Chamber and committees

A cost estimate will be developed as part of the programme of work referred to in my answer to question S4W-11226 on 28 November 2012. This will report in 2014. The estimate of the cost of construction will be determined by route appraisal and final design decisions.

However, I have made clear that we must challenge the per kilometre cost assumptions of delivery of high speed rail elsewhere in the UK. A first stage development of high speed rail in Scotland will only be required to accommodate standard UK gauge trains and this will avoid the need for expensive station redevelopment and build planned for elsewhere in Britain.

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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The whole of Scotland is expected to be compliant with the targets by 2015 with the exception of the A8 between Newhouse and Baillieston. As set out in S4W-11154, on 22 November 2012, this road is to be upgraded to motorway standard and as a consequence modelling predicts this section of the network will become compliant following completion of the project in 2017.

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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

An extension application has not been submitted for the Glasgow Urban Area zone. However, an action plan outlining how compliance will be secured by 2017 was submitted to the Commission for information and a response to this is expected shortly.

The Scottish Government has not requested an extension, as full compliance with the nitrogen dioxide limit value in the Glasgow Urban Area zone is not expected until 2017, after the maximum extension deadline for 2015 is allowed under the ambient air quality directive. A further 15 zones across the UK are not expected to comply until after 2015. Most other member states also have zones which fall into this category. Modelling data suggests that compliance will be secured by completion of the upgrade to motorway standard of the missing link on the M8, between Baillieston and Newhouse.

The Scottish Government has been engaging with stakeholders on a range of issues in relation to environmental justice, including in relation to proposals for court rules for Protective Expenses Orders and civil courts reform. These discussions will be taken into account in developing an options paper on an environmental court.

Scottish Planning Policy (2010) identifies the protection and enhancement of the natural and built environment as part of the purpose of planning. The current engagement on a review of Scottish Planning Policy seeks views on what should change and what should remain. A form on which views can be submitted is available from the Scottish Government’s website.

Development plans require Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) under the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005. Schedule 3 of the 2005 Act requires provision of a statement on proposed monitoring of environmental impacts within the Environmental Report. At the national level, monitoring of the National Planning Framework is undertaken on an ongoing basis. Monitoring findings, including those arising from the SEA, are set out in the NPF2 Monitoring Report, published in March 2012.

The Scottish Government is undertaking a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of National Planning Framework 3 (NPF3) and the Scottish Planning Policy (SPP), as required by the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005. SEA is undertaken to ensure that the environmental effects of plans, programmes and strategies, and reasonable alternatives to them, are identified and taken into account. The findings of the assessment will be set out in an Environmental Report, which will be published for public consultation alongside the Main Issues Report for NPF3 and the Draft SPP in March 2013.

Development of NPF3 will also include use of the Scottish Government’s Spatial Planning Assessment of Climate Emissions tool, to inform understanding of the likely relative greenhouse gas emissions arising from alternative policy options.