Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has no current plans to review and update its Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy Developments (2019).

We are currently reviewing our Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Offshore Renewable Energy Developments (2015) and we intend to consult on the updated draft guidance next year. As part of the consultation process, we will also gather evidence to help inform the need for any further updates to the Scottish Government’s Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from, and Shared Ownership of, Onshore Renewable Energy Developments.

The project group is currently made up of representatives from Scottish Government, Scottish Water, Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland, Consumer Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council, and have been selected based on their relevant experience in the water industry and with private water supplies. The Environmental Health Officers from Aberdeenshire Council bring a wealth of local knowledge about private water supplies as a result of their regulatory activities and efforts to deliver emergency supplies of bottled water to households whose private water supplies have run dry. They engage with and listen to local resilience groups through the wider council network and I would encourage local resilience groups that would like to be involved in the project to contact Aberdeenshire Council.

Resilience of the Energy Sector is reserved and therefore the responsibility of the UK Government.

The Scottish Government works closely with power companies and recognises the many aspects of resilience of the energy networks in Scotland, including the management of felling trees.

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans recently met with SSEN and visited one of their tree cutting sites in the North of Scotland. The issue of damage to power lines and the complexity of felling trees was discussed in depth, including:

Legislative limitations

Land owner complexities

Secondary impacts such as additional tree blow

The Scottish Government will continue to engage with power companies and UK Government on all aspects of resilience to the network in Scotland.

Resilience of the Energy Sector is reserved and therefore the responsibility of the UK Government.

Power Companies are required to meet statutory obligations under the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 with respect to minimum clearances from overhead lines, wires and cables including minimum ground clearance requirements.

Under the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018, it is an offence to fell trees without first getting felling permission from Scottish Forestry. The clearance of windblown trees requires a Felling Permission (previously known as a Felling Licence), unless you qualify for an exemption:

• Trees pose an immediate danger to people, property, or infrastructure
• Windblown trees that are blocking roads

The Scottish Government contributed to the Storm Arwen Ofgem review ( Storm Arwen Report | Ofgem ) and support the recommendation that work is undertaken by the Energy Emergencies Executive Committee (E3C) to review current distribution and transmission network infrastructure standards and guidance, including those for vegetation management and overhead line designs, to identify economic and efficient improvements that could increase network resilience to severe weather events.

Local Authorities (LA) in Scotland are the main conduit to local communities to help them develop emergency resilience activities and plans.

LAs have a wide range of pre-identified venues in their areas, which can be used as rest or assistance centres that can be stood up quickly in response to prevailing weather conditions or other incidents. However I have asked Resilience Division Officials to look at ways the Scottish Government can support the enhancement of rest centres and community facilities used not only in a resilience response but also for uses below that threshold.

Regional and Local Resilience Partnerships (RRPs/LRPs) are the principal mechanisms for multi-agency co-ordination under The Civil Contingencies Act (2004).

The Scottish Government supports resilience partnerships through the provision of twelve staff across the three RRP areas. These RRP coordination teams support the development and maintenance of response arrangements which are reviewed and refreshed regularly, to ensure a timely and effective response should severe weather impact or other incidents occur which necessitate the setting up of rest or assistance centres.

LRPs, supported by SG Resilience Coordinators, carry out multi-agency exercises involving severe weather scenarios and plans for rest centres are tested with partners on a regular basis.

This activity is further supported by national guidance, resources and online learning through the Scottish Government emergency planning portal ready.scot which assists the public, community groups and the voluntary sector by raising awareness of emergency resilience structures and processes, helping them to understand how they can participate in an effective and joined up response.

Ready Scotland also includes a free online learning module which provides an overview of the steps that every community can take to become more resilient and to be well prepared for responding to an emergency. It also provides information on building strong connections with local responder organisations.

