Chamber and committees

As stated in my reply to your question S3W-35339 on 9 August 2010, information relating to the proportion of spend on NHS Distinction Awards that specifically relates to pension contributions is not available. The overall budget for distinction awards was frozen this year at £28 million.

The fertiliser market is subject to the normal regulatory and competition regimes, and driven by world supply and demand of nitrogen, phosphates and potash. Fertiliser prices in Scotland are dependent on currency exchange rate movements, which have also resulted in increases in the value of the Single Farm Payment in recent years. Farmers can keep their fertiliser costs down by following the Scottish Government''s Farming for a Better Climate programme and having soil analyses done so that they are not buying fertilisers unnecessarily.

	Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation	Forestry Challenge Funds	Land Managers Options (LMO)	Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS)	Rural Priorities (RP)	Skills	Crofting Counties Agricultural Grants Scheme	Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS)
2007	-	-	-	-	12,134	-	-	-
2008	38	-	3,851	209	12,490	833	7	-
2009	34	74	7,998	498	12,187	2,774	11	12
2010	29	35	10,349	393	-	594	9	550

There is no approval process for LMO or LFASS, rather beneficiaries need to meet eligibility criteria; therefore, the total number of LMO applications in each year is shown. For LFASS, the figures are for paid claims.

In addition to the RP approvals shown above, a further 392 cases have been approved through the forestry ongoing approvals process, launched in August 2009.

	Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation	FCF	Land Managers'' Options (LMO)	LEADER	Rural Priorities
2008	£152,322	£0	£87,500	£54,848	£3,047,304
2009	£0	£25,200	£366,500	£8,310	£8,280,022
2010	£244,792	£38,500	£779,000	£10,418	£5,247,274

There is no approval process for LMO; beneficiaries need to meet eligibility criteria. The total value of the capital element of LMO for the Scottish Borders is expected to be as shown in the table.

There is no capital element to the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme.

A mid-term evaluation of the Scotland Rural Development Programme is underway and will estimate the number of jobs created. The findings from the evaluation will be published on the Scottish Government website when available, expected to be early 2011.

 

Elements of the Scotland Rural Development Programme are governed by different rules and eligibility criteria. It should be noted that, for Land Managers Options (LMO) and Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS), money is applied for and paid on an eligibility basis.

See the following table summary:

	Scheme	Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation	Forestry Challenge Funds	LMO	LEADER	LFASS	Rural Priorities (RP)
2007	Funding	-	-	-	-	£6,014,203	-
	Cases	-	-	-	-	628	-
	Average	-	-	-	-	£9,577	-
2008	Funding	£152,322	-	£140,000	£507,543	£5,972,611	£5,573,271
	Cases	2	-	150	9	694	82
	Average	£76,161	-	£933	£56,394	£8,606	£67,967
2009	Funding	-	£25,200	£461,000	£448,529	£5,961,152	£17,221,083
	Cases	-	4	511	12	632	250
	Average	-	£6,300	£902	£37,377	£9,432	£68,884
2010	Funding	£244,792	£38,500	£1,413,000	£538,662	-	£10,186,631
	Cases	2	1	731	11	-	60
	Average	£122,396	£38,500	£1,933	£48,969	-	£169,777

Funding under the Skills Development Scheme is to Scotland-wide industry organisations and related bodies and, while grant has not been specifically allocated to projects in the Borders, some of the £2.2 million allocated to date will be spent in the Borders.

There have been no awards under the Crofting Counties Agricultural Grants Scheme (CCAGS) in the Scottish Borders.

The 2010 awards for RP are a combination of the April assessment round, and ongoing forestry approvals from 1 January to 20 September.

Recent research has demonstrated that slim profile double glazing can be accommodated successfully in historic window frames.

Under a project managed by Changeworks and funded by City of Edinburgh Council and The Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, a range of slim profile double glazed products were tested in a B-listed block of social housing in Edinburgh. The thermal and aesthetic results were good, and showed that improved glazing technology could be retrofitted to existing timber frames.

Ministers'' guidance is constantly evolving to take into account new technological advancements in development of glazing for use in listed buildings.

Exactly what option is used will depend on the circumstances and what survives. If the window is in good condition with original glass present Scottish planning policy presumes in favour of retention of all historic material, and other forms of upgrade should be used. If no original glass survives, retrofitting of double glazed units is likely to be permitted, retaining original timber. Given that it is not possible to specify a one size fits all approach, not least because not all windows in listed buildings are timber sash and case in style, my officials are currently producing revised guidance which takes account of the latest research and includes the option to use slim profile double glazing as part of the suite of works that can be considered to improve the energy performance of listed buildings.

The £111 million of future benefits delivered by the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) will not form part of the SFT budget.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-36651 on 26 October 2010. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-36657 on 26 October 2010. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.