Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is not aware of any monitoring that takes place with regards to the release of rehabilitated seals from rescue centres. However, advice from the Special Committee on Seals ( 2019 Report ) is that rehabilitated seals typically behave like wild seals shortly following release. Rehabilitated seals are released back into the wild close to the sites at which they were found. No non-native seals are released in Scotland.

The Scottish Government understands the important issue of emerging contaminates of concern and has been funding research in this area since 2016 through strategic research at the James Hutton Institute, the Centre of Expertise on Water (CREW), and the Hydro Nation Scholars programme. For example, these studies produced the first national assessment of pharmaceutical pollution in Scotland’s water environment, published in 2022, covering existing data on 60 pharmaceuticals between 2014 and 2019.

Building on the earlier studies described above, the Scottish Government continues to support active research, by investing £32m per year overall, under the current RESAS Strategic Research Programme 2022-2027, and the Centre of Expertise on Water. Current plans include work which will further develop the understanding of sources and levels of emerging contaminants in Scotland’s freshwaters and river sediments and recommend priorities and strategic approaches for future monitoring in Scotland.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is currently trialling a new water analysis technique and is considering which chemicals of emerging concern to Scotland’s environment should be built into its surveillance network. SEPA is working with various UK partner organisations to identify and prioritise chemicals of emerging concern in the environment.

For example, Scottish Water has worked in partnership with the SEPA for many years in the Chemical Investigation Programme (Scotland). Through environmental investigation this project identifies contaminants of concern, their sources and concentrations leaving the sewerage system and how they should be addressed in the most sustainable way.

SEPA’s grant in aid funding from Scottish Government has increased over the last five-year period from £34,936,000 to £41,406,000. SEPA determine the amount of resources allocated to water quality testing through their Annual Operating Plan in each year in agreement with the Scottish Government

SEPA Grant in Aid Funding

£34,963,000 in 2018-19

£34,425,000 in 2019-20

£37,098,000 in 2020-21

£44,449,000 in 2021-22

£41,406,000 in 2022-23

The initial phase of the pilot project is nearly complete. This early work has sought to understand how communities which have been affected by repeated water scarcity events should be identified, to establish the proximity to public water mains, to assess the network capacity and estimate the costs associated with extending the mains to potentially allow those on private water supplies to make a connection. Scottish Water has completed the studies for the pilot projects with final report expected soon. I will write to the Member to provide an update once I have considered the final report.

It is not possible for the Scottish Government to introduce legislation to mandate the provision of community benefits through energy regulation because the relevant powers are reserved to the UK Government. Through our existing guidance for onshore renewable developments, we continue to promote community benefits of the value equivalent to £5,000 per installed megawatt per annum, index linked for the operational lifetime of the project.

The Scottish Government is in the process of reviewing its Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Offshore Renewable Energy Developments. We will consult on revised draft guidance in Spring 2023, and as part of this process we will gather evidence to help inform the need for further updates to our Good Practice Principles for: Community Benefits from, and Shared Ownership of Onshore Renewable Energy Developments.

We are progressing the recommendations made in the independent Deer Working Group (DWG) report , published in December 2020. The DWG report made recommendations to improve deer management and included recommendations 19-21 which propose legislative amendments to modernise the licensing of venison dealers and improve information gathering. The Scottish Government response to the DWG report is at the following link: https://www.gov.scot/news/deer-working-group-response/ .

The recommendations relating to game and venison dealer licensing are being taken forward via the legislative work stream of the Deer Management Strategic Board which has been established under the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Programme. We will provide further information on timing of changes to the legislation on venison licensing in due course. We expect to consult on any proposed changes to primary legislation in the normal way.

Regular updates on all of the work from the Deer Management Strategic Board can be found at the following website: https://www.gov.scot/groups/strategic-deer-management-board/ .

