Chamber and committees

As outlined in the Scottish Government's draft Electricity Generation Policy Statement, from 9 November 2009 any application for a new coal plant will need to demonstrate CCS on a minimum of 300MW (net) of capacity from the first day of operation. Further new builds will, from 2020, be expected to have full CCS from their first day of operation.

SNH has recorded the deterioration of one or more features at 36 of the 153 Special Protection Areas (SPA) and 34 of the 239 Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) in Scotland in the last five years. Details have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 54110).

By March 2012, 77% of nature sites (including Sites of Special Scientific Interest) were assessed as being in a favourable condition, an increase from 71% in 2004. Where features are determined as being in unfavourable condition, SNH applies its “Remedies” process to identify the pressures and suitable remedial action. Mechanisms to deliver management change include collaboration through the Joint Working programme (for sites which have been surveyed and found to be in poor condition due to grazing and trampling impacts), applications for Scotland Rural Development Programme funding and voluntary changes in management. Case study examples demonstrating a range of actions to improve the condition of designated sites is available on the SNH website via the following web-link:

http://www.snh.gov.uk/docs/B730755.pdf

No compensation has been paid as a result of SPA or SAC deterioration.

SNH does not report changes in the condition of features on individual SPA or SAC sites to the European Commission. Reports under the requirements of the EC Habitats and Birds Directives are compiled at a UK level by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Further information is available via the following web-link:

http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=5327.

The Scottish Government has ensured that there is online planning guidance for planning authorities as well as scoping guidance for applications under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. This guidance sets out the requirement to assess security of supply for individual biomass applications.

The Wood Fuel Task Force’s second report reiterated the need to prioritise the use of biomass for renewable heat at a scale appropriate to local supply and concluded that there is no capacity to support further large scale electricity generation biomass plants from the domestic wood fibre resource.

That is why we are reviewing support for such plant and are lobbying UK Government to recognise the impacts of support for electricity only plant at a UK level.

Studies into Global biomass resource have been carried out at a UK level. The UK and Global Bioenergy Resource study was published in March 2011. It was produced by AEA on behalf of the UK Government.

The information requested is provided in the following table (it is not possible to provide estimates for 2012 as this year’s breeding season is still underway).

432 businesses have applied to the Low Carbon Skills Fund since the launch in October 2010 until 31 March 2012. The breakdown by local authority area is detailed in the following table.

227 businesses have received funding from the Low Carbon Skills Fund since its launch in October 2010 until 31 March 2012.

Number of LCFS applications claimed and value by Local Authority

£945,000 has been made available for the Low Carbon Skills Fund since its launch in October 2010 until 31 March 2012.

In the 15 month period between October 2010 and December 2011, training for 396 individual employees was supported by the Low Carbon Skills Fund. However, just over 1,400 training opportunities were supported under the fund in the 18 months since its launch in October 2010 until 31 March 2012. An individual may have benefited from more than one training opportunity.

The latest figures tracking the proportion of protected features in favourable condition were released by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) on 29 May 2012. They show that 77% of features at National (Sites of Special Scientific Interest), European (Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas) and international (Ramsar) levels were in favourable condition on 31 March 2012. The proportion of protected features on sites of special scientific interest in favourable condition by that date was 79%.

SNH is currently working on advice to the Scottish Government on options for the formulation of a new target under the updated national indicator: “to improve the condition of protected nature sites”. This indicator was updated as part of the refresh of the National Performance Framework in December 2011 with the aim of improving clarity and ensuring that indicators are underpinned by targets that are up to date and reflect the Scottish Government’s current priorities.

The information requested has been supplied by Scottish Natural Heritage and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 54061). No compensation has been paid in relation to the incidents and none of the incidents have been reported to the EU.