Chamber and committees

The following table shows how much from the Energy Saving Scotland home renewables grants budget was spent on grants for electricity and heat generating technologies in each of the last three years.

Technology Type	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Heat	£1,888,623	£2,030,486	£2,256,158
Electricity	£195,285	£210,354	£296,633

 

Local plans and progress on improving outcomes for disabled people are described in single outcome agreements (SOAs) between the Scottish Government and community planning partnerships.

The Community Care Outcomes Framework, published in December 2008, also underpin the SOAs to help partnerships understand how to secure better outcomes for people who use care services.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-34435 on 24 June 2010. 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.

In respect of 2009, the Government paid out £687 million in support for farming, funded from both the EU and Scottish Government budgets. The Government has streamlined application procedures under the Scotland Rural Development Programme, and also brought forward into 2009 and 2010 around £25 million of support for farm business development, from the later years of the programme. Around £330 million supporting 4,500 projects has now been committed under the Rural Priorities scheme, for farms and other rural businesses and organisations. 325 farms have taken advantage of a government-subsidised strategic review of their business under the Whole Farm Review Scheme. For hill farms, the government has introduced successive changes for 2009, 2010 and 2011 which will increase payment rates to active farmers in the most vulnerable areas by 38%. For the longer term, the government has appointed a committee of inquiry chaired by Brian Pack OBE to make recommendations on the future shape of farm support in Scotland. The government has also introduced a range of complementary measures under our food and drink policy, seeking to enhance consumer demand for, and the premium status of, Scottish produce.

In Scotland, Total Income From Farming (TIFF), at current prices without inflation, was:

£442 million in 2005

£567 million in 2006

£663 million in 2007

£608 million in 2008

£589 million in 2009.

The Ayrshire Power application for a Multi-Fuel Power Station at Hunterston was received on 2 June 2010. The application is currently with consultees, including North Ayrshire Council as the relevant planning authority, as per the normal process. The consultation is due to end on 1 October, after which Scottish ministers will carefully consider consultees'' responses alongside all representations in line with statutory requirements. The determination of applications for such large energy projects is a complex undertaking which spans many and varied issues, and as such it is not possible to commit to an exact timeline, nevertheless Scottish ministers will deal with the application as promptly as is practically possible.

Information on waste arisings is detailed in the Scottish Government Environmental Performance: Annual Report 2008-09, published on 21 May 2010. Copies of the report are available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 50874).

Figures in respect of food waste are not held as it is not currently possible to disaggregate volumes of food waste that are included within the general waste stream. We will be holding discussions with our new waste management contractor shortly to see what improvements can be made to the waste data that we receive. Additionally a six month pilot project will shortly begin at Victoria Quay to assess the feasibility of removing food and other suitable wastes from the general waste stream for composting. If successful the initiative will enable a reduction in our waste arisings being sent to landfill in line with the Zero Waste Plan.

It is not the role of the commercial sector to minimise waste arising in the public sector.

The Zero Waste Plan for Scotland sets out a Number of actions that will be implemented to address all waste arisings, irrespective of the sector in which it arises. These actions include development of a Waste Prevention Programme, in line with the EU Waste framework Directive, in order to place prevention at the heart of Zero Waste policy.

Scottish Government is taking forward a number of actions under the Zero Waste Plan that will encourage the commercial sector to recycle more. Key actions include the development of a Waste Prevention Programme, introduction of a 70% recycling target for all of Scotland''s waste and new legislative measures that will place restrictions on the wastes that can be landfilled or go for incineration.

Additionally, Zero Waste Scotland will be working to identify key waste streams and sectors, including the commercial sector, with a view to establishing sector-specific programmes of work to help deliver the Zero Waste Plan.

Information on the percentage of public sector waste recycled is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government has a target to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill by recycling 80% of the total waste it produces as an organisation, by 2011. There are also targets to reduce total waste by 10% by March 2011 (this has already been met), and by 25% by 2020, relative to 2006-07 levels.

In the Scottish Government''s Environmental Performance Annual Report for 2008-09, it was reported that 73% of all waste was recycled over that period. In addition, waste arisings also dropped by 2%.