Chamber and committees

As required under section 2C of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, the Scottish Government plans to request advice from the Climate Change Committee (CCC) on the appropriate value of the international aviation multiplier, and other advice about emissions targets, within 5 years of the last request for this advice on 19 April 2022. In response to the most recent request, the CCC’s first five-yearly review of Scottish emissions targets, published in December 2022, does not recommend the use of a multiplier to reflect the non-CO2 climate change impacts of emissions at altitude from international aviation.

National Planning Policy 5d) makes clear that, where development on peatland, carbon-rich soils or priority peatland habitat is proposed, a detailed site specific assessment will be required to identify: i) the baseline depth, habitat condition, quality and stability of carbon rich soils; ii) the likely effects of the development on peatland, including on soil disturbance; and, iii) the likely net effects of the development on climate emissions and loss of carbon.

Through our Onshore Wind Policy Statement 2022, we have committed to assess the operation of, and if necessary update or replace, the carbon calculator. Whilst the review is ongoing, the existing carbon calculator, in its current form, can continue to be used by applicants and decision makers to support the carbon assessment of wind farm developments.

Conditions attached to any planning permission are published as part of the consent on the relevant planning authority’s publicly available Register of Applications. Any member of the public who considers that a developer may not be in compliance with any condition of planning permission can report their concerns to the relevant planning authority, which has extensive powers to investigate, and if necessary, take action to ensure that conditions are complied with.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to review the legislation relating to monitoring and enforcement of planning conditions at the present time.

sport scotland’s provisional allocation of up to £5m for the development of a potential tennis facility at Park of Keir remains in place.

However, at this stage, a full application for a tennis facility at Park of Keir has not been received. Any decision on whether to make a capital award and the appropriate level of any award will only be taken on completion of a full application (as outlined in response to S6W-05651 on 20 January 2022).

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The commitment to facilitate the co-production of guidance on community engagement is a key commitment made in response to the incineration review and we are currently considering the best approach and timing for delivering it.

Scottish Government has met with eNGOs and community groups five times since June 2022 to discuss recommendations from the incineration review, including a meeting between myself and the Dovesdale Action Group in September. As part of this meeting, the Group was asked for views on where this work could be particularly valuable in improving the community engagement processes. I would welcome thoughts from all community groups interested in the incineration review.

The Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) regulations 2012 (“the PPC regulations”) require that SEPA make impartial assessments of all PPC Permit applications and make decisions relating to environmental permits in accordance with these regulations. Whilst Scottish Ministers do have the ability to intervene in the PPC process by way of a direction, they would not normally do so in the absence of exceptional circumstances.

The key policy levers available to Scottish Ministers to manage capacity are in planning. We responded to the Review’s recommendation, that no further planning permission for incineration facilities beyond what was already in place should be granted. This was addressed in National Planning Framework 4, which is clear that Scottish Government will not support development proposals for energy-from-waste facilities except under very limited circumstances.

This policy, alongside the development of an indicative cap for the amount of residual waste treatment needed, will serve to limit and gradually reduce Scotland’s incineration capacity. This approach will ensure we have an appropriate treatment capacity to manage our waste today, and that this treatment capacity declines as we move towards our circular economy and carbon reduction goals.

An assessment of current and potential future impacts on Scotland’s native trees from the fungus Curreya pithyophila is ongoing.

In late 2022, reports were received of canker and crown dieback symptoms on Scots pine at various locations across Scotland. Subsequent investigations suggest this is likely to be caused by a symbiotic relationship between a fungus, Curreya pithyophila , and an adelgid called pine woolly adelgid ( Pineus pini ). This association has been observed occasionally in the UK, continental Europe and north America since the 1800s.

In 2023, Scottish Forestry and Scotland’s Plant Health Centre commissioned Forest Research and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to investigate the causes and impacts of the current occurrences in Scotland.

Surveys were conducted over the summer to identify the distribution of the fungal-adelgid association and if factors such as climate or site type influence symptom severity. Samples were collected to understand the complex relationships between Curreya pithyophila , the pine woolly adelgid and secondary fungal pathogens and to understand if infection differs between provenances of Scots pine. The findings will be published next year.

An assessment of current and potential future impacts on Scotland’s native trees from the fungus Curreya pithyophila is ongoing.

In late 2022, reports were received of canker and crown dieback symptoms on Scots pine at various locations across Scotland. Subsequent investigations suggest this is likely to be caused by a symbiotic relationship between a fungus, Curreya pithyophila , and an adelgid called pine woolly adelgid ( Pineus pini ). This association has been observed occasionally in the UK, continental Europe and north America since the 1800s.

In 2023, Scottish Forestry and Scotland’s Plant Health Centre commissioned Forest Research and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to investigate the causes and impacts of the current occurrences in Scotland.

Surveys were conducted over the summer to identify the distribution of the fungal-adelgid association and if factors such as climate or site type influence symptom severity. Samples were collected to understand the complex relationships between Curreya pithyophila , the pine woolly adelgid and secondary fungal pathogens and to understand if infection differs between provenances of Scots pine. The findings will be published next year.

To support future planning decisions, we accepted the review’s recommendation to develop an indicative capacity cap. It is important that any indicative cap is as robust as possible and developing such a cap is a significant piece of work.

For that reason, we are undertaking work to improve the quality of data on waste to support the development of an indicative cap. This includes, working with other governments of the UK to implement mandatory Digital Waste Tracking from April 2025, which will provide a step-change in the quality of Scottish waste data, and engaging with partners, including ZWS and SEPA, to draw together key waste composition, carbon and environmental impact data insights. In addition, the Strategic Research Programme 2022 to 2027, Theme C: Human Impacts on the Environment includes work on the circular economy. As part of this, a mapping exercise of the waste flows in Scotland is being undertaken by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).

Together, these initiatives will provide invaluable data to support the accurate forecasting of Scotland’s waste infrastructure needs and the development of an indicative cap.

Further information on these developments can be found here:

Digital Waste Tracking Consultation Response.

Outcome of the Household Waste Composition Analysis.

Information on the Strategic Research Programme 2022 to 2027.

Our draft Circular Economy and Waste Route Map, due for publication shortly, will set out further detail and associated timescales on the steps we will take to minimise the environmental and climate impacts of waste, including the development of an indicative capacity cap.