Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00298 on 14 June 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

We have spent £85.6 million (excluding VAT) with our main IT delivery partner.

We have also spent approximately £15.5 million (excluding VAT) on other external contractors to support the programme through the Scottish Government procurement framework.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00171 on 3 June 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government is currently considering what next steps would be most helpful in terms of any potential wider issues arising from the recent Edinburgh school closures, taking into account the City of Edinburgh Council’s plans to undertake a review over the coming months.

Fines from the EU can take the form of late payment penalties or disallowance for inaccurate calculations.

Our focus continues to remain 100 per cent on getting payments out to farmers and crofters ahead of the EU’s deadline of 30 June 2016.

On the topic of disallowance for inaccurate payments or inadequate controls, all the decisions that have been taken in the CAP Futures programme, for example on prioritisation, use of contingency arrangements, have been based around minimising the risk of disallowance.

The Scottish Government remains committed to taking forward consultation on proposals for minimum energy efficiency standards during this parliamentary session.

The setting of standards is one of the key elements of the ongoing development of Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme. The Scottish Government is considering the appropriate timing for consultation within that context.

Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme, the cornerstone of the national infrastructure priority, is in its development phase and is building on our existing energy efficiency and heat generation programmes. In January 2016 we made available up to £14 million to councils to support pilot projects to test different and more integrated approaches to energy efficiency. As well as supporting programme development these projects will deliver actual energy efficiency improvements to homes and non-domestic premises, helping tackle fuel poverty and reduce emissions. We expect awards to be made later in June 2016.

Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme will play a central role in reducing energy demand in the built environment. It will form an important component of the Scottish Government’s forthcoming energy strategy, as well as the development of the Third Report on Proposals and Policies (RPP3) which will set out how the climate change annual targets up to 2032 will be met.

We are listening to a wide range of stakeholders as we develop Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme, the new energy strategy, and RPP3. An initial stakeholder event took place in December 2015. We have also set up the short life Fuel Poverty Strategic Working Group and the Rural Fuel Poverty Task Force. Both groups will report their findings by end of 2016 and their recommendations will provide important inputs to the programme’s development.

The official statistic (which was published by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) on 13 May 2016) is based on the results of Site Condition Monitoring (SCM), a six-year rolling programme monitoring the condition of natural features on protected areas. The condition of an individual feature is determined by assessing conditions on the ground against a series of targets which are set such that if all targets are met the feature will be able to sustain itself under current management and wider environmental influences for the foreseeable future. There are three main categories of assessed condition:

Favourable: all targets are met (currently 66.6% of all features)

Unfavourable recovering: one or more targets have not been met, but management is in place to promote recovery to favourable, given sufficient time (currently 6.2% of all features)

Unfavourable: one or more targets have not been met and recovery is unlikely without some form of management intervention.

The protocols which have been established since the National Performance Indicator (NPI) was established in 2007, which since 2011 has also been an official statistic, is that the favourable category for reporting would include both assessed Favourable and assessed unfavourable recovering, the latter on the basis that all measures are in place for favourable condition.

Additionally, because SNH does not have the resources to do a SCM assessment on all features on protected areas during a six-year cycle, there could be a prolonged period (up to 18 years) where changes in management to improve an unfavourable feature would not be recognised in the official statistic report, despite the feature improving. Therefore, if management action has been put in place for unfavourable features since the last SCM assessment which in SNH’s judgement will lead to favourable condition, an interim measure is reported for the official Statistic as unfavourable recovering due to management (currently 7.6% of all features) and this is treated in the same way as unfavourable recovering.

Therefore, the 80.4% of features reported as in favourable condition for the purposes of the official statistic/NPI is a combination of:

Assessed favourable, assessed unfavourable recovering and unfavourable recovering due to management. The basis of calculation and reporting is the same as has been in place and reported since 2007.

 

The breakdown is explicitly shown in the official statistic publication at:

http://www.snh.gov.uk/docs/A1959320.pdf

The Scottish Cabinet is the forum for consideration of key policy issues, including major cross-cutting issues such as climate change, and decisions on whether to delegate responsibility for specific issues to a cabinet sub-committee is a matter for the cabinet.

While no decision has yet been made by the incoming cabinet, the new appointment of a cabinet secretary for environment, climate change and land reform will ensure that the challenge of climate change is addressed at the highest level of government.

Development of the third report on proposals and policies is underway. Our approach builds on existing evidence, including research, analysis and experience of how emissions reduction measures have worked in practice, and advice from the independent Committee on Climate Change.

To support consideration of proposals and policies, the Scottish Government commissioned an energy modelling system (TIMES) which provides insight into future technologies and is being used to build scenarios for achieving Scotland’s climate change targets.

We will also be engaging with the public to understand their feelings and thoughts about climate change, through the use of climate change conversations.