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The official statistic (which was published by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) on 13 May 2016) is based on the results of Site Condition Monitoring (SCM), a six-year rolling programme monitoring the condition of natural features on protected areas. The condition of an individual feature is determined by assessing conditions on the ground against a series of targets which are set such that if all targets are met the feature will be able to sustain itself under current management and wider environmental influences for the foreseeable future. There are three main categories of assessed condition:

Favourable: all targets are met (currently 66.6% of all features)

Unfavourable recovering: one or more targets have not been met, but management is in place to promote recovery to favourable, given sufficient time (currently 6.2% of all features)

Unfavourable: one or more targets have not been met and recovery is unlikely without some form of management intervention.

The protocols which have been established since the National Performance Indicator (NPI) was established in 2007, which since 2011 has also been an official statistic, is that the favourable category for reporting would include both assessed Favourable and assessed unfavourable recovering, the latter on the basis that all measures are in place for favourable condition.

Additionally, because SNH does not have the resources to do a SCM assessment on all features on protected areas during a six-year cycle, there could be a prolonged period (up to 18 years) where changes in management to improve an unfavourable feature would not be recognised in the official statistic report, despite the feature improving. Therefore, if management action has been put in place for unfavourable features since the last SCM assessment which in SNH’s judgement will lead to favourable condition, an interim measure is reported for the official Statistic as unfavourable recovering due to management (currently 7.6% of all features) and this is treated in the same way as unfavourable recovering.

Therefore, the 80.4% of features reported as in favourable condition for the purposes of the official statistic/NPI is a combination of:

Assessed favourable, assessed unfavourable recovering and unfavourable recovering due to management. The basis of calculation and reporting is the same as has been in place and reported since 2007.

 

The breakdown is explicitly shown in the official statistic publication at:

http://www.snh.gov.uk/docs/A1959320.pdf

The situation referred to in the report has been resolved and no longer represents a conflict of interest. We take the comments raised by Audit Scotland very seriously and will be looking to apply these considerations across the programme and wider Scottish Government activities.

On 21 March 2016 Keith Brown, as Cabinet Secretary of Infrastructure, Investment and Cities, and Robert Goodwill MP, Transport Minister at the UK Government, announced that the Department for Transport and Transport Scotland would take forward work in this control period [2014-19] with Network Rail to identify any and all options with strong business cases, for consideration for implementation in CP6 and 7 [2019-29] that can improve journey times, capacity, resilience and reliability on routes between England and Scotland. The Department for Transport and Transport Scotland officials are currently in the process of setting up a joint working group with Network Rail as a vehicle for taking this commitment forward.

The Scottish Government made representation to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to ensure that services to Scotland were protected and improved. It was however for the ORR, as the independent regulatory body, to come to a determination on open track access on the East Coast Main Line (ECML).

In responding to the ORR’s consultation, the Scottish Government set out the following principles that any bid, and the ORR in assessing bids, for open access operation on the ECML should observe:

There must be no material abstraction of ScotRail revenue.

Fast journey times between Scotland and London are critical in facilitating the desired shift of cross border travel to rail as a more sustainable mode, but any open access operation has to a ensure that overall journey times on the route improve, and that there should be no worsenment.

That the open access operator pays their fair share for the impact on the infrastructure.

That there must be no diminution of frequencies of service and journey times to Scottish Stations as a consequence of any open access operation, and where possible there should be improvements.

That no service shall operate so as to unbalance the provision of internal Scottish services.

That new open access services should result in enhanced choice for passengers in terms of journey time, fare levels, passenger service and connectivity.

That there should be no significant disruption of efficient timetabling and connections on other services.

Scotland’s Biodiversity - a Route Map to 2020 was published in June 2015 to guide work towards the 2020 Aichi targets and complement the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy (SBS). The route map brings together the key work needed to deliver on the SBS. The Scottish Government is taking a range of steps to meet Aichi biodiversity targets three and seven for aquaculture, forestry and agriculture. These include:

(a) Aquaculture

The National Marine Plan sets out a national strategy for sustainable economic growth of marine industries including aquaculture. This takes into account environmental protection, and sets out policies with economic, social and marine ecosystem objectives. The aquaculture industry is regulated, and no subsidies offered, to minimise any impact on biodiversity.

(b) Forestry

Findings from the Native Woodland Survey of Scotland in 2014, have been used to inform the development of the SBS and the route map. Priority project 2: Restoration of Native Woodland’ in the route map, aims to improve the condition and extent of existing native woodlands and further increase new woodland planting. It aims to create 3,000 to 5,000 hectares of new native woodland per year and restore approximately 10,000 hectares of native woodland into satisfactory condition in partnership with woodland owners through deer management plans.

