Chamber and committees

This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0924-01.htm

We are currently considering how best to support planning authorities in discharging their statutory duty under section 3F of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997.

Measures appropriate to minimise and mitigate any impacts of national developments on greenhouse gas emissions will be considered as part of our engagement with planning authorities and other delivery partners on the implementation of the National Planning Framework Action Programme.

We are currently engaging with lead partners and delivery bodies on the implementation of the strategy set out in the second National Planning Framework, as it has an important part to play in achieving greenhouse gas emission targets. We will consider the need to revise the National Planning Framework in accordance with the provisions of planning legislation.

We are reviewing permitted development rights and will consider this issue as part of that process. The current priorities of the review are householder development and microgeneration equipment.

The Scottish Government''s ScotAction initiative is a skills support package for leading Scotland out of recession and on to economic growth. To help reduce the rate and impact of unemployment across Scotland the Scottish Government has:

Changed the rules for Training for Work so that people are now able to access tailored, job-related training at the three months stage of unemployment. Employees on notice of redundancy can access this vocational training during the 90 day notification period.

Created an additional 3,150 Training for Work places to offer job-focused training that is suited to the needs of individuals and employers:

Introduced the Adopt an Apprentice scheme which provides £2,000 to employers willing to recruit a redundant apprentice to enable them to complete their training.

Provided £16 million to recruit and support an additional 7,800 apprentices in 2009. This funding supports a two for one offer for Life Sciences apprenticeships, creating job opportunities in a sector that is key to Scotland''s future economic growth.

Extended the eligibility to individual learning accounts (ILA) so that they can be accessed by more people. Through the ILA200 offer people can receive £200 a year to take part in short, flexible pieces of work-focused training. In addition, ILA500 provides a grant of £500 per year towards higher education study at college or university.

The Scottish Funding Council has made £7 million available to colleges throughout Scotland to support the training of people made redundant and Skills Development Scotland, with the support of £1.4 million European Social Funding, is doubling the number of careers advisers which will help an additional 4,600 individuals facing redundancy.

In addition, we are making best use of the European Social Fund to support individuals entering or remaining in work. In March, the Scottish Government announced £5.6 million for 33 projects supporting 7,000 people in the Highlands and Islands and in April the First Minister announced £24.1 million to fund 79 projects supporting 75,000 people in the rest of Scotland.

The potential impacts of the National Planning Framework (NPF) strategy and candidate national developments on greenhouse gas emissions were considered as part of the strategic environmental assessment of the second NPF (NPF2). The potential impacts of candidate national developments on greenhouse gas emissions were also considered as part of their assessment against the criteria for national developments announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth in September 2007.

The NPF2 Assessment Matrix of Candidate National Developments Against the National Development Criteria is the Government''s record of the assessment of suggested national developments against the criteria announced by the Cabinet Secretary and can be found on the Scottish Government''s NPF webpage at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/01/13143421/0.

All public sector plans, programmes and strategies that could have significant environmental effects require to be subjected to a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) under the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005. SEA includes consideration of climatic factors. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) (along with Scottish Natural Heritage and Historic Scotland) is a statutory Consultation Authority within the SEA process, and is therefore required to respond to outputs from the process. Carbon impacts will, where appropriate, also be an important part of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process for specific projects. SEPA is a Consultation Body under EIA Regulations.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-27075 on 22 September 2009. 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.

This would depend on the nature of the consents involved in a particular case. The range of potential material considerations is very wide and can only be determined in the context of each case, but may include carbon impact. It is for the decision maker to decide if a consideration is material and the weight to be attached to it when deciding whether to grant or refuse planning permission. The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 will place a duty on public bodies to exercise their functions in a way best calculated to contribute to the delivery of carbon reduction targets.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-27075 on 22 September 2009. 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.