Chamber and committees

The Chief Executive of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is accountable to SEPA''s board. SEPA''s board, like other non-departmental public bodies'' boards, is appointed by ministers and accountable to Scottish ministers. The precise nature of the relationship is set out in the Environment Act 1995 and SEPA''s management statement.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-9048 on 25 February 2008. 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/webapp/wa.search.

Between 29 November and 14 December 2007, the First Minister, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and I raised various issues with officials including the Chief Planner in the Scottish Government about the facts surrounding letters received from parliamentarians from four different parties concerning the Aviemore planning applications and the need to check with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency whether there were any misunderstandings or matters of process that were unnecessarily delaying proper consideration of these applications>.

No minute was taken of my conversations with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency on 7 December 2007 in relation to the Aviemore planning applications.

No.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-9043 on 25 February 2008. 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/webapp/wa.search.

I had obtained advice from officials on the general position in relation to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency''s responses to the Aviemore planning applications. However, having received urgent representations from parliamentarians from four different parties expressing concern over these applications, I decided to contact the agency to check there were no misunderstandings or matters of process for SEPA that were unnecessarily holding up proper consideration of the applications. Such actions are wholly consistent with the desire of this administration to improve the process of government and to give a better service to the people of Scotland. I believe I would have been in dereliction of my duties as a minister had I not done so.

I first spoke to the Chief Executive of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency during the morning of Friday 7 December 2007. I spoke to the Agency again, in the person of its Chief Executive, some hours later when he updated me on the issues in questions.

The Minister for Community Safety, acting in his capacity as constituency MSP, met with representatives of Mr Donald Macdonald on a number of occasions.

Th Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism met respresentatives of  Mr Macdonald in Aviemore on 26 October 2007.

The Chief Planner considered that a call in would not have been appropriate.