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The Scottish Government is currently looking into a range of ways of addressing this manifesto commitment.

Local authorities have access to information produced either by organisations commissioned by the Scottish Government or by organisations who have worked closely with local authorities and COSLA to help them formulate their strategies.

We intend to publish a National Planning Framework Monitoring Report after the summer recess. An announcement on the revision of the National Planning Framework will be made at that time.

The Greenspace Scotland’s report Community Growing in Scotland – Towards a Framework for Action was commissioned by the Scottish Government to underpin the work of the Grow-Your-Own Working Group. The Working Group are using the Greenspace report to help them take the lead role in delivering their recommendations. The recommendations put forward by the Grow-Your-Own Working Group are to focus the groups activities and the group remain open and inclusive to ensure that the recommendations can be implemented.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-01022 on 11 July 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Following changes made by the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006, section 16 of Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 requires planning authorities to take account of the National Planning Framework in preparing their local development plans.

Section 25 of the Act requires planning applications to be determined in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. If the planning application is for a national development, Section 25 also requires the determination to be made in accordance with any statement in the National Planning Framework expressed as applying for the purposes of development management to the effect that the development could or should occur, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Statements in the National Planning Framework which do not fall into that category are to be treated as material considerations.

In the event of any incompatibility between the National Planning Framework and the development plan, whichever of them is the later in date is to prevail.

The Scottish Government last nominated or recommended a Scottish representative for the Board of Forestry Commissioners to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2009.

There are 4,943 hectares of native woodland approved for new planting in the next planting season through the Scotland Rural Development Programme.

There are 2,125 hectares of non native woodland approved for new planting in the next planting season through the Scotland Rural Development Programme.

NHS Lothian have set a target of 2015 for completion of the project but key dependencies include approval of an outline business case scheduled for November 2011, receiving outline planning consent for an integrated Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department for Clinical Neurosciences and successfully concluding a competitive dialogue procurement process with bidders prior to awarding the contract in 2012.