Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has held no discussions with either the Office of Surveillance Commissioners or Police Scotland regarding the use of drones.

The regulation of airspace is a reserved matter. The Civil Aviation Authority is directed by the UK Parliament to manage UK airspace in the Transport Act 2000 and the Civil Aviation (Air Navigation) Directions issued by the Department for Transport.

The public bodies which are able to authorise covert surveillance are provided in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act.

Regulation of airspace is reserved to the UK Parliament. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is directed by the UK Parliament to manage UK airspace in the Transport Act 2000 and the Civil Aviation (Air Navigation) Directions issued by the Department for Transport. In January 2010 the CAA introduced regulations that require operators of small unmanned aircraft used for aerial work purposes and those equipped for data acquisition and/or surveillance to obtain permission from the CAA before commencing a flight within a congested or in proximity to people or property.

Surveillance is an operational matter for Police Scotland. Where that surveillance is covert, Police Scotland must comply with the requirements of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000.

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 applies to surveillance that is covert and is undertaken for the purpose of a specific investigation or operation; in such a manner as is likely to result in the obtaining of private information about an individual; and otherwise then by way of an immediate response to events or circumstances.

Suitable provision for non-motorised users, including cyclists, is an important part of the A96 dualling programme. The preferred option for the A96 Inverness to Nairn (including Nairn Bypass) was announced on 3 October 2014. Non-motorised user facilities will be developed as part of the design development of the preferred option, including consultation with relevant local interest groups.

The Scottish Government expects to appoint a design consultant early next year to take forward the design, assessment and promotion of the preferred option for the scheme with a view to publishing draft Orders and Environmental Statement in 2016 for formal public comment and feedback.

The use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act is subject to continual and ongoing assessment by the independent Office of Surveillance Commissioners.

Prior to the establishment of Skills Development Scotland (SDS), Get Ready for Work (GRfW) was delivered by Scottish Enterprise (SE) and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). In the SE area GRfW included ‘lifeskills’ provision to support those needing additional help towards employment which HIE did not include within their GRfW provision. Following the establishment of SDS, enhanced rates were paid to providers in the HIE area to support the transition from the HIE administered GRfW programme to include a lifeskills component which had not previously been available.

This enhancement was discontinued when the Employability Fund was introduced. The development of the Employability Fund identified the opportunity to achieve increased progressions for participants towards and into employment through better alignment of funded provision at a national and regional level. The aim of the fund is to improve learner progressions along the skills and employability pipeline by funding provision which:

Is responsive to differing client needs, employer demand and other funded training at regional level;

Enables learners to demonstrate their achievements to employers; and

Applies funding levels which better reflect learner, rather than learning provider, requirements.

A wide range of Scottish Government policies have the potential to influence land use and food production. In 2011, the Scottish Government published Scotland's first Land Use Strategy, which sets out a number of objectives and principles in support of achieving a better integrated strategic approach to land use. The strategy was based on extensive stakeholder consultation, and the Scottish Government has continued to work with stakeholders and a range of interested parties on its implementation, including with Aberdeenshire Council and Scottish Borders Council who are piloting regional land use frameworks. The Scottish Government has a number of policies in place to support the effective, efficient and sustainable production of food, and in particular has lobbied the European Union to ensure that the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy does not lose sight of food production as the central purpose of agriculture.

The Scottish Government’s policy is that property holdings, including land, should be kept under regular review. As part of our forthcoming consultation on land reform we are exploring ways to ensure public sector land is proactively managed in the public interest, to ensure land under our control delivers the best economic, social and environmental outcomes.

Where property is identified as surplus it should be sold by one of the following methods: obtaining the best possible price on the open market, disposing of the property at less than market value in order to deliver wider public benefits consistent with the principles of best value, or by transferring the property to another public sector body under the Guidelines for the Transfer of Property within the Scottish Public Sector.

Rural communities already have a right to register an interest in land under the community right to buy and the Scottish Government have made proposals to the Scottish Parliament, through the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill, that this should be extended to all communities across Scotland. The Scottish Government have also, through this Bill, proposed new powers for communities to request the transfer of any land owned or leased by a public sector authority, including land owned or leased by the Scottish Ministers.

The Minister for Local Government and Planning has stated (in a letter to the Local Government and Regeneration Committee dated 6 November 2014) that he believes there is benefit in requiring authorities subject to such requests to publish registers of assets, and officials are considering how such a requirement should be constructed.

In May 2014, the Minister for Environment and Climate Change also announced that Registers of Scotland had been asked to prepare to complete Scotland's land register within 10 years, with all public land registered within five years. Work is underway across the Scottish Government to do so.

The Scottish Government would welcome discussions with any community interested in taking ownership of land currently under the control or ownership of the Scottish Ministers.