Chamber and committees

The last full meeting of the Council of Economic Advisers was on 20 January 2012. There was also a special session of the council, which was attended by four council members, on 18 February 2012.

The next meeting of the Council of Economic Advisers is scheduled for 7 September 2012.

There were no meetings of the Council of Economic Advisers in 2011.

The council meeting on 10 September 2010 was the last during the previous parliamentary term. The Council of Economic Advisers was then reconvened by the First Minister following the Scottish parliamentary elections in May 2011 and the start of the new parliamentary term. The reconvened council met for the first time at the start of 2012 (on 20 January 2012).

The Fiscal Commission Working Group was established on 25 March and has since been co-ordinating the work to help establish a fiscal and macro-economic framework for Scotland.

A formal meeting will take place in Edinburgh on 27 August 2012 to review progress.

The outputs of the group will be published in due course. It will form an important part of the development of the White Paper on independence, which will be published in autumn 2013.

The Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers will produce a Chair’s Brief at the end of the year summarising the advice that the council has provided over the year.

The Council of Economic Advisers published its previous annual reports on the following dates: First annual report – 5 December 2008; Second Annual Report – 4 December 2009; and Third Annual Report – 10 December 2010.

All hauliers using CalMac and NorthLink ferry services pay reduced fares due to the substantial subsidies paid to those companies under the terms of their contracts with the Scottish Ministers. In addition, certain further tariff reductions are available on a non-discriminatory basis.

CalMac Ferries Ltd provides a Traders Rebate Scheme which offers hauliers a rebate of up to 15% based on their utilisation of capacity aboard CalMac ferries, other than on the current RET routes (Western Isles, Coll and Tiree). Eligibility is based on frequency and volume of use on a route by route basis.

Discounts are also available for lorries carrying hay, straw or livestock, provided that the lorry is returning empty.

Significant additional financial support made available to all commercial vehicles, regardless of size, using routes to the Western Isles, Coll and Tiree means that they receive between 25% and 45% discount, compared to the level of fares that would apply if RET had not been introduced. We have also extended RET to small commercial vehicles up to six metres in length for services to the Western Isles, Coll and Tiree.

NorthLink Ferries Ltd operate a reduced freight rate for the weekend sailing from Aberdeen to Kirkwall. There are no haulier discounts, although all empty trailers are carried at a lower rate.

Increasing fuel prices clearly have had a significant impact on the costs facing hauliers serving our remote and island communities. This is an issue we have raised, and continue to raise, with the UK Government.

The following table lists cases with grant and loan funding to community energy projects located on the national forest estate. These schemes are operated by Community Energy Scotland and includes funding from the Community Renewable Energy Support Programme (CRESP) which comes via Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) funding which is direct from the Scottish Government.

Note: *No date of application known

There are some changes to the amounts shown in question S4W-05087. This new table includes payments made since the previous answer and corrects an error previously rendered. It also makes a clear distinction between funds approved and funds claimed or drawn down.

There were no changes to ownership of land between applications being made and funding approved.

Further checks have also indicated that two projects funded under CARES were for work not on the national forest estate at date of application or date of funding award, these projects are: