Chamber and committees

We actively monitor credit conditions in Scotland through our Access to Finance surveys, which shows levels of demand and supply of finance (including rejection rates) and the costs of new finance to small businesses in Scotland for all key Banks, including Lloyds Banking Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland. These surveys highlight the situation in Scotland, as currently the published data on lending levels is only available at the UK level.

We welcome the commitment of the current UK Government to disclose regional lending data and we are in discussions with the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills regarding this matter and also with the Banking industry in Scotland through our regular industry (FiSAB) meetings about this issue.

The following table outlines Scottish Government''s and Scottish Enterprise''s financial support given to offshore wind technologies and their deployment since 2006-07. Please note the question has been interpreted as actual spend rather than committed, additional offers have been made to companies but the offers are still to be drawn down.

	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11
Scottish Government	2,539,336		200,000	1,260,663	1,645,000
Scottish Enterprise	102,772	1,088,645	165,613	525,030	115,514
Total	2,642,108	1,088,645	365,613	1,785,693	1,760,514

 

Combined Total: 7,642,573.

Scottish Government also provides funding to the Carbon Trust to support its Offshore Wind Accelerator Programme, in 2010-11 the Scottish Government has committed £49,000 towards the project.

There is currently not a central list of how many combined heat and power plants have been established in Scotland since 2003-04. Collation of this information is planned as part of the actions included in the Energy Efficiency Action Plan due to be published in the autumn. We plan to obtain better data from SEPA on planning and waste management issues with regards to CHP.

However, we have obtained the following information from the Department of Climate Change from data they hold. This provides information on the total number of installations in each year from 2003. It should be noted that where reductions or increases year on year occur this is an aggregate total of schemes opening and closing through the year.

CHP Schemes in Scotland

	Number
2008	83
2007	81
2006	75
2005	76
2004	84
2003	87

 

The Scottish Government awarded research and development grants to marine projects and developers in February 2007, under the Wave and Tidal Energy Scheme (WATES). Payments under the scheme have been as follows (based on financial years):

2007-08:	£1,204,355
2008-09:	£573,752
2009-10:	£888,462
Total:	£2,666,569

 

Some WATES projects are still being developed so further funds are still to be released.

In addition to this, the Scottish Government has also released over £2.5 million during the last two years to help develop the infrastructure needed to accommodate WATES projects located at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.

Scottish Enterprise has also provided financial support for a variety of projects and development of the Marine Energy sector as follows:

2006-07:	£125,000
2007-08:	£234,000
2008-09:	£1,689,752
2009-10	£2,177,260
Total:	£4,226,012

 

On 6 July this year, the Scottish Government announced £13 million of support to five marine energy projects through the Wave And Tidal Energy: Research, Development and Demonstration Support (WATERS) scheme.

16+ Learning Choices ensures an offer of a suitable place in post-16 learning for every eligible young person who wants it. This will include staying on at school, entering further or higher education, taking up employment, participating in a National Training Programme, volunteering, or taking part in personal skills development in a community learning and development setting or a third sector organisation.

It is an integral part of Curriculum for Excellence and is central to facilitating delivery of the national indicator for positive and sustained post-16 destinations. By December 2010 16+ Learning Choices will be a universal model for all young people leaving compulsory education or any episode of learning during the senior phase of Curriculum for Excellence.

Suitability data for all Scottish local authority schools will be included for the first time in the School Estate Statistics 2010, which will be published at the end of September 2010.

Employment is reserved to the UK Government through the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The previous UK Government introduced the Young Persons'' Guarantee (YPG) as a targeted response to the recession''s impact on young people. Through this, the majority of young people in Scotland (18 to 24 and over six months unemployed) currently have the option of either some form of vocational training or a subsidised job.

The YPG offer will end in March 2011. However, young people in Scotland who are over the age of 18 will continue to have access to Training for Work at the three months stage of unemployment. Training for Work is the Scottish Government''s vocational training programme for unemployed adults.

The Scottish Government has no immediate plans to publish economic forecasts for the Scottish economy. The Chief Economic Adviser regularly publishes an assessment on the future prospects for the Scottish economy within the State of the Economy publication series. This draws together existing evidence, including independent forecasts, to help inform our understanding of the future performance of the Scottish economy.

The Scottish Government regularly publishes its latest assessment on the future prospects for the Scottish economy within the State of the Economy publication series. This draws together existing evidence, including independent forecasts, which helps to inform the key issues likely to influence the future performance of the Scottish economy.

The purpose of the Scottish Government is to deliver increased sustainable economic growth. Our actions, including our Budget Bill for 2010-11, our economic recovery plan, and our decision to defer further spending cuts to next year, demonstrate our commitment to supporting economic recovery and achieving our purpose. The related purpose targets, including raising Scotland''s GDP growth rate to the UK level by 2011, are milestones towards achieving this goal.