Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is not aware of any complete data sources for land values in Scotland. There are some private sources, such as Savills and the Royal institute of Chartered Surveyors, but the diverse nature of land in Scotland and the low number of sales means that these data cannot provide meaningful averages for land value.

However, rental price offers another way of measuring the value of land. The Scottish Government carries out an annual survey of annual rent figures from a sample of holdings. The results for 2012 are published on the government website at the following link http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0042/00425434.pdf

The results from the survey showed that overall average was £32 per hectare (£13 per acre), but this was heavily weighted by large areas of Less Favoured Area (LFA) land. The average for non-LFA land was £200 per hectare and the overall average has gone up by an estimated 15% between 2008 and 2011.

In Scotland we need a diverse and balanced energy portfolio to provide us with secure and affordable heat and electricity for decades to come. Diversity of sources in our energy portfolio and reduced reliance on energy imports makes our energy system more resilient.

Clearly we are aware that the energy sector is a dynamic industry and that alternative energy sources and projects are constantly emerging including such technologies as underground coal gasification.The Scottish Government’s view is energy sources should only be pursued as long as their development and use is consistent with environmental objectives.

Individual proposals for energy production projects in Scotland will be studied on their merits. Each proposal will be considered through the normal planning process and the appropriate regulatory regimes.

The Scottish Government currently uses two main indicators of low income poverty, both of which reveal slightly different information about changes in poverty over time. These indicators are relative and absolute poverty.

Relative poverty:

Relative poverty is measured as the percentage and number of individuals living in households whose equivalised income is below 60% of UK median income in the same year. This is a measure of whether those in the lowest income households are keeping pace with the growth of incomes in the population as a whole. In 2011-12 the relative poverty threshold for a couple with no children was an income of
£256 per week (before housing costs) from all sources. For a couple with children the threshold would be higher and for a single person (without children) the threshold would be lower.

Absolute poverty:

Absolute poverty is measured as the percentage and number of individuals living in households whose equivalised income is below 60% of the (inflation adjusted) median income in 2010-11. This is a measure of whether those in the lowest income households are seeing their incomes rise in real terms. In 2011-12 the absolute poverty threshold for a couple with no children was an income of £264 per week (before housing costs) from all sources.

The absolute poverty threshold is higher than the relative poverty threshold in
2011-12 as inflation increased at a faster rate than average earnings in 2011-12. This means households need to earn more, in real terms, to maintain their incomes compared with 2010-11 (the reference year for absolute poverty).

The relative and absolute poverty indicators are presented on two bases: Before Housing Costs (BHC) and After Housing Costs (AHC). This is principally to take into account variations in housing costs that themselves do not correspond to comparable variations in the quality of housing.

An additional measure for children is the combined low income and material deprivation indicator. This indicator aims to provide a measure of children’s living standards which, unlike relative and absolute poverty, is not solely based on income.

Relative and absolute poverty indicators are estimated for all individuals, children, working age adults, and pensioners. The Child Poverty Act 2010 sets out four income related targets that the UK Government must meet by 2020. These are targets on relative child poverty, absolute child poverty, children in combined low income and material deprivation and children in persistent poverty.

These indicators are used to measure two of Scotland’s national indicators: reduce the proportion of individuals living in poverty, and reduce children’s deprivation.

There has been extensive dialogue with both COSLA and individual local authorities on food waste initiatives and on the development of our wider waste policy. This engagement continues both directly and through Zero Waste Scotland.

To promote the recycling of food waste we have provided additional funding for a number of initiatives.

In 2011 Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) launched its Food Waste Support Programme. This runs through to 2014-15 and will see councils receive in the region of £20 million of additional support to help with the roll-out of household food waste collection and recycling services.

In 2012 the Scottish Government ran a national food waste prevention campaign. The cost of this was £0.58 million.

From 2007-08 to 2010-11 we provided funding of £3.49 million for home composting initiatives. From 2011-12 home composting initiatives have been funded under ZWS’s food waste programme. Breakdown as follows:

Since 2007-08 we have provided around £7 million to support the development of anaerobic digestion and composting facilities, thereby helping the growth of this sector in Scotland. Breakdown as follows:

The Scottish Government is taking action on a number of fronts.

Our Waste Regulations, approved by the Scottish Parliament last year, include measures that will ensure most households in Scotland receive a food waste collection by the end of 2015. All businesses producing significant quantities of food waste, except those in rural areas, will also need to present that waste separately for collection by the end of 2015.

Through Zero Waste Scotland we are providing significant additional funding to local authorities to support the roll-out of household food waste collections. As a direct result of this support around 1.2 million households will have access to a food waste collection service by February 2014. We have also provided around £7 million to help expand the network of anaerobic digestion and composting facilities across Scotland. This has led to a three-fold increase in processing capacity since 2008.

Early next year we will launch a national campaign to promote household food waste collections and encourage uptake of this new service. This campaign will build on our 2012 food waste prevention campaign.

The Scottish Government has a target to recycle at least 70% of Scotland’s waste by 2025. No specific target for food waste has been set, but the capture and recycling of food waste is recognised as being key to the achievement of our 70% target.

The measures included in the Waste Regulations, approved by Parliament last year, will ensure that the majority of food waste produced by businesses and households in Scotland is captured for recycling.

Food waste recycling in rural areas has a number of roles to play and can bring significant benefits.

Local community composting groups for example can bring a number of benefits including much needed employment opportunities and enhanced community cohesion. Community composting also ensures that there are local outlets for compostable wastes with the end products also used locally in gardens, parks and small scale agricultural type holdings.

Food waste recycling in rural areas may provide business opportunities for private sector service providers looking to offer a collection service to rural businesses with the material collected being processed in either local anaerobic digestion (AD) or composting facilities. Where food waste is processed in AD facilities there will be scope to produce energy that can be utilised locally to the benefit of the community.

Local solutions for food waste also have the potential to reduce costs as it removes the need to transport food waste, as part of the mixed waste stream, over long distances for processing elsewhere.

The capture and recycling of food waste from both households and businesses is key to achieving our 2025 recycling target for all waste. Historically, most of the food waste produced in Scotland was sent to landfill where it breaks down producing methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. The measures introduced last year in our Waste Regulations will ensure that this is no longer the case.

Instead, collected food waste will now be sent for processing at anaerobic digestion or composting facilities allowing us to not only reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions but also produce outputs that can be used in agricultural applications. Where food waste is processed in anaerobic digestion plants we can also produce energy, thereby contributing to our renewable energy targets.

Under the Food Waste Support Programme, delivered by Zero Waste Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government, we have allocated £5 million for the 2013-14 financial year. A further £5 million has been allocated for 2014-15 for food waste recycling initiatives.

Early next year we will run a national campaign to promote household food waste collections and encourage uptake of this new service. This campaign is expected to cost around £0.6 million.