Chamber and committees

The Scottish Land Commission was asked to run two initial workshops for the project partners in order to inform partners about the policy context, expectations and guidance for community engagement and benefit and consider how these are built into the way the partners will operate. No decisions on community benefit, engagement and ownership have yet been taken as the design phase for each project will engage with relevant local community groups, including those involved locally in ownership of land, to design an approach to community benefit which works for the communities local to each project. This will explore community benefit, community engagement and options for community ownership, where an opportunity for transfer of ownership, or shared ownership, exists. Notes from the workshops can be made available on request.

Scottish Government officials are not involved in the detail of the individual pilot projects, nor engagement with land managers. In both pilot projects the project team includes local delivery partners such as the Tweed Forum, who will be making introductions to land owners and land managers, not NatureScot.

The Scottish Government continues to make progress to deliver on the Programme for Government commitment to develop a framework for Scotland which effectively tackles and challenges men’s demand for prostitution, and to support those with experience of it.

Principles to underpin the Framework were published in December 2022. The principles have been adopted across Scottish Government and we will look to have them incorporated within the planned refresh of Equally Safe, Scotland’s strategy to take action on all forms of violence against women and girls. The principles will also inform relevant policy and practice across the wider public and third sector, in turn supporting Scotland’s collective approach to tackling Commercial Sexual Exploitation.

The key focus throughout 2023 will be to use the principles to define the component parts of a Framework that will improve access to support for any adult with experience of prostitution, and at the same time challenge men’s demand. We anticipate being able to outline the component parts of the framework before the end of the year.

As with the development of the principles, we will continue to work with stakeholders as this work progresses and keep them advised of progress.

The Scottish Government has statutory requirements in the UK Marine Strategy to develop and implement pathway action plans to reduce the risk of introduction and spread of invasive non-native species (INNS), and to improve monitoring and surveillance to detect new non-indigenous species (or INNS) introductions, particularly at high-risk locations. The Scottish Government provides significant funding to tackle INNS, for example this includes part funding the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative, which is an ambitious £3.24 million partnership project tackling invasive non-native species alongside rivers and water courses.

Scottish Ministers, NatureScot, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and Scottish Forestry have statutory powers to enforce the Wildlife and Countryside Act UK (1981), using the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act (2011), which make it a criminal offence to release, plant or cause a species to be outwith its native range. This applies across all aquatic environments.

There is a wide range of legislation which applies to the Scottish Government to protect Scotland’s wildlife and habitats, including specific duties which fall on individual authorities to protect, conserve and restore the protected habitats and species of European sites.

NatureScot’s role as set out in the Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 1991 includes securing the conservation and enhancement of the natural heritage of Scotland. All public bodies have a duty under Section 1 of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 to further the conservation of biodiversity when carrying out their work, where appropriate and in line with the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity.

Furthermore, for Scotland’s terrestrial and marine environments, the requirements of in the Habitats Directive and the Wild Birds Directive apply, setting out the rules for the protections and management of certain habitats and species, including wild bird species, to ensure their long term conservation.

For example, under Regulation 3A of the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) Regulations 1994, Scottish Ministers and NatureScot must take steps in the exercise of their functions to preserve, maintain and re-establish sufficient diversity and area of habitat for wild birds in Scotland.

While there is no explicit legal duty on the Scottish Ministers or its agencies to increase species abundance, this does form one of the key outcomes envisaged in the draft Scottish Biodiversity Strategy https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-biodiversity-strategy-2045-tackling-nature-emergency-scotland/ . The protected areas networks on land and sea includes sites for nature conservation, protection of biodiversity, demonstrating sustainable management and protecting our heritage. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Special Ares of Protection (SPAs), Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) are just a few examples of the protected areas designated under retained European Law, UK and Scottish legislation by Scottish Ministers which go to form a network of protected sites. These sites ensure protection for some of the most vulnerable species and habitats within Scotland.

There is no statutory duty on the Scottish Government to achieve a biodiversity net gain.

Scotland’s draft biodiversity strategy published in December 2022 sets out a clear ambition for Scotland to be nature positive by 2030, and to have substantially restored and regenerated biodiversity by 2045. Five year delivery plans will set out the actions we need to take to achieve that ambition. We will consult on the first delivery plan in the summer. We will also bring forward a Natural Environment Bill, which will put in place key legislative changes to restore and protect nature, including, but not restricted to, targets for nature restoration.

The National Planning Framework also places a strong emphasis on securing positive effects for biodiversity as one of its six statutory outcomes (as identified in section 3A(3)(c) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, as amended). The recently adopted National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) includes a cross-cutting theme to improve biodiversity and our strategy and policies support development that helps to secure positive effects for biodiversity. NPF4 Policy 3 sets out that development proposals will contribute to the enhancement of biodiversity, including where relevant, restoring degraded habitats and building and strengthening nature networks.

