Chamber and committees

Earlier this year, Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) indicated in its Scottish Forestry Strategy Implementation Plan that a sustained programme of around 10,000 hectares of new planting would be required each year to achieve the strategy aspiration of 25% woodland cover by the second half of the century. FCS estimated that the private sector would plant 80% of the annual programme, while the remainder would be planted on the national forest estate. It is therefore too early to assess progress against this programme, particularly as the incentives to help delivery, the forestry measures within the SRDP, have just been put in place after the closure of the Scottish Forestry Grant Scheme last year. Progress will, however, be monitored closely over the coming years, and the figures will be published. Planting on the national forest estate will be mainly carried out on land acquired by FCS through its repositioning programme “ the acquisition of land with potential for high public benefit, funded by the disposal of land with lower public benefit “ which was also introduced earlier this year.

In the meantime, FCS has published a discussion paper which sets out the benefits that woodland expansion can deliver and how this fits with the Government''s objectives across various portfolios. It explores a number of critical wider land use issues that affect how the aspirational target can be achieved, and discusses how the delivery mechanisms can be used. The closing date for comments on the paper is 30 September 2008.

The discussion paper can viewed on the FCS website at http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7FWEQ5.

Where we have been asked to consider fish quota transfers outwith Scotland in exceptional circumstances, and where, on the basis of information supplied, we have concluded that there are indeed exceptional circumstances, we have allowed such transfers to take place.

The moratorium was put in place to preserve Scottish fishing rights whilst work continues to deliver distinct quota management and licensing arrangements in Scotland. The moratorium has been kept under continual review during the on-going process of consultation to ensure that its continued existence in its current form is objectively justified.

To this end, I announced recently that the transfer of 10 metre and under licences/entitlements would be exempted from the moratorium provisions as well as the transfer of over 10 metre licences/entitlements where no FQA units are attached.

As part of the consultation on Safeguarding Our Fishing Rights: The Future of Quota management and Licensing in Scotland, my officials conducted 25 meetings around the coast of Scotland, attended by over 350 stakeholders.

The current restriction on the permanent transfer of quota and licences out of Scotland was discussed at these meetings, and provided a good opportunity to explain that the moratorium was put in place to preserve Scottish fishing rights whilst work continues to deliver distinct quota and licensing arrangements in Scotland.

The moratorium is being kept under continual review while the process of consultation continues.

The deadline for written responses to our consultation was 21 August and an initial assessment indicates that our proposals have been widely welcomed.

Responses have been received from the NFFO and SFF and these are now being considered carefully along with all the others received. We will shortly produce an outcome of consultation report upon which we will seek final stakeholders'' views before it is formally promulgated.

The Scottish Government gave a commitment in the Abolition of Bridge Tolls (Scotland) Bill on 20 December to end the unfairness that tolling of bridges brought particularly for the people of Fife, Tayside and the Lothians.

The Scottish Government are currently reviewing various funding options available for the Forth Replacement Crossing.

I can provide a guarantee that the users of the Forth Replacement Crossing will not be charged to use the bridge.

The Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative relies on the accreditation undertaken under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), which is owned by the UK Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).

The Scottish Government therefore does not hold data on numbers of accredited installers, broken down by local authority area. Details of Scottish installers accredited under MCS are available on BERR''s Low Carbon Buildings Programme website at:

http://www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk/info/installers/find/installerfind.

The Scottish Government supports accreditation of microgeneration installers as this provides industry with robust standards and ensures consumer confidence.

Therefore a current condition of domestic grants under the Scottish Community and Householder Renewable Initiative is that installers must meet certain accreditation standards.

However, we want to ensure these standards are fit for purpose and, to this end, are currently exploring a number of options with an industry group representative of the Scottish installer base. This includes proposals for streamlining the installer accreditation process.

There have been four occasions where the Scottish Ambulance Service has utilised either the Ministry of Defence or the Coastguard to transport patients in lieu of using a Scottish Ambulance Service resource. This compares to the same number in the same period of last year. In the period from 1 January 2008 to 31 August 2008 the service has undertaken a total of 263 missions from or within Orkney.

The Scottish Ambulance Service have provided the requested information, as set out in the following tables.

Non-Scottish Ambulance Service Resources Used to Transport Patients from/within Orkney “ 1 January 2008 to 31 August 2008

Incident Number	Aircraft	Pick up From	Destination	Reason
704664 (January)	MOD	Kirkwall Airport	Aberdeen Royal Infirmary	No SAS Aircraft unavailable at time of call, MOD provided quickest response.
722351 (March)	Coastguard	Stronsay	Kirkwall Airport	Weather
763869 (August)	Coastguard	Sanday	Raigmore Hospital	Weather
773192 (August)	Coastguard	Sanday	Balfour Hospital	Inverness helicopter on a task, Coastguard were able to provide the quickest response

 

Activity from/within Orkney Carried Out by All Aircraft

Month	Fixed Wing (SAS)	Helicopter (SAS)	NON SAS	Total
January 2008	25	8	1	34
February 2008	19	4	0	23
March 2008	34	6	1	41
April 2008	32	10	0	42
May 2008	19	8	0	27
June 2008	24	11	0	35
July 2008	30	4	0	34
August 2008	22	3	2	27
Total	205	54	4	263

 

We are aware of the proposed content of the innovation procurement plans for UK Government departments which are currently under development by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

We will shortly be publishing a Scottish Procurement Policy Handbook which will set out the fundamental rules, behaviours and standards applicable to public procurement activity in Scotland. The handbook will require all Scottish contracting authorities to consider how they can procure innovative solutions to their requirements. Compliance with the principles in the policy handbook will be mandatory and will be measured and reported on during contracting authorities'' audits.

The Scottish Procurement Policy Handbook, which will be published shortly, will recommend that purchasers test the market to determine what solutions are currently or potentially available prior to advertising a contract. It will advise purchasers to take advantage of the more flexible procedures permitted by EU procurement law. It will also provide guidance on the preparation of specifications which are expressed in terms of outputs or outcomes and performance. By describing what is to be achieved rather than specifying how it should be done, the scope for businesses to propose innovative solutions can be maximised.

Purchasers can also access guidance on market engagement and developing output or outcome specifications through the Scottish public procurement toolkit at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Procurement/Resources/SPDToolkit.