Chamber and committees

There is no preferred method of managing the interaction of beaver and deer populations in riparian woodland areas and all available tools should be utilised.

It is the Scottish Government’s intention to ensure that high-density deer populations, where they exist, are managed through the delivery of ‘Scotland’s Wild Deer: A National Approach’ (WDNA). The WDNA and close working between Forestry Commission Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage will seek to ensure, insofar as is possible, that biodiversity and other public benefits from the presence of beavers in relation to valuable riparian woodland are realised.

In contrast to secondary legislation under section 26 of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, we believe it is more appropriate to issue guidance under section 38 of the 2006 Act on the use of electronic collars and similar devices as this can be done quickly.

The guidance will provide an advisory aid to those involved in the enforcement of animal welfare legislation. Those persons may refer to the guidance when issuing advice, warning letters or care notices under the 2006 Act or when presenting evidence for potential prosecutions under section 24 or section 19 of the 2006 Act.

Responsibility for dealing with planning matters is primarily for the local planning authority and it would be inappropriate for Scottish Government to comment on the details of individual cases.

Improving public trust in planning is a vital element of our proposals for reviewing the planning system. The reforms we are taking forward will strengthen the arrangements for development planning to ensure development is deliverable and the appropriate infrastructure is in place.

The expert panel will review the available evidence on plastic straws and provide an estimate of the number and weight of material to the Scottish Government.

Our delivery projects aim is to ensure that everyone in fuel poverty gets support, no matter whether they live in urban or rural Scotland. Funding for our area based fuel poverty programmes on the basis of need and takes into account different levels of fuel poverty across Scotland’s local authority areas. This is based on data from the Scottish House Condition Survey and the Home Analytics Database. This means that remote areas, including all island communities, currently receive over three times more per head of population to tackle fuel poverty than the next highest area on the mainland. Urban/rural classifications do not influence this distribution, but are reflected higher in levels of household grant available in remote areas.

Further, our Warmer Homes Scotland scheme is being delivered on a regional basis, including a separate Islands region, to ensure all households, including those living in more remote parts of the country, get the same level of service as those in urban areas. As we develop our new Fuel Poverty Strategy and deliver this through Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme we will continue to prioritise households which need assistance most, including those most vulnerable to cold-related health impacts and low income households, targeting support to those most in need, no matter where they live in Scotland.

We do not hold information on the urban/rural status of households assisted through our Area Based Schemes. We do publish a breakdown of installs by local authority to provide information on regional delivery.

The information for 2013-14 can be found at http://wwt gov.scot/Resource/0046/00466702.pdf

The information for 2014-15 can be found at http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/HEEPS%2014-15%20report.pdf

The information for 2015-16 is not published but is shown in the following table:

This information includes all properties improved through the Area Based Schemes, including properties owned by social landlords which Scottish Government funding does not cover, but which is carried out at the same time in mixed tenure projects which use a blend of Scottish Government, social landlord and UK Government Energy Company Obligation funding.

Research supporting review of energy standards within building regulations includes specific assessment of the cost and impact of change on remote or rural areas. This focusses on the comparative cost of delivering new homes off the mains gas grid. An example of research commissioned can be found at: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0038/00386526.pdf .

An updated assessment of the impact of further change on remote, rural and island communities will be undertaken as part of the review of energy standards which commences shortly. We will seek views on this topic from developers as part of an initial ‘call for evidence’ on building to the current standards.