Chamber and committees

Scottish Planning Policy sets out that Planning Authorities should identify and afford the appropriate level of protection to international, national and locally designated areas in development plans, and those plans should set out the factors that will be taken into account in determining a planning application.

Further to this, it is Scottish Government policy to apply the same level of protection for Ramsar sites as is applied for Special Protection Areas classified under the EU Birds Directive. This policy commitment to Ramsar sites is set out on the Scottish Government’s web site at www.gov.scot/Topics/Environment/Wildlife-Habitats/protectedareas/ramsar .

All Ramsar sites in Scotland are also Natura 2000 sites and / or Sites of Special Scientific Interest and are protected under the associated statutory regimes for which guidance and advice is provided by Scottish Natural Heritage. Further, it is Scottish Government policy to apply the same level of protection for Ramsar sites as is applied for Special Protection Areas classified under the EU Birds Directive.

Where a planning authority is minded to grant planning permission, they are required to notify Ministers in relation to development which has the potential to affect:

(a) a Site of Special Scientific Interest where the site has been notified to the planning authority by Scottish Natural Heritage or its predecessors under section 23 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 or section 3 and section 5 of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004;

(b) a European site as defined in regulation 10 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994;

(c) a site which has been announced by the Scottish Ministers as a proposed Special Protection Area or proposed Special Area of Conservation, or

(d) an area designated by the Scottish Ministers (or a previous Secretary of State) as a wetland of international importance in accordance with the 1971 Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as a waterfowl habitat (The Ramsar Convention);

Where Scottish Natural Heritage, on being consulted by the planning authority has indicated that the development may adversely affect such a site and has advised against granting planning permission, or has recommended conditions which the planning authority does not propose to attach to the planning permission.

This allows Ministers the opportunity to decide whether to call in an application for their own determination or to return it to the Council to issue the decision

As the Council is minded to grant consent for the Coul Links application, and there is an objection from Scottish Natural Heritage, the case has been notified to Ministers. Notification gives Ministers the opportunity to decide whether there are national interests at stake which would merit Ministers calling in the application for their own determination. The Minister for Local Government and Housing will consider the details of this case and decide whether Ministers should call in the application for their determination, or clear it back to The Highland Council.

The Scottish Government has made no investments at St Margaret’s Hope or Gills Bay in each year since 2006.

The northbound Caledonian Sleeper service to Inverness currently conveys up to six bicycles. Southbound, however, it can convey only three bicycles, to make room for boxes of local seafood. The brand new Caledonian Sleeper trains - to be introduced on the Inverness route during spring 2019 - will convey up to ten bicycles in each direction.

CalMac Ferries Ltd have provided the undernoted table detailing harbour dues paid in respect of Scrabster and Stromness between 2006 and 2012.

We have had no recent discussions with the UK Government on this matter, following its publication of relevant guidance in June 2017.

Scottish Ministers have written to the Home Secretary following publication of our further powers paper, Scotland’s Population Needs and Migration Policy, seeking a meeting to discuss how the migration system could meet Scotland’s distinct needs.

We remain very concerned of the importance of a cap on migration, which does not reflect Scotland's needs, as we are aware the Tier 2 cap is causing great difficulties to employers in meeting emerging skill gaps that cannot be through local recruitment.

Transport Scotland officials have had a number of meetings with representatives of both Western Ferries and Pentland Ferries since 2011. These have been both formal and informal and covered a variety of different issues.

Gordon Ross, Managing Director of Western Ferries, is also a member of the Scottish Government's Expert Ferry Group, which has met ten times since 2013.

In November 2017, Crown Estate Scotland (Interim Management) announced their intention to run a further leasing round for commercial scale offshore wind energy. In accordance with Scotland’s National Marine Plan, the spatial locations for such a round will be identified through a Sectoral Marine Planning process. Marine Scotland, as Planning Authority for Scotland’s seas, is currently undertaking this process. It will be informed by strategic environmental, social and economic assessments and will build on previous assessments which included opportunities for marine sectors of interest to provide information on possible impacts. The social and economic assessment, including scenario mapping, will consider the potential impacts and opportunities on stakeholders and sectors currently operating in Scotland’s seas.

The offshore wind plan development process will take some time to complete and will involve consultation and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders and the public. A draft sectoral marine plan, and associated assessments, are expected to be published for statutory consultation in the first half of 2019. We intend to produce the Final Plan in late 2019, although this timescale is subject to the responses received during the statutory consultation and any subsequent process for revising the draft plan.

Discussions between Marine Scotland officials and Crown Estate Scotland (Interim Management) have taken place and are ongoing on the timescales envisaged for the forthcoming leasing round for commercial scale offshore wind and the sectoral marine planning process.

The Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy has met with the Industry co-chair of the Offshore Wind Industry Council on a number of occasions to discuss the content of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal and ensure Scottish interests are represented. As a result of these conversations, the Scottish Government will be part of the UK Government’s working group to evaluate the sector deal in due course.

Marine Scotland officials have presented on the sectoral marine planning process at two Crown Estate Scotland (Interim Management) workshops on the 24 and 29 of June in London and Edinburgh respectively.