Chamber and committees

The work of the Sustainable Seas Task Force is now complete, having fulfilled its remit to input into the development of Scottish Government’s consultation proposals for a Scottish marine bill. There is no final report of the task force’s work but the papers are available on the Scottish Government web pages. The work is being incorporated into the consultation document which will issue in the summer.

Progress is being made on realising the renewable capability across the public sector in a number of ways:

Through the Scottish Government''s Leading By Example programme we are ensuring all parts of the public sector play an exemplary role in pioneering new greener behaviours. Generating more sustainable low carbon energy through renewables is an important element of the programme.

We have recently widened the Central Energy Efficiency Fund to allow public bodies to invest in renewable technologies.

To ensure the public sector has better access to grants for renewables we are more actively promoting the UK Government''s Low Carbon Buildings Programme and we have increased funding under own renewables grants programme.

We are introducing dedicated Schools Development Officers to support the deployment of renewable technologies in Scotland''s schools.

The National Contract for Electricity is seeking to establish a national feed in tariff for public sector bodies who generate electricity from onsite renewables.

Changes to the Energy Standards of Scottish Building Regulations and SPP6: Planning Guidance also encourage the use of renewable technologies in new public buildings to meet improved carbon emissions levels.

Both I and the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing have met with representatives of COSLA on a number of occasions to discuss matters relevant to poverty and social justice, including housing, health inequalities and the new Fairer Scotland Fund.

Moreover, Scottish Government officials meet regularly with COSLA representatives to discuss the Government''s approach to tackling poverty, deprivation and inequality. COSLA are full partners in the development of our new Anti-Poverty Framework due for publication later this year, and our officials discussed that with the COSLA anti-poverty officers group on 21 May.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has published indicative maps showing land at risk of flooding, where the risk is judged to be 0.5% or greater probability of being flooded in any given year at http://www.sepa.org.uk/flooding/mapping/index.htm.

Under proposals in the forthcoming Flooding bill, SEPA will map areas at significant risk of flooding taking into account all sources of flooding such as fluvial, coastal, pluvial and sewer flooding.

The Scottish Government does not maintain a specific budget to support research aimed at preventing flood risk. Expenditure is made from a £1.6 million per annum resource that provides research and evidence in support of flooding policy, including the flooding bill and transposition of the EC directive on the assessment and management of flood risks.

Planning for emergencies, including recovery from such incidents, is primarily a matter for local responders, as defined under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, to whom the Scottish Government will provide appropriate support. Scottish Resilience has sponsored a current project to develop guidance for those charged with the care of people affected by emergencies. The guidance will propose management arrangements for co-ordinating multi-agency response to the personal needs of victims of all individuals affected by emergencies. Funding will be made available for the implementation of the guidance.

The responsibility for insuring homes against flood damage rests with the owners and tenants. The Scottish Government can in certain circumstances also offer financial support under the Bellwin Scheme to a council or councils incurring eligible costs in dealing with a large scale emergency. This includes those incurred in safeguarding life and property, and preventing suffering or severe inconvenience in a local authority''s area or among its inhabitants. Requests for further financial assistance for public bodies faced with a material unexpected financial burden in dealing with such an incident would be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The Scottish Government has requested the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to extend its current flood warning service by the introduction of an active flood warning dissemination programme, similar to the system which has been in operation for a number of years in England and Wales through the Environment Agency. This will introduce a service where registered members of the public and partner organisations will be contacted directly via a range of media. SEPA has furthermore been given by the Scottish Government £1.046 million over a three year period to provide a three hour minimum lead time to deliver flood warning to the catchment of the Rivers Dee, Don, Deveron and North Esk in North East Scotland.

The Scottish Government has also consulted on proposals to establish a new framework for the implementation of sustainable flood risk management in Scotland, and will be introducing a flooding Bill later this year. It has also just announced the opening of the Scotland Rural Development Programme which includes support for a number of natural flood management measures, and is working with the National Flood Forum to establish a presence in Scotland. The forum will work with SEPA to engage with communities to raise awareness of flooding.

Coast protection schemes have been carried out at the following sites in the last five years:

Site	Starting Year of Scheme	Finishing Year of Scheme	Cost £
Carnoustie	2003	2004	1,047,028.00
Wick	2004	2005	2,931,951.83
Stonehaven Bay	2006	2006	322,759.46
Aberdeen Bay	2006	2006	2,257,525.53

 

The Scottish Government has had no discussions with the North Sea Commission on this matter.