- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 June 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 14 June 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it will give NHS Lothian for the combined development of the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department of Clinical Neurosciences in Edinburgh.
Answer
The Scottish Government is fully committed to the delivery of the combined development of the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department of Clinical Neurosciences in Edinburgh. With support and advice from Scottish Government Officials and the Scottish Futures Trust, NHS Lothian will take the project forward as quickly as possible.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 June 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 14 June 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what financial assistance it will give NHS Lothian for the combined development of the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department of Clinical Neurosciences in Edinburgh.
Answer
The Scottish Government's position on funding support for revenue financed projects was set out in a letter to NHS chief executives from the Director General Health and Social Care on 22 March 2011. That letter detailed those elements of unitary payments made under hub initiative Design Build Finance and Maintain projects and non-profit distributing projects that would attract Scottish Government revenue support. These arrangements state that 100% of the approved capital and financing elements, and 100% of special purpose vehicle costs and insurances would be covered by Scottish Government support. In addition, 50% of the charge relating to lifecycle maintenance will be supported. Funding support will be dependant on the approval of appropriate business cases by Scottish Government with technical and commercial input provided by the Scottish Futures Trust. In addition to support for elements of the unitary payments due, the Scottish Government will be providing capital support for those elements of enabling works and equipment contained within approved business cases.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason it decided to put the whole of the forest estate out to tender at the same time.
Answer
Every exercise like this is heavy on resource and time. Progressing these opportunities will contribute significantly to the delivery of the Government''s renewable energy targets and generate an additional revenue stream for Forestry Commission Scotland which will avoid the need for taxpayers to support the cost of delivery of social and environmental outputs from the national forest estate.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what benefits it expects communities will receive from the Forestry Commission Scotland renewables contracts announced by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change on 22 February 2011.
Answer
Forestry Commission Scotland has secured leading edge community benefits of up to £5,000 per mw per annum for both wind and hydro developments. Communities, if they so wish, will be able to invest this payment in a share of the development. Also, they have the choice to add extra cash of their own to build a greater stake for the community.
We estimate that this new programme could generate up to 500mw per annum and if this is realised then it could mean a windfall of £2.5 million per annum for communities.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how the community benefits from Forestry Commission Scotland’s renewables contracts announced by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change on 22 February 2011 will be administered and which organisations will oversee this.
Answer
It will be for the appointed development companies for the different lots to engage with and agree the details with communities based upon the template agreed with Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS). FCS will additionally publish guidance for communities on the options available and Community Energy Scotland has been contracted by the Scottish Government to provide advice to communities on these possibilities.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Forestry Commission Scotland renewables contracts announced by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change on 22 February 2011 give exclusive rights to the whole of the commission’s estate to those companies that won the contracts.
Answer
Forestry Commission Scotland split the geographical areas of the national forest estate into five lots.
In four of the five lots there are two companies given exclusivity for the eight month period, one dealing with schemes under 5MW site potential and the other over 5MW. In the fifth lot both development segments are dealt with by the same company. It is not intended that exclusive options will be granted on all of the forest estate in each lot at the end of the exclusivity period, instead a select list of potential sites will be taken forward and the rest of the land can be open to communities or others to take forward if possible.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the contracts for Forestry Commission Scotland renewables contracts announced by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change on 22 February 2011 have review points where increasing payments from companies with access to the commission’s estate might be considered.
Answer
The lease arrangements are structured to provide income to Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) based on a share of the gross income generated by specific projects or a share of net income where FCS is joint venture partner or a combination of both. Therefore if income rises due to increasing energy costs FCS will benefit.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the option of joint investment opportunities to develop the forestry commission estate has been considered.
Answer
Yes, and the deals announced provide for Forestry Commission Scotland to become a joint venture partner in specific schemes should they chose to do so.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what the duration will be of the contracts for the Forestry Commission Scotland renewables contracts announced by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change on 22 February 2011.
Answer
It will only be possible to say which communities will benefit once the developers have identified potential sites on the national forest estate. It is expected that this process will take up to eight month to complete.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason local communities did not participate in the decision made regarding the Forestry Commission Scotland renewables contracts announced by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change on 22 February 2011.
Answer
Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) has responsibility for the development of the national forest estate and it would not have been appropriate to directly involve communities in the commercial process. However, FCS did discuss with representative community bodies such as Community Energy Scotland, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Scottish Community Woodlands and others during the process and endeavoured to obtain a good outcome for communities.
