Chamber and committees

Scottish Government Officials maintain contact with the OFT on a regular basis and will continue to discuss matters of mutual interest.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-12718 on 28 February 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-12720 on the 28 February 2013, the Scottish Government meets regularly with the OFT, which has responsibility for the five objectives for the retail banking sector.

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.

Credit unions are eligible to apply for Scottish Government third sector organisational support programmes and development funds and we encourage them to do so. We shall ensure that credit unions and their representative bodies are made aware of any new third sector development funding as soon as it is available.

The Scottish Government has taken measures to assist households at risk of repossession.

The Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Act 2010 provides legislative protection for home owners. The Act requires all repossession cases to call in court; requires all lenders to demonstrate that they have considered all reasonable alternatives to repossession and enables home owners to be represented in court by approved lay representatives.

The Scottish Government’s home owners’ support fund which is comprised of the mortgage to rent and mortgage to shared equity schemes supports the most vulnerable home owners and aims to help 600 households over two years from 2011-2013. In 2011-12, 325 households were helped to remain in their homes through the schemes.

Scottish Planning Policy on opencast coal states that there should normally be a presumption against new opencast coal developments unless they are environmentally acceptable or provide local community benefits which outweigh the impacts.

As for renewable energy developments, community benefit arrangements are provided on a voluntary basis by opencast coal operators. Scottish Planning Policy provides guidance that operators should work closely with communities from an early stage of developing a proposal. Community benefits may be proposed by a developer and we would encourage communities to seek early engagement with them to maximise all opportunities consistent with guidance on planning obligations and good neighbour agreements set out in Circular 3/2012.

Scottish Ministers and Scottish Government officials have regular and on-going discussions with Ofgem and the UK Government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change on a range of energy issues, including what more can be done to mitigate the impact of rising energy costs on consumers.

Recent discussions have been:

a) The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities, Nicola Sturgeon, formally responded to Ofgem’s consultation on its updated domestic proposals under its Retail Market Review on 16 December 2012.

I also formally responded to Ofgem’s consultation on its updated proposals for businesses on 19 December 2012.

We will continue to liaise with Ofgem on its proposals for both domestic and non-domestic consumers as it moves toward implementation.

Scottish Government officials have also liaised with Ofgem on the Energy Best Deal Plus pilot project which was a project delivered in summer 2012 by Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS), funded by the six major energy suppliers. Scottish Government officials worked closely with CAS to deliver the pilot. Its aim was to support vulnerable customers by helping them identify the best tariff for them and by referring them for any energy efficiency measures or financial support available to them from their supplier.

The Scottish Government fully supports the aims of this project and we are currently working with CAS and the energy suppliers to seek financial support for the full roll-out of the project across Scotland.

b) Scottish Government officials are involved in on-going discussions with officials from the UK Department of Energy & Climate Change on matters relating to Electricity Market Reform and the Energy Bill, including proposed amendments to the Energy Bill covering measures to get consumers on the lowest tariff. The Scottish Government will continue to press the UK Government to ensure that it uses the Energy Bill to help consumers get simpler and cheaper tariffs.

On 24 January 2013, the Minister for Housing & Welfare, Margaret Burgess, jointly hosted an energy summit in Scotland with UK Ministers, with participation from representatives from the major energy companies and voluntary sector organisations, to promote the successful development of the National Retrofit Scheme in Scotland, to seek further solutions to issues such as rising energy costs, to increase protection for vulnerable consumers and to ensure effective delivery of the Energy Company Obligation in Scotland. It was further noted that, unlike England and Wales, Scotland will be retaining the current definition of fuel poverty following advice from the independent Fuel Poverty Forum, which allows us to focus our efforts on addressing the causes and reducing the impact of fuel poverty.

A number of engagements with the Office of Rail Regulation and Network Rail are planned prior to a final determination being made in October 2013. These engagements provide an opportunity to both review and challenge all relevant aspects of Network Rail's plans in Scotland over the five-year period to 2019 and ensure consistency with the requirements set out in the Scottish Ministers' High Level Output Specification and Statement of Funds Available .

In addition a schedule of further meetings with Network Rail and ScotRail is already established to discuss current environmental issues related to the railways in Scotland including issues such as air quality. The latest monitoring at Edinburgh Waverley Station demonstrates the louvers and new glazing systems are contributing to air quality improvements.

Edinburgh Waverley railway station is deemed to fall within the remit of The Air Quality (Scotland) Regulations 2000. It is the responsibility of local authorities to assess air quality in their areas under these provisions. In addition there is a requirement placed on employers under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations to ensure employee exposure limits are not breached.

SPRUCE, Scotland’s £50 million JESSICA Fund, provides loan support to revenue-generating regeneration projects within the 13 eligible areas targeted within Priority 3 of the Lowland and Uplands Scotland ERDF Programme 2007-2013. It is anticipated that the fund will be recycled up to three times within 10 years, providing a significant resource to support successful regeneration.

SPRUCE is an innovative investment model, capable of attracting public and private sector finance and expertise, to assist the delivery of urban regeneration projects SPRUCE is supporting sustainable economic growth by investing in infrastructure projects at a time when the lack of available market lending can make it difficult to get projects started. It is helping to regenerate our city and urban areas, while providing support for the construction sector and creating and supporting jobs – and can support a range of development such as office and commercial space, key transport projects and investment in energy efficiency projects.

SPRUCE has supported two projects to date, with investments totalling £11.4 million. The first at Dundyvan in Coatbridge will support up to 100 jobs and provide new commercial space for up to 16 small and medium enterprises, while generating 12 new jobs during the construction phase.

The second, in Glasgow provides much needed Grade A office space for the city centre, which should generate interest from high profile companies whilst helping to support up to 250 jobs in the construction sector and 30 apprenticeships. During construction the contractors have agreed through the inclusion of community benefits, to provide work placements opportunities, support new and completing apprentices, advertise jobs and contracts locally and provide training to contractors and subcontractors.