The project group is currently made up of representatives from Scottish Government, Scottish Water, Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland, Consumer Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council, and have been selected based on their relevant experience in the water industry and with private water supplies. The Environmental Health Officers from Aberdeenshire Council bring a wealth of local knowledge about private water supplies as a result of their regulatory activities and efforts to deliver emergency supplies of bottled water to households whose private water supplies have run dry. They engage with and listen to local resilience groups through the wider council network and I would encourage local resilience groups that would like to be involved in the project to contact Aberdeenshire Council.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to review and update its Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy Developments (2019).

We are currently reviewing our Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Offshore Renewable Energy Developments (2015) and we intend to consult on the updated draft guidance next year. As part of the consultation process, we will also gather evidence to help inform the need for any further updates to the Scottish Government’s Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from, and Shared Ownership of, Onshore Renewable Energy Developments.

Local Authorities (LA) in Scotland are the main conduit to local communities to help them develop emergency resilience activities and plans.

LAs have a wide range of pre-identified venues in their areas, which can be used as rest or assistance centres that can be stood up quickly in response to prevailing weather conditions or other incidents. However I have asked Resilience Division Officials to look at ways the Scottish Government can support the enhancement of rest centres and community facilities used not only in a resilience response but also for uses below that threshold.

Regional and Local Resilience Partnerships (RRPs/LRPs) are the principal mechanisms for multi-agency co-ordination under The Civil Contingencies Act (2004).

The Scottish Government supports resilience partnerships through the provision of twelve staff across the three RRP areas. These RRP coordination teams support the development and maintenance of response arrangements which are reviewed and refreshed regularly, to ensure a timely and effective response should severe weather impact or other incidents occur which necessitate the setting up of rest or assistance centres.

LRPs, supported by SG Resilience Coordinators, carry out multi-agency exercises involving severe weather scenarios and plans for rest centres are tested with partners on a regular basis.

This activity is further supported by national guidance, resources and online learning through the Scottish Government emergency planning portal ready.scot which assists the public, community groups and the voluntary sector by raising awareness of emergency resilience structures and processes, helping them to understand how they can participate in an effective and joined up response.

Ready Scotland also includes a free online learning module which provides an overview of the steps that every community can take to become more resilient and to be well prepared for responding to an emergency. It also provides information on building strong connections with local responder organisations.

Throughout the winter, the Scottish Government will increase the amount of weather-related advice and information shared through digital channels to:

• Raise awareness of different emergency preparedness resources, guidance and information available from Scottish Government and partner agencies;

• Proactively promote this information to better equip individuals and communities to prepare for, deal with and recover from severe weather emergencies;

• Encourage individuals and communities to take proactive steps to reduce the risks and negative impacts before an emergency occurs, as well as how to stay informed and updated during an incident.

Providing advice in this way, even when the weather is not especially severe, will ensure that more people are aware of the support available to them and the steps to take in advance of, as well as during, an emergency.

The national Community Asset Register (CAR), hosted by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), is a Scotland wide database of voluntary sector assets which might help emergency response. SFRS continues to expand and develop the CAR on behalf of Scotland’s resilience community.

Local registers of assets belonging to the resilience community, already exist across Scotland. These registers of assets are being further developed and updated by our LRPs in response to the lessons from Storm Arwen.

Resilience of the Energy Sector is reserved and therefore the responsibility of the UK Government.

Power Companies are required to meet statutory obligations under the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 with respect to minimum clearances from overhead lines, wires and cables including minimum ground clearance requirements.

Under the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018, it is an offence to fell trees without first getting felling permission from Scottish Forestry. The clearance of windblown trees requires a Felling Permission (previously known as a Felling Licence), unless you qualify for an exemption:

• Trees pose an immediate danger to people, property, or infrastructure
• Windblown trees that are blocking roads

The Scottish Government contributed to the Storm Arwen Ofgem review ( Storm Arwen Report | Ofgem ) and support the recommendation that work is undertaken by the Energy Emergencies Executive Committee (E3C) to review current distribution and transmission network infrastructure standards and guidance, including those for vegetation management and overhead line designs, to identify economic and efficient improvements that could increase network resilience to severe weather events.