Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21461 on 10 March 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21461 on 10 March 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.

The recovery and disposal of CFCs in demolition waste forms part of a European Commission proposal to recast and amend the existing EC Regulation covering the elimination of man-made ozone-depleting substances (ODSs). The Scottish Government is working with the UK Government, SEPA, the Scottish Building Standards Agency, industry and other stakeholders to assess methods for recovery/disposal of materials containing ODSs from buildings that are being demolished.

Quantifying the amount of embodied ODSs in buildings in the form of building foams is difficult due to lack of clear trade data. Most foams form part of the fabric of existing buildings and as such, the bulk of ODSs used in building foams continue to be locked in the foam. The importance of quantifying the emissions arising from building materials and assessing the level of threat posed is acknowledged. The Scottish Government supports the UK Government''s position that the European Commission is best placed to undertake this work.

The classification of waste as hazardous or otherwise is not a matter for the Scottish Government. Waste is hazardous if it displays one or more of the hazardous properties listed in Annex III of the revised Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC), which replicates almost exactly Annex III of the Hazardous Waste Directive (91/689/EC). Application of these provisions is a matter for SEPA. SEPA gives guidance on the likely hazardous properties of ODS, and similar issues of interest to the construction industry, at:

http://www.sepa.org.uk/waste/waste_regulation/guidance_and_position_statemen.aspx.

The Special Waste Regulations 1996, which govern the removal of hazardous waste, are enforced by SEPA. However, a substance does not become waste until it is discarded, or its holder intends to or is required to discard it. Waste regulation is irrelevant to standing buildings: the Waste Framework Directive specifically excludes from its scope land (in situ) including unexcavated contaminated soil and buildings permanently connected with land. The removal of ODSs for recovery or disposal following demolition is, however, subject to the 1996 Regulations. The safety or otherwise of the act of demolition is a matter for the Health and Safety Executive, a reserved matter.

The actual disposal or recovery of hazardous waste is also covered by a variety of environmental regulatory regimes, notably the Landfill (Scotland) Regulations 2003, the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994, and the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000.

Monitoring the environmental impact of waste and the regulation of landfill operations, including gatekeeping procedures, are matters for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

A local community comprising a settlement of up to 10,000 people can register a community interest in land (and assets such as a sports ground and its related facilities). This threshold is applied by the Community Right to Buy (Definition of Excluded Land) (Scotland) Order 2006, which lists the settlements where the right to buy cannot be exercised.

To be eligible to apply, a community body must comply with section 34 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. If the sports ground and related facilities are already on the market, the community would need to submit a late application to register its interest under section 39 of the act.

The Scottish Government recognises and promotes national awareness days internally through communication with staff, and externally through statements of support from ministers. We currently consider which events to recognise and promote on a case-by-case basis.

Yes.

During the 2008 Christmas Season, Disclosure Scotland has been able to identify 17 applications for people being employed to represent Father Christmas and his assistants.

Each year during November and December, Disclosure Scotland places guidance on its website to be used by all organisations employing people to represent Father Christmas and his assistants.

The information requested is not separately recorded for enhanced disclosures. However, information about the average processing time for a standard or enhanced disclosure issued during each month can be provided. The average turnaround time for standard and enhanced certificates issued in October, November and December 2008 was 14.2 days, 17 days and 18.8 days respectively. Disclosure Scotland has a service level agreement to issue 90% of all applications where no further enquiries are needed within 14 calendar days.

In October last year, a major IT change to implement a disaster recovery solution was made to the workflow system that supports the work of Disclosure Scotland. The change caused the system performance of the automated work steps to slow down the progress of cases from one step of the process to the next, resulting in bottlenecks and backlogs, and worsening turnaround times.

We have taken action to address this matter and there has been gradual improvement in turnaround times to the extent that at week ending 8 February 2009 the average turnaround time for standard and enhanced certificates was 18.1 days.