Chamber and committees

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) staff and volunteer trappers have conducted an informal assessment of the trapping sites and use local knowledge of the presence of otters and other protected species prior to making the decision to proceed with trapping. SNH does not conduct beaver trapping within 30 metres of otter holts.

The licence application by Scottish Wildlife Trust/Royal Zoological Society of Scotland for the Knapdale Trial contains criteria for the success or failure of the beaver trial. If the Knapdale trial is judged successful these criteria could be used to inform the development of wider criteria relating to the possible establishment of beavers in the wild.

Scottish ministers will not only assess the results of the Knapdale Trial, but also take into account other relevant information such as experience from Europe and North America and information from the Beaver-Salmonid Working Group which reports to the National Species Reintroduction Forum.

The Scottish Government has issued its own guidance on procurement policy relating to timber and timber related products. The guidance recommends that public procurement officials should specify in orders and contracts that suppliers must provide evidence that timber and timber products have been lawfully obtained from forests or plantations that are being sustainably managed. It explains which certification schemes can be regarded as evidence in this respect whilst making clear that other evidence of sustainability should also be allowed. It also draws attention to the Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET) as a source of advice for assessing evidence for timber which is not part of one of those certification schemes.

The Scottish Government has not carried out any assessment of how the wider public sector in Scotland complies with the criteria set out by CPET.

The Procurement Policy Note on timber and timber products on the Scottish Government website recommends that public procurement officials should specify in orders and contracts that suppliers must provide evidence that timber and timber products have been lawfully obtained from forests or plantations that are being sustainably managed. The policy note advises which certification schemes can be accepted as fulfilling these requirements whilst making clear that other evidence of sustainability should also be allowed.

The Scottish and UK Governments are currently in discussions about timber certification procedures and are also developing criteria to ensure that biomass used to generate electricity under the Renewable Obligation, and heat under the forthcoming Renewable Heat Incentive, comes from sustainable sources.

Once these discussions have been concluded, the Scottish Government will consider whether the current guidance requires to be updated.

The Scottish Government first issued guidance to public bodies in Scotland on the policy for procurement of timber and timber products in 2004. A further policy update was issued in 2005. This update gave details of four approved timber schemes, including the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) schemes, that can provide the necessary assurances that timber purchased has been legally harvested from sustainably managed forests.

This policy note also drew attention to the central point of expertise on timber which offers specialist advice on assessment of whether timber which is not part of the main certification schemes can be regarded as legally logged from sustainably managed forests.

In the Scottish Government, all timber products procured on behalf of its Facilities and Estate Services Division, are Forest Stewardship Council certified and the contractor holds evidence to this effect.

Scottish Government agencies are required to follow the guidance referred to above when procuring timber and timber products but no assessment has been made by the Scottish Government in the last 12 months of the relative proportion of FSC, PEFC, other certified or non-certified sources supplied.

The report itself calls for more work to be carried out to develop some of the recommendations further. We are taking this work forward with stakeholders before taking up a detailed position on the report. We have, however, identified some key principles which the Scottish Government supports including;

Improving sustainability of Scottish agriculture;

Fairer allocation of both Pillar I and Pillar II budgets;

Continuation of Pillar I Direct Payments;

Reform of Direct Payments (historical basis no longer justified);

Distribution of future payments (pure area-based system not suitable, need to consider alternatives such as Top-Up Fund);

Measures to tackle land abandonment (limited coupled payments);

Stronger links between payments and farming activity;

Addressing global challenges (climate change, biodiversity and food security);

Measures to support new entrants and other excluded sectors; and

Simplifying the Common Agricultural Policy to reduce the administrative burden.

I have undertaken to write to the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee explaining those principles in more detail.

The terms and conditions of Mr Pack''s appointment as chairman of the inquiry included appropriate follow-up work subsequent to the inquiry''s report. The period of Mr Pack''s contract has been extended to enable him to continue carrying out follow-up work, including advising on the ongoing work between Scottish Government and stakeholders in developing the inquiry''s recommendations further and carrying out engagements aimed at explaining the inquiry''s findings.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-39350 on 28 February 2011. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (Commencement No. 5) Order 2011 was made on 18 January 2011. This order brings into force all the provisions relating to Scottish charitable incorporated organisations (SCIO) under Chapter 7 of the 2005 act. The order can be found at:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2011/20/made.

Sections 50, 52 and 64 of the 2005 act came into force on 21 January 2011 for the purpose of allowing Scottish Ministers to make regulations setting out further provision in relation to SCIOs. Sections 50 and 52 come into force for all other purposes on 1 April 2011. Sections 49, 51, 53 to 55, 62 and 63 also come into force on 1st April 2011. Sections 56 to 61 of the Act come into force on 1 January 2012.

The Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations Regulations 2011, which are subject to negative procedure, were laid before the Parliament on 28 January 2011. The regulations can be found at:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2011/44/made.

The Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations (Removal from Register and Dissolution) Regulations 2011 (ISBN 978-0-11-101211-16), which are subject to affirmative resolution, were laid in draft before the Parliament on 28 January 2011. The draft regulations can be found at:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/sdsi/2011/9780111012116.

The Air Discount Scheme (ADS) was introduced to facilitate an improved level of social inclusion for individuals resident in the scheme''s eligible areas. The mechanism “ Aid of a Social Character “ under which the scheme is notified to and approved by the European Commission is not designed to support economic activity. It is for the benefit of individuals and not organisations, whether in the public or private sector.

The Scottish Government''s support for air public service obligations (PSOs) is provided under separate EU legislation which recognises the importance of the relevant services for economic development and that, without assistance, it is unlikely that they would be commercially viable. Support through PSOs is applied to all passengers, regardless of reason for travel or place of residence. Our support for ferry services is applied through public service contracts and also applies irrespective of reason for travel and passenger residence.