Chamber and committees

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is responsible for the regulation of safety in the UK civil aviation industry. The CAA is not aware of any incidents of wind farms interfering with the safe operation of air services in Scotland.

No. The location of telecommunications apparatus is a matter in the first instance for the telecommunication companies, in line with their operational requirements. Their decisions on location are, of course, subject to the new planning controls.

As stated in the Scottish Climate Change Programme (available on the Executive's website at www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/environment/ccm.pdf), the Executive is committed to making an equitable contribution to the UK Kyoto target. I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-17165 which confirms that separate Scottish targets are not currently practical.

In order to benefit from the permitted development rights which existed under Class 7 of Schedule 1 to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992 prior to 23 July, development started before that date must be completed within 14 days of 23 July, not including 23 July itself. Effectively, the 14 day period ended at midnight on 6 August.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-17270 in relation to the revocation and replacement of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2001 (SSI 2001/244).In relation to appeals against refusal of planning permission arising as a result of the new legislation, as with all planning appeals, each case will be judged on its individual merits and in accordance with the relevant legislation, development plan policy and national policy. National Planning Policy Guideline 19: Radio Telecommunications, published on 20 July 2001 by the Scottish Executive Development Department, and available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. no. 15218) will be of particular relevance to radio telecommunications developments.

The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 2) Order 2001 (Scottish Statutory Instrument 2001/266) revoked and replaced the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2001 (SSI 2001/244) and specified a transitional arrangement applying to development started before it came into force.The transitional arrangement allows development under permitted development rights started before 23 July and completed within 14 days of that date to benefit from the permitted development rights which were in place prior to the new tighter controls coming into force. If such development is not completed within that timescale, any development carried out on or after 23 July will be subject to the planning controls which came into force on that date.The new planning legislation does not provide for an extension to the 14-day period described in the transitional arrangement, which runs consecutively without interruption. Enforcement action in relation to any breaches of planning control will be a matter for the planning authority to consider.

The Scottish Climate Change Programme, available on the Executive's climate change website at www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/environment/ccm.pdf, covers policies in six broad sectors, namely: energy, business, transport, domestic, public and agriculture, forestry and land use.

Consideration of any specific financial requirements associated with the Climate Change Adaptation Strategy will be given in the light of the findings of Executive-commissioned research, Potential Adaptation Strategies for Climate Change in Scotland, due to report shortly.The Air, Climate and Engineering Unit of the Environment and Rural Affairs Department was recently strengthened by the addition of a policy officer to cover climate change and engineering issues. Duties include taking forward consideration of an adaptation strategy.

There are 60 identified bathing waters in Scotland. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency monitors these waters to determine whether they meet European microbiological standards.Last year nine waters failed to meet the mandatory standard. These failures can occur because of inputs from a number of sources. However, SEPA has identified risks of pollution from sewer sources at seven of these beaches as set out in its publication Scottish Bathing Waters 2000 (Bib. no. 15371).The water authorities have embarked on a significant programme of upgrading. Their investment scenarios are set out in the Executives Quality and Standards documents, which are referred to in the answer given to question S1W-17169. Upgrading work includes sewer remediation and improvements in sewage treatment. The water authorities will have to ensure that these improvements will allow bathing water to meet the higher guideline standard set by SEPA.

For year 2000-01 the Executive paid all claims from local authorities for flood prevention and coast protection schemes within four weeks of the required information being available, thereby achieving the 95% target.To date this financial year the target is not being achieved - with one payment, out of the five made, taking over the four-week period.