Chamber and committees

The Programmes of Research budget, which forms part of the level 2 Research, Analysis and Other Services budget, will fund two major programmes of strategic research: Environmental Change, and Food, Land and People. This budget will also fund: underpinning capacity and capital projects at the main research providers (MRPs); three centres of expertise, focusing on climate change, water and animal disease preparedness, and two strategic partnerships, covering research into animal science and food and drink.

We have protected the resource funding for our MRPs in 2011-12 at flat cash relative to 2010-11. The reduction in Programmes of Research budget, therefore, represents the completion of a period of significant capital investment at our MRPs in 2010-11, which will not be repeated in 2011-12, and also the relinquishing of efficiency savings that had been used to help fund capital investment in 2010-11.

The Rural Communities budget supports community related projects through the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP). Under Rural Priorities, this supports activities such as the creation and upgrading of paths and access routes. Under Land Managers'' Options, support is provided for active management to improve vernacular buildings, archaeological sites and access facilities.

Reductions reflect the transfer in support for some measures from Rural Priorities to LEADER, and the projected budget outturn in 2010-11.

The draft budget will not reduce the Scottish Government''s capacity to support high quality projects.

Under the SRDP, awards are paid on project completion. The draft budget allows the Scottish Government to honour its commitment to existing projects in full.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency is preparing for a reduction in its grant-in-aid in 2011-12 by continuing to implement a programme of significant transformational change designed to deliver the Agency''s regulatory functions more effectively and efficiently from a smaller cost base. This will allow SEPA to become a leaner regulator, by delivering a more risk-based and proportionate approach to regulation while focussing on its main objective of protecting Scotland''s environment and human health. The Scottish Government will work closely with SEPA to ensure it continues to be adequately resourced to deliver its core regulatory duties and support sustainable economic growth.

The Forestry Commission Scotland budget for 2011-12 will reduce by £7.4 million when compared to the 2010-11 Budget. This will be achieved by reducing £2 million from the Timber Transport Fund and £2.4 million from capital and the remaining £3 million is made up by the difference between the £8.9m (increase in available grants) of the £11.9 million EU income.

The reduction in Marine Scotland''s budget will be managed through a programme of initiatives which will both maximise efficiencies and deliver significant savings, these include:

Realigning some activities which were previously provided without charge, primarily commercial survey charters and support for studies and gear trials. Priority research programmes will be maintained through the scheduling of government vessels and a consensual approach to research priorities through an increased dialogue with stakeholder groups. Marine Scotland officials will be talking to stakeholders about how best to implement these changes in a way that protects the delivery of key priorities;

Being more efficient in data collection and handling in implementing marine legislation by making more use of existing data and less use of marine surveys;

Paying particular attention to the efficient use of expensive infrastructure to ensure that we extract maximum value. Marine Scotland has already decommissioned a Compliance protection vessel; brought in-house the day to day management of Science vessels; is engaged in detailed discussions with partner organisations about better utilisation of government owned assets, including ships and aircraft, and is actively assessing the regional estate requirements going forward;

Reducing administrative costs through a staff early release scheme; making other cost savings including travel and subsistence and procurement, and increasing charges for marine licences.

The Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) has achieved outturn efficiency savings of £0.284 million for 2009-10 through a combination of measures, as shown in the table below:

Categories	Measures Taken	Savings Achieved (£ million)
Shared Services	Gateway Centre shared with two other operators.	0.088
Asset Management	Gateway Centre managed by a third party	0.196
Total		0.284

 

The efficiency target of £2.2 million represented a reduction of over 5% on administration costs for the Rural Payments and Inspections Directorate (RPID). It was originally set on the basis of there being a business transformation programme which would realise significant efficiencies. This programme was not in place for 2009-10. In fact in this year, RPID was unable to reduce its administration costs because of three main pressures.

The first was the ongoing cost of implementing the business processes and systems required for the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP), which was a much more complex task than originally estimated; the second was the increase in the number of SRDP applications and claims; and the third was the extra effort required to support the increased levels of audit and scrutiny applied by the European Commission and the European Court of Auditors.

Although RPID was unable to reduce its administration costs for 2009-10 and thus realise the planned efficiency savings, it was able to deliver an increased volume of output with no material detriment to the quality or quantity of the services provided.

Scottish Natural Heritage''s (SNH) outturn efficiency of £3.071 million for 2009-10, comprising both recurring and non-recurring savings, was achieved as follows:

Categories	Measures Taken	Cash-Releasing Efficiencies (£ million)
Shared Services	Implementing Scotland''s Environment and Rural Services Frontline Delivery project.	0.001
Asset Management	Primarily the disposal of surplus freehold and leasehold property in Edinburgh and Oban.	0.460
Procurement	Primarily a change in pension provider and internet security software contracts.	0.043
Other Initiatives	Primarily vacancy management and efficient staff utilisation,  reviews of landline and mobile telephone usage and increasing on-line publishing on SNH''s website.	2.567

SNH also achieved time-releasing efficiencies of £0.233 million for 2009-10 by implementing: a new database to help with site condition monitoring; a new HR management information system; and, the final phase of a project to improve SNH''s recruitment process.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency achieved cash releasing efficiency savings of £4.046 million for 2009-10 by improving the way it delivered services, without material detriment to the quality of the services provided. Efficiency savings were achieved as follows.

Measures Taken	Efficiencies Achieved (£ million)
Implementing more efficient working practices, absorption of new work and re-engineering of service delivery.	2.082
Reduction in property maintenance and property improvement projects.	0.618
Reduction in procurement and increased in-house training.	1.023
Reduction in travel costs.	0.163
Reduction in research and development programme.	0.05
Cessation of Regional Boards.	0.06
Reduction in cost of pool vehicles.	0.05

 

The efficiency saving of £20,000 was achieved by using new methods of providing information to farmers and other stakeholders on animal health and welfare matters. Making greater use of text messaging and email reduced the cost of mailshots whilst maintaining the same level of service.