Chamber and committees

The percentage of planning inquiriesin respect of wind farm proposals dealt with by the Scottish Executive Inquiry ReportersUnit (SEIRU) which resulted in appeals being allowed (approved) since 1 April 1999is shown in the following table.

Year	% Allowed
1999-2000	0
2000-01	0
2001-02	0
2002-03	0
2003-04	0
2004-05	0
2005-06	50

 

There have been only four delegatedwind farm appeals decided by public local inquiry since 1 April 1999. One appealwas dismissed in each of the years 2003-04,  2004-05 and 2005-06 and one was allowedin 2005-06.

The proposed bye-laws prohibitingoutdoor drinking in Fintry were delayed due to on-going discussions between the Scottish Executive and Stirling Council about the drafting of the bye-law.These discussions have now been resolved and the Scottish Executive hasinformed Stirling Council that they are content with the proposed bye-laws.

The Scottish Executive haveconfirmed to Stirling Council that they are content with the proposed byelaws. Thecouncil will now be able to advertise and make the bye-laws which will then besubmitted to the Scottish ministers for confirmation.

The latest available information(1 July 2006) shows that 141,724 non-domestic subjects qualify fora reduction in non-domestic rates under the Small Business Rates Relief Scheme (SBRRS).

The breakdown of these subjectsby potential percentage reduction is contained in the following table:

Subjects by Rateable Value Bandat 1 July 2006

Rateable Value	Number of Subjects	Potential SBRRS Discount1
Less than £3,5002	76,409	50%
£3,500 or above but under £4,500	13,933	40%
£4,500 or above but under £5,750	14,957	30%
£5,750 or above but under £7,000	10,630	20%
£7,000 or above but under £8,000	7,159	10%
£8,000 or above but less than or equal to £11,500	18,636	5%

Source: Scottish Assessors Association.

Notes:

1. The exact level of reliefdepends on:

(i) the total rateable valueof all subjects occupied by the rate-payer, and

(ii) whether or not the propertyis eligible for one of the existing non discretionary rate reliefs.

If a subject is eligible foran existing non discretionary rate reliefs then it already qualifies for at leasta 50 per cent rate relief which is why the small business rate relief is limitedto 5% in these circumstances.

2. Does not include subjectswith zero rateable value.

I shall reply to the member as soon as possible.

According to diary records,the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning has met the Chief Executiveof Scottish Enterprise on at least 14 occasions since 2003 (twice in 2003,twice in 2004, four times in 2005, and six times so far in 2006). The Chief Executive will also have been present at other meetings during this periodwhere the Chair and he were not the only invitees.

During the Squirrel conferenceI hosted in February this year I asked Scottish Natural Heritage and the ForestryCommission Scotland to form a working group to advise me how best to conserve thered squirrel population in Scotland and to prepare proposals for an action plan. I understandthat the group considered a range of possible approaches to grey squirrel controland that they concluded that a bounty scheme would not be able to achieve the necessarytargeting of effort and would not provide good value for the use of public money.The group also expressed concerns about the potential public safety and animal welfareimplications.

We are undertakinga Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) which will provide an opportunity toconsider future strategic investment priorities for all modes of transport acrossthe whole transport network in Scotland, includingtransport corridors, such as the A9 between Perth and Inverness. In addition to the Perth – Inverness corridor, being assessed through the (STPR).

I recently announcedthe outcome of the Route Action Strategy Study between Perth and Blair Atholl which identified £165million worth of potential long-term improvement work on the southern section of the A9 and recommended that more detailed analysis on this be carried out to confirmthe practicality. I have agreed to this further work being done to fully assessthe implications and practicalities of dualling between Perth and Pitlochry, provision of safe overtakingopportunities and reconstruction along this important, but environmentally sensitiveroute.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-27488 on 16 August 2006. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Twenty applications for consentunder section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 have been received since 1999, in respectof hydro schemes. Of these, 15 were made by public limited companies and five byprivate companies or others.

The details of all section 36hydro applications received since 1999 are outlined in the following table.

	Plc	Private/Others	Total
Applications received	15	5	20
Refused	0	1	1
Withdrawn	1	2	3
Consented	9	0	9
To be determined	5	2	7