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Building a Better Scotland
ENVIRONMENT AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
To increase prosperity and quality of life in rural Scotland and to improve the environment and promote sustainable development throughout Scotland
We are committed to maintaining strong, prosperous communities in rural Scotland and to ensure Scotland's sustainable development. We are determined to improve our record in preserving and enhancing our environment, both in the countryside and in urban areas. Everyone should live in a clean, healthy environment, no matter who they are or where they live, and everyone should have access to Scotland's unique natural heritage.
Rural Development
Around 18% of people in Scotland live in rural areas. We are determined to make sure that they live in sustainable, prosperous communities, with access to the services they need. We have therefore worked to make sure that all of our policies, and particularly the way that services are delivered, are sensitive to the needs of rural communities. We are committed to:
- ensuring that the rural economy continues to provide jobs and opportunities for all - ensuring vibrant and prosperous rural communities;
- ensuring that rural communities have the essential services they need - maintaining and improving the quality of life for rural Scotland;
- ensuring that Scotland's unique woodland and fishing resources are protected and sustainably managed;
- improving access to Scotland's countryside - improving Scotland's health and quality of life;
- encouraging innovative research - supporting our rural agenda and our measures to improve Scotland's health; and
- ensuring that Scotland's diverse farming industry - and the rural communities that depend on it - continues to deliver high quality produce and to benefit from a reformed EU Common Agricultural Policy.
Sustainable Development and the Environment
We are committed to promoting sustainable development in Scotland, and are working to ensure that Scotland's record in this area improves. Our main priority areas are resource use, energy and travel. Delivering sustainable development is a priority across every portfolio, and examples of the action we are taking to ensure sustainable development across the Executive are set out in the Introduction.
We are determined to clean up Scotland's environment, whether in the countryside or in towns and cities. Scotland's treatment of its waste - most notably our dependence on landfill - is one of the key contributors to our poor environmental record. We will deliver a fundamental change in waste management through the National Waste Strategy. The people of Scotland want to do more to improve resource use and contribute to a better environment, but look to us to take the lead. Recent reorganisation of the water industry, together with reviews into the funds required to sustain operations and to deliver legislative commitments, mean that Scottish Water will reduce its dependence on contributions from the Scottish Executive. Resources released will be used to support:
- driving a dramatic increase in recycling and composting - reducing our landfill and making better use of precious resources;
- improving our record on pollution and cleaning up bathing waters - minimising our impact on the environment and improving our quality of life; and
- reducing the risk of flooding in vulnerable areas.
Working for Rural CommunitiesImproving the delivery of services to rural communities has been at the heart of our rural development policy over the past three years, and was highlighted as a priority issue in our vision statement, Rural Scotland: A New Approach, published in May 2000. We recognise that for many people living in rural Scotland the availability of services locally is a key indicator of the health and well-being of their communities. However, the nature and size of these communities often means that services cannot be delivered in traditional ways, which may affect the range and quality of the services available to these communities. We are taking forward the recommendations of the Scottish National Rural Partnership's report, Services in Rural Scotland, which set out how service providers - in the public, private and voluntary sectors - can improve delivery and access to services in rural areas. For example, we are: - developing a Rural Community Gateway Website, which will be up and running early in 2003, to facilitate the sharing of good practice and encourage greater networking across rural communities;
- encouraging rural communities to consider piloting the Community Mall, one-stop shop concept;
- producing a report later this autumn mapping the location of rural services;
- encouraging more integrated approaches to rural transport, building on the publication of a Rural Community Transport Good Practice Guide in July 2001 by funding two integrated rural transport pilots; and
- revising the criteria of the Scottish Rural Partnership Fund to encourage enhanced service delivery in rural communities.
Rural communities will also benefit from our wider commitment to deliver more effective public services. For example, over the next three years, rural communities will benefit from: - the rollout of NHS 24 that will provide a vital first point of contact for those in remote areas seeking medical advice and assistance;
- support for PPP projects to build new schools in rural areas;
- investments to improve and modernise ferry services, which will help to maintain viable island communities;
- improvements to airports in the Highlands and Islands, which will improve the region's connections with the rest of Scotland and further afield, with benefits for tourism and jobs;
- investments in promoting tourism and visits to Scotland's unique natural and cultural heritage, a vital source of jobs for many rural communities; and
- grant support for rural housing, ensuring good quality, affordable housing in rural areas, helping to maintain rural populations.
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OBJECTIVES AND TARGETS
OBJECTIVE 1
A modern, effective and publicly-owned water and sewerage industry, unlocking efficiency gains for its owner and delivering the outputs agreed in the Quality and Standards 2 process, within the agreed revenue cap at a fair price for all customers |
Target | 1 | Improve public water supplies by increasing the compliance rate to at least 985 as measured by the Water Quality 1000 index by 2006. |
Target | 2 | Reduce the number of sewage treatment works not in compliance with consents to less than 45 by 2006. |
OBJECTIVE 2
Conserve and improve the natural heritage of Scotland and everyone's enjoyment of it |
Target | 3 | Improved public enjoyment and protection of the countryside, measured by increases in numbers of walkers visiting. |
OBJECTIVE 3
Ensure progress towards sustainable management of Scotland's waste and achievement of EU landfill reduction targets by 2010, 2013 and 2020 |
Target | 4 | Increase the amount of waste collected by local authorities which is recycled or composted to 25% by 2006. |
Target | 5 | Reduce landfilling of biodegradable waste collected by local authorities to 1.5 million tonnes by 2006. |
OBJECTIVE 4
A clean and safe environment, tackling climate change and complying with domestic, EU and international standards |
Target | 6 | Through the introduction of flood prevention measures, 1,850 properties to have their risk of flooding reduced to below 1% by 2006. |
Target | 7 | SEPA to deliver a comprehensive assessment of the state of Scotland's water environment by 2006 and extend its water quality monitoring network by 15% by 2004. |
OBJECTIVE 5
Reduce the opportunity gap by promoting economic development, social justice, better service delivery and sustainable development in rural communities in Scotland |
Target | 8 | Encourage more sustainable agricultural activity on 13,500 farm businesses in Scotland's remote hills by 2006. |
Target | 9 | Deliver better service provision to rural communities through support for around 80 new rural development projects each year, and funding for three-four joint initiatives a year with other Executive departments or agencies, by 2006. |
What we will do
We are committed to delivering real improvements for rural communities, and to promoting sustainable development across Scotland, combining economic progress with social justice. Over the Spending Review period, we will:
- improve access to the countryside - with benefits for our health and quality of life - by investing an additional 0.5/2.8/4.1 million in improving path networks and management;
- improve the management of the new National Parks - ensuring the sustainable development of rural life in a unique part of Scotland's natural heritage;
- expand the Scottish Rural Partnership Fund, providing an additional 2.2 million a year from 2004-05 to support innovative projects to provide better facilities and services in rural communities;
- maintain the current, historically high levels of support for agriculture through the Less Favoured Area Scheme, worth over 60 million a year - a key source of direct and indirect employment in some of Scotland's remotest areas;
- provide an additional 2 million a year from 2003-04 to improve the quality and range of business and other advice available to Scotland's farmers - encouraging a thriving rural economy, supporting strong and prosperous rural communities;
- implement the Scottish Forestry Strategy, with an additional 4 million resources for recreational and tourist-related facilities, especially in National Parks, and improvements in the natural heritage value of Scotland's national forests;
- make available an additional 2/2/3 million in domestic funding in support of EU fisheries structural funds to secure sustainable and successful seafishing and aquaculture industries in Scotland;
- maintain a ring-fenced fund of 22.8 million from 2005-06 of UK match-funding to support possible CAP modulation - providing resources for the modernisation and reform of agriculture in Scotland;
- support and encourage innovative research in Scotland's Agricultural and Biological Research Institutes - promoting excellence and relevance;
- provide a further 0/60/81.5 million through the Strategic Waste Fund for improvement of local authority waste management - implementing area waste plans to increase recycling and composting and reduce landfill. Together with additional resources to be allocated later in the year this will enable local authorities to recycle or compost 25% of the waste they collect by 2006;
- provide a further 6.0/8.3/6.8 million for related waste initiatives, including recycling and market development, waste minimisation, and handling and disposal of fridges and hazardous wastes;
- invest 12.4/4.6/6 million to reduce the level of pollution from farms that ends up in our rivers and clean-up Scotland's bathing waters to European standards - protecting Scotland's unique environment, and improving access to our beaches;
- invest a further 3.8/4.5/6.4 million in enhancing our protection of the environment - promoting more sustainable use of our water resources, reducing urban pollution and dramatically improving the information available to the public about pollution in Scotland;
- invest additional resources of 1.8/4.2/4 million to improve flood defences - protecting communities from the damage and disruption caused by flooding; and
- between 2002 and 2006 Scottish Water will invest more than 1.8 billion in our public water and sewerage services to ensure that legislative standards are met.
Spending Plans
m | 2002-03
Plans | 2003-04
New Plans | 2004-05
New Plans | 2005-06
New Plans |
Water | 285 | 256 | 201 | 207 |
Natural Heritage | 62 | 65 | 68 | 69 |
Environment Protection and Waste Management | 44 | 73 | 130 | 154 |
Research and Sustainable Action | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Rural Development | 100 | 110 | 110 | 134 |
Agricultural and Biological Science, and Other Agricultural Services | 94 | 117 | 133 | 103 |
Fisheries | 67 | 49 | 50 | 53 |
Forestry Commission | 86 | 89 | 91 | 91 |
CAP Market Support | 349 | 379 | 377 | 377 |
Total | 1,089 | 1,140 | 1,162 | 1,189 |
Notes:
CAP Market Support expenditure is classed as Annually Managed Expenditure (AME), is funded entirely by the EU and is settled outside the usual Block arrangements.
RAB accruals resources are classed as AME in 2002-03 but converted to DEL for 2003-04 and future years. The figures above include, for future years, a technical switch of some 18 million of RAB resources scored against Fisheries in 2002-03, to Agricultural and Biological Science and Other Agricultural Services.
Rural Development Plans for 2005-06 include a ring-fenced addition of 22.8 million to provide the match funding which would be needed should it be decided to increase the currently planned rates of modulation of CAP on-farm payments.
The 2005-06 Plan for Agricultural and Biological Science and Other Agricultural Services assumes a receipt of some 15 million from the disposal of the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency's estate at East Craigs, Edinburgh. The Plans for 2004-05 include an additional capital allocation of 15 million in respect of the Agency's relocation to a new site.
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