Chamber and committees

As part of their local air quality management responsibilities under the Environment Act 1995 and associated regulations and guidance, all local authorities are required to submit an annual report to the Scottish Government summarising their work on air quality during the previous year. Where an air quality management area is in place, this report should also describe progress with implementing the measures in the air quality action plan.

These reports are formally appraised by the government and feedback is provided to each authority, especially focusing on aspects where it is considered that insufficient progress is being made.

All reports are publically available on the Scottish air quality website:www.scottishairquality.co.uk In addition, many local authorities make the reports available on their own websites.

The Scottish Government plans to engage with a range of stakeholders that are representative of the different views and opinions on unconventional oil and gas.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-24387 on 17 February 2015.

The Air Quality Standards (Scotland) Regulations 2010 transpose into domestic legislation the requirements of Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and clean air for Europe.

Any legal action taken for breaches of the directive is by the European Commission against individual EU member states. The UK is currently the subject of formal infraction proceedings relating to non-compliance with the nitrogen dioxide limit values. The vast majority of other EU member states are subject to similar action.

The UK Government, in partnership with the devolved administrations, has formally responded to the commission’s infraction letter outlining the actions being taken to ensure compliance as soon as possible. We are currently awaiting the commission’s response.

We are also updating the action plans referred to in the answer to S4W-24387, which outline the national and local policies being implemented in relation to air quality.

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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Since the National Forest Land Scheme opened in 2005, there have been 55 applications approved to date covering 12,976 hectares.

A detailed breakdown of all the applications broken down by project category, tenure type and land area is shown in the following tables:

National Forest Land Scheme applications approved and sold or leased

National Forest Land Scheme approved but not yet sold or leased

National Forest Land Scheme approved but withdrawn

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-24030 on 30 January 2015. 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

In 2015-16, £1.2 million in capital funding has been allocated to the National Theatre of Scotland towards the cost of its new headquarters. In addition the Draft Budget 2015-16 provides for £2 million in financial transactions (loans) for this project.

No capital grant is currently planned for the other four National Performing Companies in 2015-16. In 2014-15 we completed our capital funding commitment for major projects undertaken by Scottish Opera (Theatre Royal Glasgow) and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (Glasgow Royal Concert Hall).

Grant funding for the National Performing Companies is based on their delivering an agreed programme of artistic and educational activity and on meeting criteria for designation as National Performing Companies. The companies budget for routine maintenance and refurbishment from within the totality of Scottish Government and other income.

Capital grant funding allocated to the companies for investment in property is shown in the following table. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra does not own any buildings. It should be noted that prior to 2007-08, the companies received their core grant funding from the Scottish Arts Council.

NHS Lothian along with all other boards have an agreed financial plan to deliver a balanced outturn in 2014-15 and the board have indicated they will achieve this position in 2014-15.

The Scottish Government work with NHS boards to help them achieve financial balance through long-term financial planning.

In 2015-16, NHS Lothian’s resource budget is planned to increase by £37.7 million (3.2%) to £1,225.7 million. This is an above inflation increase in 2015-16 and includes £7.0 million of additional NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) funding. This follows a previous increase of £46.8 million (4.1%) in 2014-15, which included NRAC parity funding of £17.521 million.

The NHS Lothian financial plan for 2014-15 was approved by the Scottish Government in March 2014 as part of the board’s 2014-15 local delivery plan. The NHS Lothian plan forecasts that the board will remain in financial balance over the five-year planning period. Boards have a statutory obligation to meet their financial targets and are expected to submit plans which reflect this.

The Scottish Government is taking necessary steps to ensure that Scotland benefits by engaging with the Scottish transmission owners, to encourage them to develop proposals for submission to the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), to ensure that any opportunities to benefit Scotland are realised.

As part of its price control review for the period 2013 to 2021, Ofgem has allowed up to £500 million for the three UK transmission owners (National Grid in England and Wales and Scottish Power Energy Networks and Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission in Scotland). This is to allow these companies to reduce the visual impact of existing transmission lines in National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England and Wales and National Scenic Areas in Scotland. This does not need to be limited to undergrounding and there is strong argument that undergrounding would be an expensive option which severely limits the amount of lines whose visual impact could be mitigated.

Opportunities in Scotland are restricted to the 4% of the network within the eligible designated area. Scottish Government officials have engaged with the two Scottish transmission owners to encourage participation and to promote Scotland’s interests in this regard. The companies are in the process of developing a methodology for providing an assessment of the areas concerned. It is envisaged that this methodology will include stakeholder engagement, a technical impact assessment of all relevant infrastructure and a schedule of potential mitigation options. Consultation with communities and other stakeholders will also feature in any proposals going forward.

Ofgem has published factsheet 109 which provides background and explanation of the available funding. This factsheet is available from its website at:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/82593/visualamenityfactsheetfinalenglish.pdf

The Lothian Partnership has used additional funding to extend a range of intermediate care services, the majority of which are not bed based. An additional seven step-down beds are planned for Midlothian. In addition the Edinburgh Partnership has leased the old Pentland Hills care home from BUPA to create 60 interim care home beds.

All health and social care partnerships will be required under the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 to produce a strategic commissioning plan from April 2015 which should identify the present and future care needs for their populations, including intermediate care beds, and develop these accordingly.