Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive is committed to ensuring the sustainable use of marine resources and to improving the regulatory regime in the marine and coastal area by simplifying administrative arrangements. A number of initiatives in this field have already been undertaken, or are on-going, such as the review of aquaculture regulation and the Water Environment and Water Services Bill. The review of regulation of development in coastal and marine waters in England and Wales is of close interest to the Scottish Executive, as the Executive has devolved responsibility for the main legislation which the review will cover. The Executive is monitoring the progress of the review, in particular through our representation on the review forum, and will consider the possible implications of the process and findings for Scotland.

In Scotland the Executive's work to modernise the planning system has already made progress on a number of issues included in the English Planning Green Paper. Much of what is proposed will be delivered in Scotland through the outcomes of the Review of Strategic Planning and Getting Involved in Planning consultation exercises. These changes include: simplification of the system by removing the blanket requirement for structure plans; improving public participation in planning, and replacing National Planning Policy Guidelines (NPPGs) with Scottish Planning Policies (SPPs) which will be more concise and have a more explicit policy content.We also propose to consult on streamlining inquiries this year and are currently considering the scope for improvements to the enforcement system.

I have no plans to amend any of the legislative provisions relating to the harvesting of cockles.

The Scottish Executive has made tackling the longest waits for out-patient appointments a key priority for the National Waiting Times Unit. The unit has made £1.2 million available to NHS boards to fund projects specifically to address long waits for orthopaedic services. A number of these projects are aimed at substantially reducing the maximum wait for an orthopaedic out-patient consultation.

Local authorities do not have any powers specifically to regulate cockle fishing. They do, however, have various specific powers on related matters such as food hygiene, as well as general powers, which may be appropriate depending on the circumstances.

There are a number of legislative provisions directly and indirectly related to the harvesting of cockles (including fishing, food and environmental legislation). In terms of fisheries legislation:

• In Scotland, orders may be made under the Inshore Fishing (Scotland) Act 1984 to prohibit fishing for sea fish (including shellfish) in a particular area;

• In England, Sea Fisheries Committees are empowered to make byelaws for the management and conservation of their district's fisheries;
• In Scotland and in England, Regulating Orders may be granted under the Sea Fisheries (Shellfish) Act 1967 to provide for the maintenance and regulation of a fishery for shellfish.

The damaging exploitation of a cockle bed also falls within the scope of nature conservation legislation on both sides of the border, where the cockle bed is situated within the boundaries of a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest, Special Area of Conservation or Special Protection Area.

The Scottish Executive has no plans to introduce a separate charge for the collection of domestic waste. To achieve the objectives of the National Waste Strategy for sustainable waste management there will be a need for significant changes in householders' attitude to the waste that they produce. We need to encourage people to separate out waste that can be reused or recycled, and to try to reduce the amount of rubbish that they produce. We are considering how we can best encourage this change of behaviour.

We have received six such representations. We held no discussions with the Church of Scotland regarding the future of Leslie House; this is a local matter, to be resolved between the church and the relevant commissioners of care and with the future well-being of residents in mind.

There are no current plans to give local authorities the right to decide whether council by-elections should be held by postal ballot only. The Scottish Local Government (Elections) Act 2002 allows ministers to extend successful pilots throughout Scotland by order but it is unlikely that they would do so on the basis of a single pilot.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-27144.