Chamber and committees

The Executive is committedto helping local authorities increase protection for vulnerable communitiesaffected by flooding through investment in flood alleviation measures anddefences. A total of £42 million has been made available to local authoritiesfor the period 2007 – 2008 to support their flood prevention and coastprotection programmes. It is for Scottish Borders Council to come forward withsuitable schemes to take up these resources.

In addition, the Executivehas funded a variety of measures aimed at improving awareness of flood risk invulnerable areas, as part of a more sustainable and holistic approach to floodmanagement These include providing some £2 million to SEPA to produce theIndicative River and Coastal Flood Maps, which are available to the public viathe SEPA website. Supporting SEPA’s annual flood awareness campaign that aimsto build on current awareness levels and encourage people to take action toprepare for flooding, and providing initial funds to assist SEPA in developinga flood warning dissemination programme for the whole of Scotland.

The Executive is examiningall funding for future years as part of the spending review process. This includessupport for local authorities’ flood prevention and coast protectionprogrammes.

Scottish Borders Council hasyet to bring forward suitable schemes to take up the resources made availableby the Executive for flood alleviation.

A total of £75 million hasbeen made available to local authorities for the period 2006 -2008 to supportflood prevention and coast protection programmes. Confirmed flood preventionschemes that meet the Executive’s technical, environmental and economiccriteria are eligible for grant support at 80% of eligible costs.

Recent studies have shownthat the costs of wind energy are expected to increase over the coming four orfive years. These rises are due in the main to shortages in the supply ofturbines and increases in steel costs. These findings suggest that the supportavailable under the Renewables Obligation for wind energy remains necessary atthe current time.

The Scottish Executive hasnot conducted such research. Our aim is for a mix of sources of renewableenergy to the benefit of the environment and the economy. It is for developersto make decisions on investment in individual projects.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is asfollows:

Communities Scotlandofficials hold regular meetings with Scottish Gas (the managing agent) toensure that all aspects of the Warm Deal programme, including the applicationprocesses, comply with the contract requirements. The managing agent hasindicated that, based on the number of warm deal installations to date, it ison target to meet the overall contract commitment for 2007-08.

Under the new Scotland RuralDevelopment Programme, there will be no upper limit (as there was previously)to the funding potentially available for good quality diversificationproposals. Funding of up to 50% of project costs, depending on the geographicalarea, the type of project involved and the needs of the project will beavailable. There will also be a 10% uplift in the maximum funding available toyoung farmers for restructuring projects that involve diversification.

This information is notheld.

A range of measures tosupport rural diversification is included in the draft Scotland RuralDevelopment Programme, which is currently with the European Commission forapproval. Especially when combined with the decoupled single farm payments, the Executive will be providing significant support for rural diversification.

A key objective of the newsystem of Rural Development Contracts is to simplify the process of seekinggovernment support for good quality projects, including diversificationprojects. Whether a contract is offered in a particular case will depend on thequality and potential impact of the proposal: we will support only the bestproposals which deliver worthwhile outcomes for the rural economy.

This information is notheld.