Chamber and committees

The provisions within the Electricity Act and the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act do not allow for the Ministers to extend the expiry of the deemed planning permission. When a request to extend the period at the expiry of which a deemed planning permission for an electricity generating station or overhead electricity line development would lapse is received, an application can be made to the Energy Consents Unit to vary the section 36 consent under section 36C. Ministers when varying a section 36 consent can also direct (anew) that planning permission is deemed to be granted and so re-start a new period before that new planning permission will lapse. The Electricity Generating Stations (Applications for Variation of Consent) (Scotland) Regulations govern the procedure for variation applications under section 36C.

A list is provided below of the projects where an extension of the period within which an electricity generating station or overhead electricity line development must commence has been (a) requested and (b) granted when the development has previously been granted consent under section 36 or 37 of the Electricity Act 1989:

- Port of Rosyth Biomass Plant – requested and granted

- Port of Grangemouth Biomass Plant – requested and granted

- Viking Wind Farm – requested and granted

- Stornoway Wind Farm – requested and granted

- Muaitheabhal Wind Farm - requested and granted

- Coire Glas Pumped Storage Hydro – requested and granted

- Sloy Hydro-Electric station - requested and granted

NHS Fife are aware of the current GP vacancies within the Lochgelly Medical Centre. Dr Cattanach, who owns the practice regularly attends a short life working group with the Health Board to alert them to any short term support required by the practice. There is currently locum cover in place till November 2018 to cover annual leave over the summer.

The practice will benefit from another Care Home and Advanced Nurse Practitioner (CHANP). This will allow the team of three to extend their support to the Care and Residential Homes with patients of the 3 Lochgelly Practices. Lochgelly pharmacy has agreed to be trained and provide a community pharmacy testing service. NHS Fife are also exploring employing a mental health worker working in a front facing role, triaging and managing patients with a range of milder mental health issues. Patients will also have access to an MSK physiotherapist without the need to see a GP when NHS Fife join the national MSK triage service, supported by NHS 24, early in the autumn.

The new GP contract, backed by investment of £110 million in 2018-19 and jointly developed with the BMA, will help to cut doctors’ workload and make general practice an even more attractive career. As part of the new contract arrangements, the Scottish Government will also invest £2 million in 2018/19 to support initiatives to attract and retain GPs in our rural and remote communities and ensure practices are sustainable.

The procedure followed in response to the circumstances specified is that a consultation is undertaken with key consultees to consider those environmental issues already taken into account in both the original application and environmental statement. Following a review of the key consultation responses from key consultees, a decision is taken whether further environmental information is required.

There are no statutory requirements set out, in the Electricity Act 1989, to undertake public consultation as part of the consideration of a request to extend the period within which an electricity generating station or overhead electricity line project must commence, in circumstances when it has previously been granted consent under section 36 or 37 of the Electricity Act 1989. However, where a public representation is received in relation to the request to extend the period of time for a consent under section 36 and section 37, that representation is taken into account in the consideration by the Scottish Ministers.

To extend the period within which an electricity generating station or overhead electricity line development must commence, when it has previously been granted consent under section 36 or 37 of the Electricity Act 1989, consideration is given to the existing environmental information and whether new (or updated) environmental information is required to meet statutory requirements.

In relation to Offshore Wind, there is a clear separation of functions between Marine Scotland and Crown Estate Scotland. Marine Scotland as the planning authority and regulator advises Scottish Ministers on where projects can be developed and on the sustainability of proposed projects, and Crown Estate Scotland manages the leasing process.

Crown Estate Scotland is currently gathering views on a draft leasing process which includes the proposal that leasing takes place only within areas allocated in the Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind which Marine Scotland is currently developing.

The Sectoral Marine Plan will determine where new offshore wind can and cannot be considered; the Crown Estate Scotland leasing will invite applications for proposed projects which are compatible with the Sectoral Marine Plan and will take decisions about which leasing applications to accept, based on criteria which are relevant to Crown Estate Scotland’s duties as manager of leasing of the seabed.

Marine Scotland, as Planning Authority for Scotland’s seas, is in the early stages of a new sectoral marine plan for offshore wind. A draft plan, and associated assessments, are expected to be published for statutory consultation in the first half of 2019. The Final Plan is intended to be produced in late 2019, although this timescale is subject to the responses received during the statutory consultation and any subsequent process for revising the draft plan.

Crown Estate Scotland (Interim Management), while proposing to accept applications for lease at the draft plan stage, will not take any final decisions for new offshore wind lease agreements until the final adopted Sectoral Marine Plan for offshore wind is completed and published.

The Scottish Government remains committed to achieving our ambition for Scotland to continue to develop and grow as a Good Food Nation. We are considering how best to achieve this and will provide more details, including on plans for a consultation, in due course.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-17037 on ‎18 June 2018. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .