Chamber and committees

All local authorities in Scotland have a duty under the Environment Act 1995 to review and assess air quality in their areas against the air quality objectives contained in the Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Local authorities use both modelling and monitoring methods to determine current and future pollutant concentrations in areas where there is a significant risk of exceeding an air quality objective. This includes areas in close proximity to roads and areas that lie outwith a 10m radius of a road.

The Scottish Executive is also under a duty to monitor and assess air quality across Scotland. It has arrangements in place to monitor levels of a number of pollutants through a national network of air quality monitoringsites. The monitoring sites are situated at a variety of different locations inorder to help assess both roadside and background levels of pollutants.

Where road traffic is the source of poor air quality, local authorities have a wide range of powers to manage traffic on local roads which would allow them to improve and maintain local air quality. If high levels of pollutants are caused by motorways or trunk roads then the Scottish Executive would be responsible for managing traffic to help achieve the relevant air quality objectives.

Only hydro schemes with a declared net capacity of up to 20 MW in size are eligible for support under the Renewables Obligations. A number of hydro schemes were down-rated in order to be eligible for such assistance; the decision to do so was a matter for the generators concerned. Down-rating does not necessarily mean that output will also reduce.

Section 39(1) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 gives planning authorities the power to decline to determine applications for planning permission if, within the previous two years the development proposal was subject to refusal of planning permission by the Scottish ministers and in the opinion of the planning authority there has been no significant change since that refusal.

As part of our work on modernising the planning system, we will consider whether this section needs to be amended in the context of a future planning bill.

The biodiversity provisions of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 place a new duty on all public bodies to further the conservation of biodiversity. Section 54 of the act which allows for the issuing of guidance, came into force on 1 October. Step-by-step guidance on how organisations can deliver their biodiversity duty will be published in draft, to coincide with the commencementof part 1 of the act, later this year.

The service level target of processing 90% of applications within 14 calendar days relates to applications for Standard and Enhanced Disclosures which are correctly completed, have the appropriate payment and do not require enquiries to be made of police forces for any additional information.  At week ending 10 October 2004, 97% of applications in this category were processed within the target and the average time taken was 3.5 days.  Disclosure Scotland has been meeting its service level target since week‑ending 15 August 2004. For Basic Disclosures, 100% were processed in an average time of 3.5 days during week‑ending 10 October.

Disclosure Scotland has cleared the backlog of applications which had built up earlier this year.

Information about the number of applications processed in more than 30 days is not available at present.  We are, however, examining with Disclosure Scotland how a wider range of performance information can be made available in future.

The investment plan of £7.5 million announced earlier this year by one of Scotland’s leading marine energy developers includes an equity investment of over £1.5 million by the Carbon Trust, a company whose investment activities in Scotland are funded by the Scottish Executive.

We are working with colleagues in the DTI on the details of the £50 million UK marine renewables support fund announced by the UK Government last month, and we will also consider how best the Executive can support connections for new marine energy development in Scotland.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has recorded one incident of an aircraft jettisoning fuel over Scotland in the last year. It is an offence under the Air Navigation Order to jettison fuel other than in an emergency. The CAA will investigate possible offences which are reported to them.

Aviation safety regulation is a matter reserved to the UK Government.

During the competitive tenderingprocess for SPCB contracts, suppliers are routinely asked detailed questions inrelation to their environmental credentials, including action plans, initiativesand results achieved in terms of environmental improvement. Suppliers’ submissionsare then assessed against relevant criteria by SPCB representatives. Specificationsfor both goods and services contracts also set out relevant environmental provisions.

The SPCB’s standard conditionsof contract for both goods and services aim to minimise impact on the environment,including recycling, reuse, energy recovery and energy efficiency. Suppliers arealso contractually required to suggest contract changes which are likely to reduceenvironmental impact. Their performance against contractual obligations pertainingto environmental performance is assessed by contract managers within the Parliament.

There are several examples ofrecently-let contracts that have resulted in tangible environmental improvements.Both standard office furniture in Holyrood and MSP local office furniture containtimber from sustainably managed forests accredited by the Forestry Stewardship Council(FSC). Also, at the SPCB’s behest, all standard paper used in its main print contractis 100% recycled. In addition, the Holyrood site utilises electricity that is from80% climate change levy-exempt renewable sources.

The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route will be subject to an environmental impact assessment under the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1999 and the results published in an Environmental Statement.