Support for new woodland creation and the sustainable management of existing woodlands, including native woodlands, is available under the Forestry Grant Scheme, part of the Scotland’s Rural Development Programme (SRDP). Improvement grants for woodland and habitats are available to land owners to improve and restore native woodland condition under the SRDP. £0.75 million is currently available each year under those improvement options.

On the National Forest Estate, Forest Enterprise Scotland used the Native Woodland Survey of Scotland to refine its methodology to identify appropriate management operations for each semi-natural woodland on the estate. Forest Enterprise Scotland has also begun the process of restoring over half of the plantations on ancient woodland sites to native woodland.

(c) Agriculture sector

The contribution of agriculture to delivering the biodiversity strategy and Aichi targets is described in priority project 11 of Scotland’s Biodiversity: a route map to 2020, which aims to promote measures to support biodiversity under the common agricultural policy (CAP). A range of on-going work by the Scottish Government will contribute to this including:

The 2014-20 Scottish Rural Development Programme includes a £350 million Agri-Environment Climate Scheme which supports a number of land management activities designed to benefit biodiversity, for example by protecting vulnerable priority species, supporting the restoration of important habitats and contributing to ecological connectivity. A range of improvements have been introduced to the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme aiming to enhance benefits to biodiversity, including new spatial targeting to ensure funding is available in the locations where it will deliver the greatest benefit.

In 2015, the Scottish Government launched a new £10 million SRDP Environmental Co-operation Action Fund. This will support the facilitation of landscape-scale environmental projects, including restoration of peatlands, deer management and control of invasive non-native species.

From 2015, farmers in receipt of CAP payments have been required to meet greening requirements. These include an Ecological Focus Areas (EFA) requirement, designed to benefit farmland biodiversity by requiring at least 5% of non-exempt arable land to be declared as fallow, buffer strips, field margins, catch crops, green cover or nitrogen-fixing crops. The approach adopted by the Scottish Government to implementing this requirement included a requirement that EFA nitrogen-fixing crops meet management conditions designed to benefit biodiversity. From 2015, protection for hedgerows has also been strengthened under CAP Cross Compliance rules, by requiring a 2 metre uncultivated buffer strip with no fertiliser or pesticides adjacent to each hedgerow.

The Scottish Government is commissioning a multi-annual monitoring project (reporting in 2020 with interim milestones) to monitor the environmental outcomes delivered by the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme and greening requirements, and to recommend how these could be improved in the post-2020 CAP.

The new SRDP farm advisory service, to be launched in 2016, will provide increased access to one-to-one advice for farmers on how to improve their environmental and business performance through the preparation of integrated land management plans.

The Future of Scottish Agriculture: a Discussion Document, launched in June 2015, set out the aspiration that Scotland becomes a world-leader in green farming. The document proposed a range of possible next steps to achieve this aspiration, which we are continuing to explore with stakeholders.

Since 1 January 2016, Scottish Natural Heritage have not been advised of any European beavers that have been shot or required an autopsy to be undertaken.

A decision will be announced later in 2016. The decision will be compliant with the requirements of the EU habitats directive.

The potential formal reintroduction of beavers raises complex issues around their management and legal protection. Scottish Ministers are considering these issues carefully before making a decision on the future of beavers in Scotland.

The Scottish Government wrote on 24 February 2016 to the Chair of the Wildlife Crime Penalties Review Group, Professor Mark Poustie, with a formal response to the report. The letter can be read in full at: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0049/00494565.pdf

The ten recommendations were wide ranging in their scope. Some of the recommendations will require primary legislation and the appropriate vehicle for that will need to be identified, while others will require extensive discussion with other parties to establish the next steps. We will take forward work in these areas in the new parliamentary session.

The Scottish Government does not support large, indiscriminate culls of mountain hares in Scotland and recognises the concerns that have been expressed about the status of mountain hare populations in Scotland. The Scottish Government acknowledges that mountain hares are a legitimate quarry species and that there may be local requirements to control mountain hares to protect gamebirds and young trees. Any control of mountain hares should be undertaken in accordance with obligations under the EU Habitats Directive.

Given the concerns about possible over-exploitation, information on the management of hares has been reviewed by independent experts from the Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) Scientific Advisory Committee. This review was published in October 2015 and is available at: http://www.snh.gov.uk/docs/A1765931.pdf. The review identified the need for improved monitoring and data to assess national trends of mountain hare populations.

This work is underway in the form of a collaborative four year study (2014-17) involving SNH and scientists in the James Hutton Institute and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, on trialling various methods of counting hares. The study has the aim of developing a reliable and cost-effective means of assessing mountain hare population density.

SNH is also working with Scottish Land & Estates to encourage greater transparency in the reasons why estates cull hares and to encourage estates to collaborate and develop a more measured and coordinated approach to sustainable hare management.