Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government aims to support the creation of Green Skills Academies and will be working and consulting with relevant stakeholders, including those from the business community, colleges, universities and local authorities, in due course to take forward the development of the skills hubs and academies for the energy and low-carbon industry.

The Scottish Government will consider how to encourage the development of mutualised local energy companies alongside the development of the new Agri-Renewables Strategy which is due by summer 2012.

This is a matter for the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT). SFT and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) are exploring ways to support Local Authorities in the development of renewable energy projects. These approaches may provide a platform from which to develop specific schemes for renewable district heating.

The Scottish Government is leading by example through achieving levels of £5,000 per megawatt per annum community benefit on commercial developments recently leased on Forestry Commission (Scotland) (FCS) land. The recent leasing process by FCS also gives an opportunity for communities to engage and invest in up to 49 per cent ownership of projects.

We are further considering how to optimise community benefit and community engagement with renewables as we review the responses to the “Securing the Benefits of Scotland’s Next Energy Revolution” consultation.

This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. Scottish Enterprise leads on this program providing staff, marketing and other support.

I will ask Scottish Enterprise’s Chief Executive to write to you with the information.

This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. Scottish Enterprise leads on this program providing staff, marketing and other support.

I will ask Scottish Enterprise’s chief executive to write to you with the information.

The Scottish Government is currently considering how best to introduce enterprise zones in Scotland, including exploring the creation of one or more low carbon enterprise zones, so as to maximise their possible economic impact.

The Scottish Government does not provide direct financial support to the Scottish Energy Laboratory. The laboratory does however receive some financial support from Scotland’s enterprise agencies.

In the 2020 Routemap for Renewable Energy in Scotland, the Scottish Government has set a target of 500 megawatts of community and locally-owned renewable energy by 2020. The Routemap is published on the Scottish Government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/RoutemapforRenewableEnergy.

The Community and Renewable Energy Scheme provides loans of up to £150,000 to farmers, land managers, rural businesses, cooperatives and communities to help meet the pre-planning consent costs of developing a proposal. It is a requirement of the loan scheme to have in place a binding legal agreement on community benefit, with payments to begin when a project becomes operational, and continue for a period of 20 years.

The Scottish Government is also committed to securing the establishment of a Green Equity Fund for community renewables for the post-planning phase of development. More detailed proposals for supporting community renewables from the next financial year onwards will be set out in the spending review later this year.

The Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) now provides loans to farmers, land managers, rural businesses, cooperatives and communities for the pre-planning consent costs of developing proposals. The spending review later this year will give an opportunity to consider future funding for community renewables.