³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Plant and machinery for micro-generation (as defined in the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006) has since 2009 been exempted from rating valuation in Scotland.

Transport Scotland provides general, non-statutory guidance to local authorities about how they can go about administering the blue badge scheme. It is for local authorities, however, to ensure that they are adhering to the statutory criteria for obtaining a blue badge.

The Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2007 gave local authorities the discretion to charge a fee not exceeding £20 for the issue or re-issue of a blue badge. A charge may only be made only when an application is successful and a blue badge is issued. We have no plans to review this grant of discretion to local authorities.

The Scottish Government commissioned Scottish Natural Heritage to carry out a review of game bird hunting in selected other countries. This is currently being finalised for submission to Scottish Ministers and we anticipate that it will be published shortly.

The report of the desk-based review of game bird hunting in selected other countries will be considered by the Scottish Government when it is formally submitted by Scottish Natural Heritage. Any decisions on next steps will be taken in the light of that consideration. It is a matter for the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee to decide whether to consider the report of the review as part of its programme of work.

Recommendations were not sought from the authors of the report. The remit was to conduct desk-based research to study licensing and game bird hunting legislation in countries that were comparable to Scotland in terms of huntable species and traditions.

A Direction issued to all Heads of Planning from the Chief Planner on 8 October 2015 required planning applications for underground coal gasification (UCG) development received by planning authorities to be sent to Scottish Ministers. The covering letter explained that this was to ensure the Government’s position on UCG is reflected through the planning decision making process.

To ensure consistency across regulatory regimes, a similar Direction was issued by Scottish Ministers on the same date to SEPA regarding any relevant new Controlled Activity Regulation (CAR) licenses.

As the Directions are still in place, there is no requirement to make changes to them, or to the Scottish Planning Policy. As I made clear in my ministerial statement, I have also written to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Greg Clark, to request that the UK Government revoke existing licences for UCG activities, and undertake to not issue any further licences, to respect the decision of the Scottish Government that UCG should play no part in Scotland's future energy mix.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-03834 on 8 November 2016. All answers to parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at

Three of these sites have already been designated. The Inner Hebrides and Minches Special Area of Conservation, the Iona I Historic Marine Protected Area, and the Fair Isle Demonstration and Research Marine Protected Area. The other fifteen are the proposed Special Protection Areas which are presently subject to public consultation and analysis processes. A decision on whether these sites meet the scientific criteria for designation will be taken in 2017.

There are no current plans for re-analysis of existing data for these specific locations. Neither of these locations met the scientific criteria for designation under the EU Habitats Directive which is why they were not taken forward.