Chamber and committees

All planning applications must be determined in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

Currently, Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) outlines that development plans should set out the criteria that will be considered in deciding all applications for wind farms of different scales – taking account of the considerations set out at paragraph 169 of SPP which include landscape and visual impacts.

The Revised Draft National Planning Framework (NPF4) makes clear the Scottish Government’s support for onshore wind energy other than in National Parks and National Scenic Areas. Criteria for assessing proposals are included in draft policy 11, and impacts on communities, nature and other receptors, including significant landscape and visual impacts, remain important considerations in the decision-making process.

I published and laid the Revised Draft NPF4 in the Scottish Parliament on 8 November 2022 for Parliament’s consideration and approval. If approved and adopted, NPF4 will form part of the statutory development plan and will replace SPP.

The Scottish Government has published a set of Interim Principles for Responsible Investment in Natural Capital, which set out our expectations of stakeholders in a high integrity, values-led market for responsible investment in natural capital. These principles highlight the importance of wider environmental, social and economic outcomes including maintaining the resilience of food supply and generating opportunities for agricultural tenants and crofters to benefit from new investments.

Any investment in woodlands for carbon credits should be both measurable and verifiable through the government-backed Woodland Carbon Code , the mechanism through which land owners and companies can purchase offsets in Scotland and the UK. The Code is backed by all the governments across the UK, and is a domestic standard for use by companies with UK operations to offset emissions in the UK.

The Scottish Forestry Strategy is based on the international principles of Sustainable Forest Management which require all forests and woodlands to contribute to biodiversity. Of the six Priorities for Action in the Scottish Forestry Strategy the following three promote the safeguarding biodiversity as well as priority species and habitats:

• Increasing the adaptability and resilience of forests and woodlands,
• Enhancing the environmental benefits provided by forests and woodlands.
• Expanding the area of forests and woodlands, recognising wider land-use objectives;

The Scottish Forestry Strategy emphasises the importance of taking wider land use objectives into account when expanding our woodlands and forests, and one of the key objectives considered is when doing so is food security, which is further recognised in wider Scottish Government Strategies and Plans.

The Strategy also states that ‘we will focus on achieving greater integration between forestry and other land-based businesses, such as crofting, farming, and estate management’. The latest Forestry Strategy Implementation Plan (2022-2025), includes actions to promote greater integration of land use including the farmer-led

Integrating Trees Network which promotes the benefit of woodland creation on farms, such as providing shelter for livestock, enhancing biodiversity and a source of income.

NatureScot has not made any species control agreements in northeast Scotland. Species control agreements can be useful where inaction on a particular land holding is jeopardising the success of a coordinated control project. Working with landowners on a voluntary basis is a more effective way to secure a long-term commitment to tackling invasive plants.

The Scottish Invasive Species Initiative works with hundreds of landowners to control invasive plants on riverbanks in northeast Scotland. As infestations are brought under control, landowners are asked to sign voluntary agreements to continue the control work. As of 7 October 2022, 34 landowners had signed voluntary agreements to control giant hogweed in northeast Scotland.

See also answer to question S6W-09427 on 29 July 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

A species control agreement (SCA) is a voluntary agreement between a relevant body and a land owner or manager. NatureScot has not issued any species control agreements within that period. Scottish Forestry has issued a single species control agreement for Rhododendron ponticum, while SEPA issued a species control agreement for North American signal crayfish in 2019. The Scottish Government (Marine Scotland) issued four species control agreements for Didemnum vexillium in 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

A species control order (SCO) is a compulsory instrument which can be used to compel certain actions in regard to invasive non-native species and these may be used in situations where an SCA has failed. None of the relevant bodies have needed to make a species control order because there has never been a situation where an owner has failed to cooperate with a species control agreement.

The Scottish Government does not have specific targets or restrictions for tree planting on different classes of agricultural land.

In considering applications for tree planting on agricultural land Scottish Forestry takes into account the guidance produced by the Woodland Expansion Advisory Group.

This stated that the focus of woodland creation should not be on prime agricultural land within classes 2.1 to 3.1, where only small scale planting should be considered. The guidance states that there was more scope for planting on non-prime agricultural land within classes 3.2.4.2, but that the main focus of tree planting should be on grazing land within classes 5.1-6.3.

Scottish Forestry is leading a review of the UK Forestry Standard in partnership with the other UK administrations. Stakeholders are currently being consulted on a revised draft of the Standard which includes a proposed reduction in the maximum threshold for use of a single species from 75% to 65%. This change will help enhance the resilience of Scotland’s forests to a changing climate and increasing threats of pest and diseases. It will not alter the balance of objectives and does not change the proportion of fast growing conifers that can be used.

As autonomous institutions, universities are responsible for their own entry requirements and admissions policies, therefore the Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of eligible students resident in the UK that were not successful in gaining a place at Scottish medical school, or the reasons for these decisions by individual institutions. Higher education institutions can provide feedback, when requested, to anyone whose application to study has been unsuccessful.

Over £928,000 has been offered since Sept 2021 under the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) to six separate projects that have invasive non-native species (INNS) management and control as a central priority for action. This figure includes a Galloway Fisheries Trust project entitled ‘Scottish Solway INNS Control and Knowledge Programme’ (£97,564), a Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust project entitled ‘Beyond the Endrick’ (£247,755) and a W L Farm project entitled ‘The Glen - Habitat Restoration’ (£126,740).

Three RSPB-led projects have also been funded on rainforest restoration (£180,000), the eradication of stoats from Orkney (£220,377) and the RSPB’s Biosecurity for LIFE project (£56,309) which is primarily focused on preventing INNS reaching islands rather than on eradication. I have included this last project for completeness and because preventing the establishment of INNS in areas where they are not present is also extremely important.

In the most recent call for applications to the NRF, a further five applications for projects involving INNS management and control have been received. Decisions have yet to be made concerning these and the successful projects will be announced in the coming months.