingScotland projects, but none have yet confirmed such funding. It is for local authoritiesto decide how they allocate their funding.

No funds have been received fromthe UK unclaimed assets scheme.

The UK Dormant Bank and BuildingSocieties Accounts Bill is currently being considered by the UK Parliament. Subjectto the Bill progressing, and the Scottish Parliament agreeing to a Legislative ConsentMotion which will allow the UK Parliament to legislate for Scotland’s interests,we expect funding to become available from around late 2009-10.

The Dormant Bank and BuildingSocieties Accounts Bill, currently progressing through the UK Parliament, providesthat monies derived from dormant accounts will be distributed by the BIG Lotteryin Scotland under priorities set by Scottish ministers. The bill provides for consultationon these priorities with the BIG Lottery and such other parties as ministers seefit, and Scottish ministers have already made clear their intention to conduct awide consultation in Scotland, meanwhile it would be advisable to encourage localcommunities and local community groups to respond to the consultation.

It is for each local authorityto decide how they allocate their funding to particular projects. A record levelof investment in local government is only one part of the package that we agreedwith COSLA in our concordat. It also contains a commitment to reduce ring fencing,which will give local authorities much greater freedom and flexibility to allocatetheir resources as they wish. However, we hope that both South Ayrshire and EastAyrshire councils will wish to allocate funding to the Homecoming, and initial indicationsfrom meetings with the Homecoming project team are that they will do so.