Throughout the winter, the Scottish Government will increase the amount of weather-related advice and information shared through digital channels to:

• Raise awareness of different emergency preparedness resources, guidance and information available from Scottish Government and partner agencies;

• Proactively promote this information to better equip individuals and communities to prepare for, deal with and recover from severe weather emergencies;

• Encourage individuals and communities to take proactive steps to reduce the risks and negative impacts before an emergency occurs, as well as how to stay informed and updated during an incident.

Providing advice in this way, even when the weather is not especially severe, will ensure that more people are aware of the support available to them and the steps to take in advance of, as well as during, an emergency.

The national Community Asset Register (CAR), hosted by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), is a Scotland wide database of voluntary sector assets which might help emergency response. SFRS continues to expand and develop the CAR on behalf of Scotland’s resilience community.

Local registers of assets belonging to the resilience community, already exist across Scotland. These registers of assets are being further developed and updated by our LRPs in response to the lessons from Storm Arwen.

In a control area, change of use of a dwellinghouse, which is not a host's only or principal home, to provide short-term lets will always require planning permission. This applies to both houses and flats. In a control area, it is a mandatory condition of licence that planning permission has been obtained or an application is in progress.

Outwith a control area, planning permission may be required where local planning authorities determine a proposed change of use is material, on a case-by-case basis.

In all cases, each planning application will be determined on its individual planning merits in line with local development plan and policies unless there are material planning considerations that would justify a departure from the development plan.

Licence fees are set by licensing authorities to cover their costs in establishing and administering licence schemes in their areas. The Scottish Government has set out in guidance for licensing authorities the parameters that they may want to consider when setting licence fees to ensure fees are affordable for smaller accommodation units.

Larger accommodation units have the potential to generate significantly greater income than smaller units. Secondary letting will also typically yield greater income than home sharing (or home letting for limited periods).

Scotland’s Redress Scheme has been developed to ensure that survivors of abuse in relevant care settings are at the heart of the process at all times, and can maintain decision making responsibilities regarding their application and the content of that application.

The kind of information needed to accompany an application may come from diverse sources. In some cases it may already be in the applicant’s possession, or in the possession of others who were in the same establishment that they have kept in touch with. It is important that we acknowledge that personal data belongs to an individual and that when accessing information this is done in line with data protection law to ensure data is used properly and legally.

In line with the response issued to question S6W-10847 on 21 September 2022, it is an important aspect of the Scotland’s Redress Scheme that applicants have support available to them at all stages of the process, including to support accessing of records and other information relevant to their application.

When additional support is required, case workers refer applicants to the Redress Support Service provided by the In-Care Survivors Alliance. The In-Care Survivors Alliance draws on its existing network of over 70 delivery partners to provide support.

The Redress Support Service can help applicants access the emotional, practical or access to records support they require. They currently have contracts with two delivery partners; Birthlink and Wellbeing Scotland, who provide additional support for applicants in accessing records.

Support to access records can also be provided by a nominated representative, which may be a solicitor, with the scheme ensuring there is provision for legal fees to be paid directly to solicitors.

The Privacy Notice for Survivor Applicants and the Privacy Notice for Next of Kin Applicants provide details on how the information collected by Scottish Government, as administrators of Scotland’s Redress Scheme, is managed and how it is used.

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
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The R100 contracts set out which premises Openreach will deliver to. Openreach has no flexibility to remove premises from contractual build without prior agreement from Scottish Government. To date, no premises have been removed from the R100 contracts.

Prior to contracts being awarded, commercial broadband infrastructure providers were invited to share details of their existing and planned build through an Open Market Review. The responses to this were then tested through a Public Review to ensure that only premises which were not in commercial build plans would be eligible for the build through the R100 contracts.

People in Scotland over State Pension age, who do not already have an award of Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance or Adult Disability Payment, can apply for Attendance Allowance.

Attendance Allowance is awarded to help with extra costs if a person has any disability severe enough that they need someone to help care for or supervise them. Attendance Allowance is currently delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions, on the Scottish Government’s behalf, through an agency agreement.

Pension Age Disability Payment will be the Scottish replacement for Attendance Allowance. Further information on Pension Age Disability Payment delivery will be provided in due course.