Chamber and committees

The decision on whether ornot to proceed with a prosecution against an operator in relation to offensiveodour is a matter for the Procurators Fiscal Service. The Scottish EnvironmentProtection Agency has, in addition to its ability to recommend cases forprosecution, a range of statutory powers to take enforcement action againstoperators who breach conditions in its licences. This includes requiring anoperator to take remedial action to address a problem and revoking a licence.

Depending on circumstances, landfillsites fall within the scope of Waste Management Licensing (WML) under Part IIof the Environmental Protection Act 1990 or the Pollution Prevention andControl (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (PPC). Some sewage treatment worksfall under WML. Others will transfer to PPC by 2007. The Scottish Environment ProtectionAgency enforces both regimes and is able to include conditions in licences orpermits to prevent offensive odour from a site. For those sewage treatmentworks that do not come within the scope of either regime, local authorities havepowers under Part III of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 in relation tostatutory nuisance, which includes offensive odour.

This information is not heldcentrally.

I refer the member to theanswers given to S2W-3214 and S2W-3221 on 31 October 2003.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/webapp/search_wa.

Decisions about theaggregate number of trainee midwives in Scotland are taken on the basis of recommendations from theStudent Nursing Intake Planning (SNIP) steering group which meets annually andbrings together a wide range of expertise.

The recommendation of the steeringgroup in relation to the academic year 2003-04 was that the annual studentmidwife intake should be set at 180, reduced from 220 in 2002-03. Thisrecommendation was based on the steering group’s assessment of workforce supplyand demand factors.

The Higher EducationInstitutes (HEIs) which provide midwifery training in Scotlandwere subsequently given student midwife intake numbers that reflected aproportional reduction. I understand that the number of trainee midwives at theSchool of Nursing and Midwifery at Paisley University,who place their students in a number of clinical settings including Inverclyde Royal Hospital,decreased from an intake of 45 per year to 37 per year in response to the SNIPreport.

Decisions about the placingof student midwives in particular hospitals are matters for the HEIs themselvesin discussion with local health care providers.

One.

We have not commissioned,nor are we aware of, any appraisal of this nature.

Any proposal for significantservice change must be subject to robust and comprehensive public consultationand would, ultimately, require my endorsement.

The Scottish Executive has no involvement in this issue which is an operational matter for Scottish Water. However, our understanding is that Scottish Water and its predecessor, West of Scotland Water, have had considerable involvement with the community while plans at Millport have been developed and Scottish Water has kept residents informed by regularly attending community council and other public meetings.Responsibility for dealing with planning applications and local planning matters rests, in the first instance, with the planning authority. I understand following consideration of the planning application that North Ayrshire Council granted consent to the development, subject to conditions on 7 July. Now that planning permission has been granted the Scottish ministers have no locus to intervene.What is clear is that investment is needed at Millport to meet urban wastewater treatment regulations. While the deadline for this is December 2005, improvements need to be in place before the 2004 bathing season starts to ensure Kames Bay meets standards set under the bathing waters directive.

If a local community feels that the action taken by a planning authority contravenes statutory procedures they may approach the monitoring officer of that authority. It is open to an individual to make a complaint to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman where they feel they have suffered injustice or hardship as a result of maladministration or service failure on the part of a local authority. It is also open to the local community to seek a judicial review of a decision taken by a planning authority.Our White Paper, Your Place, Your Plan, published in March, contained measures to strengthen and enhance public involvement in the planning system. It and the Partnership Agreement gave a commitment to a public consultation on widening rights of appeal in the planning system.Although windfarm developments with a generation capacity of 50 MW or less come within the scope of the planning system, developments in excess of 50 MW require the consent of Scottish ministers in terms of section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. There is no right to appeal a section 36 consent but it remains open to individuals to seek a judicial review of the decision making process.

The Executive's policy is that radioactive waste should be disposed of where a disposal route exists, and where no disposal route exists wastes should be safely stored.The Hunterston power station comprises Hunterston A, owned by British Nuclear Fuels Ltd, and Hunterston B, owned by British Energy. Hunterston A ceased power production in 1990 and is in the process of decommissioning and waste will be dealt with on the basis of the current policy. Hunterston B is still operating and no date has been set for decommissioning to commence.

The designation and on-going monitoring of the condition of National Nature Reserves is a matter for Scottish Natural Heritage.