Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government continues to work at ministerial and official levels with the European Commission, the UK Government and other member states to achieve the best possible solution for Scottish farmers on the EU proposals for electronic identification of sheep.

Richard Lochhead raised electronic identification with Secretary of State Hilary Benn and other devolved administrations ministers when they met on 2 June and a common strategy was agreed for engagement across Europe. The Scottish Government has already achieved concessions on the implementation of electronic identification of sheep and further proposals are currently under consideration. Whether there will be the need to have a further meeting with the European Commissioner for Health will be considered in the light of further developments across member states and at Commission level.

From the 1 October the Scottish Land Court will take over the responsibility for administering a new streamlined EU agricultural subsidy appeals procedure. Under this new arrangement the government and the appellant will now be on an equal footing in all appeal cases and the process will be independent and quicker. I announced this change, which addressed the main recommendations contained in the Report A Review of the European Union Agricultural Subsidy Appeals Procedure in Scotland, in my speech to the National Farmers'' Union (NFU) Scotland''s AGM in February. This fundamental change to the appeals procedure has been the main focus of our efforts.

Work is on-going on how we take forward the other recommendations contained in the report which covered areas like creating greater dialogue between government and farmers and improving our application forms and guidance.

On the latter, a great deal is already done along the lines suggested in the report and we will continue to build on current practises. A recommendation was also made that we encourage greater use of electronic submission of claims. This has been an action for us for some years. In 2008, 28% of all single application forms were submitted electronically which has risen to just under 32% in 2009. We will continue to develop and promote this means of delivery.

I will make a further announcement on the details of the new arrangements in advance of the handover of responsibility to the Scottish Land Court.

The Scottish Government is managing this issue with the stakeholders and has in fact been involved in an on-going review of decisions and technical developments since this administration came to office.

The Bill to reform the Children''s Hearings system will provide for the transfer of functions currently carried out by Children''s Panels Advisory Committees and Panel Chairs to the President of a new body, the Scottish Children''s Hearings Tribunal.

It will be a key responsibility of the President of the Tribunal to ensure that the local dimension of the Children''s Hearings system is continued in order that local people will serve as panel members supporting children in their community.

We intend that the president will have the power to put in place structures which reflect local issues in all of Scotland''s communities, and that the president will work together with existing stakeholders in the transition to the new structures.

We have established a South West Scotland Regional Aviation Solution Sub Group with airport radar operators and developers to investigate the development and application of a regional solution in the south west of Scotland and that such an endeavour should be concentrated where it is likely to free up the most megawatts of electricity by the alleviation of aviation objections. Information on the discussions so far, is available on the Energy Consents website:

www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/Energy-Consents/Guidance.

In a UK national context, Scottish Government officials are also actively participating in the Aviation Advisory Panel discussions in partnership with key stakeholders in the aviation sector to resolve the potential impacts of wind farms on radar systems.

The following wind farms have been approved by ministers under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 and currently await the resolution of aviation issues.

Wind Farm	Number of Turbines	Megawatts
Clyde	152	548
Whitelee Ext 1	36	130
Blacklaw	7	16.1

 

Other smaller scale wind farms of 50 MW or less are considered under the Town and Country Planning Act 1997 by the relevant planning authorities throughout Scotland. Information on these applications is not centrally held.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-23858, on 26 May 2009. 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 European Commission has previously agreed that it would not be appropriate for information relating to its investigations to be published whilst investigations are live. The decision not to provide the information requested reflects that practice as well as EC Regulation No 1049/2001 and the freedom of information legislation.

During regular meetings with Industry, and with aviation radar providers, the issue of impacts on radar systems from wind farms was raised. We recognised that there were significant implications for wind farm development and have therefore established the South West Scotland Regional Aviation Solution Sub Group to investigate the development and application of a regional solution in the south west of Scotland and that such an endeavour should be concentrated where it is likely to free up the most megawatts of electricity by the alleviation of aviation objections. Information on the discussions so far, is available on the Energy Consents website:

www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/Energy-Consents/Guidance.

The Scottish Government has established a South West Scotland Regional Aviation Solution Sub Group with airport radar operators and developers to investigate the development and application of a regional solution in the south west of Scotland and that such an endeavour should be concentrated where it is likely to free up the most megawatts of electricity by the alleviation of aviation objections. The sub group is made up of National Air Traffic Services, Ministry of Defence, Civil Aviation Authority, airport operators and wind farm developers. Information on the discussions so far, is available on the Energy Consents website:

www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/Energy-Consents/Guidance.

In a UK national context, Scottish Government officials are also actively participating in the Aviation Advisory Panel discussions in partnership with key stakeholders in the aviation sector to resolve the potential impacts of wind farms on radar systems.