Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive is very aware of the importance of keeping partner organisations such as the voluntary sector informed about the reducing levels of funding available as the current ESF Objective 3 Programme nears its end, and about the lower amounts of money which will come to Scotland in future 2007-13 Structural Fund Programmes. Partners have been kept informed through a variety of methods ranging from articles in the Objective 3 Newsletter, updates on the Objective 3 website, stakeholder events on the future of the Structural Funds, and individual letters issued to all project contacts.

Despite the reduction in funding post 2006 it is important to remember that the vast majority of funding for economic development in Scotland comes from domestic sources. The Executive is committed to economic development in Scotland but is not reliant on Structural Funds to continue this agenda.

The European Union’s Rural DevelopmentRegulation stipulates that the requirements of cross-compliance and Good Agriculturaland Environmental Condition apply to rural development payments for land-based measuresapproved under the new Scottish Rural Development Plan from 1 January 2007.

My officials are consideringwhether there is a need to supplement these requirements with existing Scottishconditionality relating to features of historic or archaeological interest.

It is appropriate, and consistent with their statutory responsibilities for the provision of schools, that local authorities should decide on what is to be included within the specification of a new school and whether facilities should be housed in dedicated or multi-use spaces.

Licences are issued under the relevant provisions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981,The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 and the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 where there is no satisfactory alternative to permitting a derogation from the prohibitions on capture, killing or disturbance of the species, or on damage to or destruction of its breeding or resting place. Each licence is considered individually to ensure that the statutory requirements are met.

Records of licences issued prior to 2000 are not available centrally. The following figures are for the period 2000 to date.

One hundred and fifty-nine licences have been issued to allow disturbance of badger setts.

Thirty-five licences have been issued for otters and 76 for bats. The vast majority of these licences authorise disturbance.

Nine licences have been issued to allow pine martens to be excluded from inhabited property, or for the purpose of preventing serious damage to livestock.

No licences have been issued in relation to wildcat.

Two licences have been issued to shoot heron as an aid to scaring to prevent serious damage to fisheries.

We have not issued any licences to cull cormorants. However, in the period from 1 January 1999 to date, a total of 650 cormorants have been shot under licences where cases have been made that the birds are causing serious damage to fisheries.

The Scottish Executive togetherwith the Scottish Funding Council, NHS Education for Scotland and the medical deanshave recently established a committee to consider how best to respond to the developmentsin England and Wales regarding integrated training pathways for clinical and dentalacademics. The option to enter the scheme which has been advertised is one whichwill be considered by the group.

Matters relating to staffinglevels within higher education institutions (HEIs) are the responsibility of theinstitutions. Standards in Scotland’s medical and dental schools are monitored by the QualityAssurance Agency through a system of peer review. The General Medical Council andthe General Dental Council also monitor standards within their respective spheresof interest.

In addition to the range of qualityassurance mechanisms outlined above, the Executive will discuss the implicationsof the drop with the HEIs as part of the normal process of on-going discussionswith medical and dental schools.

There is no central fund connectedwith the Renewables Obligation. However, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)has been operating a Bioenergy Capital Grants Scheme during the last two years,available to suitable applicants from across Great Britain. Initially worth around£66 million, funds from the scheme have all now been committed (including an awardto the biomass power plant recently confirmed as going ahead at Lockerbie). DTIis currently considering how to proceed in terms of funds committed from that schemebut not yet spent.

The Scottish Executive is currentlyconsidering ways in which it might support and accelerate a range of renewablesdevelopments, including biomass heat and power, and district heating.

In the period from 1 January 1999 to date we have issued 110 licences to shoot cormorants as an aid to scaring for the purpose of protecting fisheries from serious damage.

The testing of militarysonar is a reserved matter which falls within the responsibility of theMinistry of Defence.

I understand the results of the recent In Service Date (ISD) sea trials of the S2087 sonar system arecurrently under analysis by the Ministry of Defence, and that the environmentalanalysis report will be available upon request in March 2006.