Preparing for Sustainable Farming (PSF) provides funding to farmers to undertake soil testing and analysis. Preparing and implementing a nutrient management plan on the basis of results encourages balanced fertiliser use for all plant nutrients. In addition, the Scottish Government-funded Farm Advisory Service (FAS ) offers a significant amount of high quality advice and support on a range of topics, the vast majority of which is free to the user. This includes the Soil and Nutrient Network, which is considering how to protect and improve farm soils and make the best use of both organic and inorganic fertilisers, saving money, benefitting yields and improving farm efficiency and resilience.

The relevant statutory requirements for land managers fall under the Action Programme for Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (Scotland) Regulations 2008 and the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (CAR) General Binding Rule 18 – Storage and application of fertilisers.

Objectives/ targets for improving the water environment in relation to phosphorus and nitrogen impacts are set through River Basin Management Planning.

SEPA is responsible for monitoring phosphorus and nitrogen in the water environment. RPID audits farms for compliance with Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) requirements and there are penalties through the cross compliance scheme for non-compliance. SEPA enforces CAR through its priority catchment work and other regulatory activities and can serve fixed penalty notices on land managers for non-compliance or in severe cases take a case to the Procurator Fiscal for prosecution. There can potentially be cross compliance penalties for breaches of CAR GBRs as well.

Natural Flood Management (NFM) is one of a range of measures available to manage flood risk, however, it is a matter for individual local authorities to work with their communities to determine which solutions would best manage flood risk in their areas. As a result, the Scottish Government does not have any specific targets for the use of NFM.

We are committed to promoting and advancing our understanding of NFM projects and as part of this commitment we are funding the long term Eddleston Water research project and the Allan Water improvement project. These projects are helping to develop an evidence base to improve our understanding of NFM and will help stakeholders to understand its potential value as an alternative flood prevention measure. Evidence produced from these projects have indicated that NFM can help to delay flood peaks, deliver multiple environmental benefits and help mitigate the impacts of climate change.

As set out in the Programme for Government 2022-23 (A Stronger & More Resilient Scotland) the Scottish Government is committed to consulting on a new flooding strategy for Scotland, including how we can build community flood resilience and engage a broader range of delivery partners to deliver more diverse flood management actions, such as NFM, faster.

While the Scottish Government does not currently have targets directly relating to soil health, I would refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17413 on 9 May 2023 which provides our current restoration target for peatland soils. The Scottish Government is committed to improving soil health, as shown by the programmes and strategies that contribute to wider soil health both directly and indirectly which contribute to our commitment to becoming a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture. These include our Agriculture Reform Programme, Peatland Restoration Programme, the second Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme, the draft Biodiversity Strategy, the Land Use Strategy and the National Planning Framework 4.

Soil health is important for the delivery of our Vision for Agriculture. Preparing for Sustainable Farming under the National Test Programme supports a range of measures including funding for farmers and crofters to undertake soil testing and personal development to improve nutrient planning and nutrient management which will help promote sustainable management of soils. We also support farmers, crofters and land managers with tools, skills, and knowledge to manage and improve their soils through a range of initiatives, for example: Farming for a Better Climate and its farmer-led soil regenerative agriculture network, Scotland’s Farm Advisory Service, the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund and the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The River Basin Management Plans are the key tools for implementing the European Community (EC)’s Water Framework Directive (WFD) .The regulations cover rivers, lochs, transitional waters (estuaries), coastal waters groundwater, and groundwater dependant wetlands. This legislation became law in Scotland as the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 (WEWS Act) and covers activities such as discharges to the water environment, abstractions, and physical works in rivers and lochs that can threaten the water environment and the animals and people that rely on it.

The Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 – more commonly known as the Controlled Activity Regulations (CAR) – and their further amendments of 2013 and 2017 apply regulatory controls over activities which may affect Scotland’s water environment.

Scotland’s third River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) set statutory objectives to protect and improve Scotland’s water environment by 2027. These objectives are based on ecological assessments and economic judgments. The regulations cover all types of water body, e.g. rivers, lochs, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters and groundwater.

This RBMP builds on previous RBMPs published in 2009 and 2015, setting revised objectives for the period from 2021 to the end of 2027 and providing a programme of actions for achieving the objectives. While, 66% of Scotland’s overall water environment meets ‘good’ ecological status, the RBMP objectives for the 2021-27 period, and the associated work programme aims to ensure that 81% of Scotland’s water bodies achieve a ‘good’ or better classification by 2027 and continue to improve as natural conditions recover beyond that date.

This RBMP sets out a framework for protecting and improving the water environment across Scotland. The Scottish Government, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), responsible authorities and all of Scotland’s other public bodies are responsible for developing and implementing the RBMP. Detailed information about the RBMP can be found in the water environment hub . It provides information on each waterbody, pressures, measures and the objectives (targets) that we have set.

SEPA is responsible for monitoring, assessing and classifying Scotland’s water environment including coastal waters and Shellfish Water Protected Areas. The classification data is available to the public online at the water classification hub . The Scottish Budget has allocated nearly £3 million to improvement of the water environment in 2023-24.