- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 25 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the review of energy efficiency and microgeneration support, as referred to in paragraph 3.18 of Energy Efficiency and Microgeneration: Achieving a Low Carbon Future: A Strategy for Scotland - draft for consultation, March 2007.
Answer
The independent Review of Energy Efficiency and Microgeneration Support was commissioned in April 2007 and completed in December. We are aiming to publish the report before the end of March 2008.
We are already considering the results and recommendations of the review and these have helped and are helping to inform action for improving, simplifying and streamlining delivery whilst ensuring that support is effectively targeted.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 25 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in developing a renewable heat strategy, as referred to in paragraph 1.31 of Energy Efficiency and Microgeneration: Achieving a Low Carbon Future: A Strategy for Scotland - draft for consultation, March 2007.
Answer
The Scottish Government welcomed a report, published on 5 February, from the Renewable Heat Group of the Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland. Ministers will consider its recommendations carefully in developing an action plan for renewable heat, which we expect to issue later this year.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 21 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will seek to develop a carbon assessment tool that will be capable of operation across central and local government in the United Kingdom or whether it will use a separate methodology for Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government is developing a tool to assess the carbon impact of all government spending in Scotland. This tool will be based on the guidance recently issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on how to value greenhouse gas emissions in government appraisals using the Shadow Price of Carbon. Further information on the Defra guidance is available at:
www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/research/carboncost/index.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 21 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive which organisations are providing advice to the Scottish Government on the development of the carbon assessment tool referred to by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth on 23 January 2008 (Official Report, c. 5290).
Answer
Work on the development of a carbon impact assessment tool is at an early stage. We are in discussion with the Sustainable Development Commission and considering what other organisations can assist us in this work.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 21 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive why its new waste targets only include waste collected by local authorities.
Answer
The parliamentary statement on waste policy in January announced the Scottish Government's intention to review the National Waste Plan. The statement also indicated that as part of this review the government would consult on new targets to reduce the amount of commercial waste that goes to landfill.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on 24 January 2008, whether it intends to agree specific targets on waste with each local authority.
Answer
Yes the Scottish Government does intend to agree specific targets on waste with each local authority, principally to ensure that each local authority diverts sufficient biodegradable municipal waste from landfill in order for Scotland to meet its EU Landfill Directive obligation in 2010 and also to ensure that each local authority contributes to National Indicators 39 (amount of waste going to landfill) and 32 (ecological footprint) within the Scottish Government''s National Performance Framework.
Scottish Government will seek to ensure that local authorities contribute towards the National Performance Framework by agreeing local outcomes to be included in their single outcome agreements (SOAs).
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the Scottish Sustainable Procurement Action Plan, as referred to in paragraph 7.25 of Energy Efficiency and Microgeneration: Achieving a Low Carbon Future: A Strategy for Scotland - draft for consultation, March 2007.
Answer
The proposed content of the Scottish Sustainable Procurement Action Plan is with the cross-sectoral Public Procurement Policy Forum for comments. Their views are being considered at present.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of Audit Scotland’s analysis of the greater cost of delivering higher waste recycling targets, what additional resources will be available to meet the higher targets in the Scottish Government’s new waste strategy (a) across Scotland and (b) in each local authority area in each of the next three years.
Answer
The Scottish Government will provide local authorities with record levels of funding over the period covered by the spending review 2008-11. The vast majority of the funding, including the former ring-fenced Strategic Waste Fund
, will be provided by means of a block grant. It will therefore be the responsibility of each local authority to allocate financial resources to meet its obligations, needs and priorities.
In addition to this, Scottish Government''s spending plans for the period 2008-11 included an allocation of £154 million to the Zero Waste Fund. The proposed expenditure across Scotland is £41.1 million in 2008-09; £54.4 million in 2009-10, and £58.7 million in 2010-11. Around £50 million of the total will be spent on support of delivery bodies but the remaining £100 million is intended to be spent on putting the necessary infrastructure in place to meet our longer term waste targets post 2010-11. A short-life working group will shortly be established between Scottish Government and COSLA to determine how this financial resource should be best deployed.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive why, following the recommendations of the Sustainable Development Commission, it has not extended its waste strategy to include commercial waste.
Answer
The Parliamentary Statement on waste policy on 24 January announced the government''s intention to review the National Waste Plan. The review will consider commercial and industrial waste and, as indicated in the statement, the government will consult on new targets to reduce the amount of commercial waste that goes to landfill.
Landfill Tax, a key policy lever in relation to commercial and industrial waste, is a reserved matter. However, the Scottish Government is carrying out or supporting a wide range of work on commercial waste including producer responsibility, the report by the Wood Fuel Task Force and Envirowise, which provides advice to business on waste prevention:
http://www.usewoodfuel.co.uk/Docs/WFTF%20final%20report%20for%20web.pdf, http://www.envirowise.gov.uk/scotland.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the 60% efficiency targets for waste-to-energy plants, referred to in the ministerial statement on 24 January 2008, will be enforced from day one of the operation of the plants or whether the targets relate to the theoretical ability of such plants to achieve high efficiency levels.
Answer
The government''s intention is that energy from waste plants should have efficiency levels of at least 60%. However, the government recognises that in some cases developments such as planned housing or factories to take the heat generated by the energy from waste plants may not be in place when any plants start to operate. In these cases, the government would expect the operators of the plants to have clear plans in place to use the heat once other developments are in place. The operators would, of course, be expected to develop facilities capable of utilising waste heat at the outset.
