Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-18087 on 4 December 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-18087 on 4 December 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

No staff from outwith the Scottish Government have been hired to work on the white paper on independence.

Two agency members of staff have been recruited to fill short term administrative roles between October 2013 and January 2014.

Three staff have been seconded. Professor Drew Scott, Professor of European Studies from the University of Edinburgh, was appointed to the Scottish Government as expert advisor on Europe on 3 January 2013 on secondment for three days a week. An energy policy analyst was appointed to contribute to the development of a strategy for energy and low carbon economy between November 2011 and February 2013. In addition, an advisor on electricity market reform was seconded from May 2012 until March 2013.

No other staff from outwith the Scottish Government have been hired to assist with other work in relation to independence.

Please note that remuneration details have not been included, as the numbers of staff involved are very small and providing this information would effectively disclose personal information in contravention of the data protection principles in Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 1998.

Whilst all targets were met on demand led employability schemes, timing issues meant that associated expenditure was less than anticipated in 2012-13. The level of investment is however being maintained by re-profiling existing education and lifelong learning resources.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) has operational responsibility for Get Ready for Work, with the programme funded from its core funding. Programme expenditure for 2012-13 is therefore recorded in the SDS Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2013, available at:

http://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/media/897165/sds_group_accounts_year_ended_31_march_2013.pdf .

The consolidated accounts for the year ending 30 March 2013 do not show an £11 million underspend on the Climate Challenge Fund (CCF).

The £11 million referred to is the underspend on the Climate Change - Level 2 line. This Climate Change - Level 2 line (£18 million) supports a number of actions to reduce emissions, of which the CCF is one. These are:

The Sustainable Action Fund, which comprises the Climate Challenge Fund, public bodies duties work and a range of behaviour change activity.

The Land Managers Renewables Fund, delivered as part of the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) and managed under the energy portfolio and support for climate change policy and implementation.

Underspend on this line is attributed to a number of factors:

Underspends have been recorded on the Sustainable Action Fund and Land Managers Renewable Fund (delivered through CARES). Both the CCF component of the Sustainable Action Fund, and CARES, are demand led schemes, and in the case of CCF, 2012-13 was also the first year of operation of a new three year scheme (now extended to four years). On CCF, prompted by slow take up which became evident in-year, comprehensive action has now been taken to refresh [1] the programme to ensure a pipeline of projects and to accelerate spend in future years. As I set out in the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee on 10 October 2013 we are now confident that the CCF budget is on track and will be well utilised in 2013-14.

The imperative to ensure high quality spend has been a particular challenge in behaviour change, which is an innovative area of work. In particular it proved difficult to stimulate projects of sufficient quality to ensure delivery of the desired policy outcomes within the financial year 2012-13. On behaviour change, it is anticipated that the recent publication of the Low Carbon Scotland Behaviours Framework and the Individual, Social and Material tool will help address this issue and ensure a pipeline of quality projects can be developed.

[1] http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2012/11/climatechallenge27112012

Whilst all targets were met on demand led employability schemes, timing issues meant that associated expenditure was less than anticipated in 2012-13. The level of investment is however being maintained by re-profiling existing education and lifelong learning resources.

Audit Scotland published a report on 12 September 2013, focusing on public sector action and investment in developing renewable energy. The report found that some renewable energy projects are progressing more slowly than anticipated, for reasons which include the current financial climate and uncertainty over reforms to UK energy policy. This has led to delays in spending some of the money available to initiate and support renewable energy projects.

In addition, in the case of support for community and locally owned renewable energy projects, the report also highlighted the fact that some successful applicants choose to delay claiming their loans to avoid paying interest over the entire length of the project development phase.

A total of £5 million was spent of the Climate Challenge Fund in 2012-13.

The budget for Concessionary Fares and Bus Services in 2012-13 was £248.6 million. The largest elements of this were £187 million to reimburse bus operators for concessionary travel under the Scotland-wide Free Bus Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled Persons and £53.8 million for support for bus services, including Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG). Smart ticketing projects, other concessionary travel schemes, staffing, IT and marketing costs make up the rest of the budget.

Claims for reimbursement under the older and disabled persons concessionary travel scheme were capped at £187 million by the scheme regulations (The National Bus Travel Concession Scheme for Older and Disabled Persons (Scotland) Order 2006, S.S.I. 2006/107, as amended by the National Bus Travel Concession Scheme for Older and Disabled Persons (Scotland) Amendment Order 2010, S.S.I. 2010/140).

During negotiations with the industry on reimbursement terms for April 2013 onwards, it was decided to provide an additional £10 million through BSOG in March 2013 as transitional relief to help bus operators adjust to new reimbursement rates.