Chamber and committees

The fund will be available to third sector organisations which can demonstrate that they provide essential front-line services which, as a result of the recession, require short-term financial support to maintain these services. Examples of the how the recession has affected organisations can include the loss or withdrawal of income from trusts and investments or the extraordinarily increased demand for services.

Full details of the application process and further guidance are available at the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/15300/funding/ResilienceFundStrategy1.

All applicants to the Third Sector Resilience Fund must demonstrate that they are suffering financial hardship, and describe how the recession has significantly undermined or adversely affected their services. This can include circumstances where income from trusts or investments has been lost or withdrawn.

All eligible applications will be considered by a panel which includes representatives from the third sector.

Under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989, the building of any new thermal based stations would require consent from Scottish Government ministers. We published draft Section 36 guidance for thermal power stations in early 2009 for consultation. We published the individual responses in March 2009, and also held a number of workshops to discuss some of the issues in more detail. The Scottish Government decided to await the outcome of the consultation of the UK government''s clean coal framework so that the regulatory framework in broad terms is similar across the UK as a whole, with the overall objective of encouraging carbon capture and storage (CCS) deployment and the objective of decarbonisation of the electricity sector by 2030.

The UK Government has today published its response to the clean coal framework. The Scottish Government can therefore announce that its position on coal-fired power stations will be as follows:

That from today, 9 November 2009, any application for a new coal plant in Scotland will need to demonstrate CCS on a minimum of 300MW (net) of capacity from their first day of their operation.

Further new builds from 2020 would be expected to have full CCS from their first day of their operation.

For regard to retro-fitting of existing coal plants, a rolling review of the technical and economic viability of CCS will take place with the aim of taking a final view on retro-fitting by 2018, with the likelihood of having existing plants retro-fitted by no later than 2025.

If CCS is not seen as technically or financially viable at some stage in the future then alternatives will be considered based around the Emissions Trading Scheme, including consideration of an Emissions Performance Standard.

These proposals relate to coal stations only. We can confirm that our position on gas, oil and thermal stations remains as per our answer to question S3W-24912 on 17 June 2009 where for stations over 300MWe, applicants will have to demonstrate that any new applications demonstrate carbon capture readiness.

The Scottish Government is working closely with the UK Government on this issue, including the proposals in the forthcoming UK energy bill which will allow a levy on generation to be charged in order to fund up to four CCS demonstrator projects across the UK. We believe there are a number of demonstrator projects in Scotland which could attract funding under the proposed scheme and will want to ensure that the Scottish-based projects are considered favourably as part of the process of allocating funds to projects.

The Scottish Government is determined to ensure that we become Europe''s leader in carbon capture and storage. The Scottish Government will continue to work with the UK Government, EU, business, research and academics to ensure we fully capitalise on Scotland''s potential. We are confident that this policy position strikes a balance between short-term security of supply, ensuring demonstration of CCS technology and making progress towards our carbon reduction targets.

In the meantime, we are working closely with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Marine Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage, Crown Estate, Health and Safety Executive as well as the UK government in order to develop an integrated approach to the licensing and consents processes which will be required for any CCS project. The Scottish Government is keen to develop a pragmatic approach to risk assessment and a streamlined approach to decision making, which would place Scotland at the forefront of the approach to CCS development. We look forward to these positive discussions with our partners continuing.

Following on from the consultation, the Scottish Government has also decided that as part of any future application, either for new or significant retro-fitting for any thermal station, which would cover gas and biomass stations as well as coal, developers will need to demonstrate that they have seriously considered how waste heat from any thermal station could be utilised for use by local households or industry. The application would need to demonstrate that discussions with local authorities have been held. In the meantime, the Scottish Government is undertaking a short assessment on the issue of waste heat to assess issues relating to capacity, barriers and potential role for government. We are of the view that use of waste heat could be a way to assist security of supply and reduce overall emissions although we recognise some of the challenges involved.

Finally, we plan to issue our detailed thermal guidance shortly following the setting out of the initial policy position.

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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

I am informed by the Food Standards Agency that an independent steering group, which will include stakeholders involved in different areas and with different views of GM, will be established to support and manage the consumer engagement project, and the group will inform and shape the engagement process. The FSA Project Manager will function as one of the associates of that group, but will not be a member.

The independent steering group will comprise an independent Chair, Professor John Curtice of the University of Strathclyde, and representation from stakeholder groups and social scientists. The FSA Project Manager, together with representatives from the UK Government''s Central Office of Information, Sciencewise Expert Resource Centre, the organisations delivering and evaluating the dialogue work, another Government Department, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council will act as associates of the group.

Any individual employees of FSA will have been recruited and employed in accordance with the Civil Service Code.

Recruitment and employment of staff is an internal matter for the Food Standards Agency, and is carried out in accordance with the Civil Service Code.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has advised me that their department has been asked by the UK Government to carry out a programme of consumer engagement on GM food. The FSA informs me that this programme is at the initial stages of development and a budget has still to be finalised. I will consider any Scottish implications when more detailed proposals have been provided.

The Food Standards Agency informs me that officials meet with abc on average every six months.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) informs me that the last meeting with the abc was on 18 September 2009, and was attended by the Head of the Novel Foods, Additives and Supplements Division and one other member of the division. Items discussed at the last meeting were: FSA public engagement work; progress on dossiers at the European Commission Standing Committee; progress on discussions about a technical solution to the adventitious presence of genetically modified organisms in commodity crops and next steps in relation to European Food Safety Authority guidance on genetically modified organisms.

This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor1008-01.htm.

I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that enforcement of food law is the responsibility of local authorities. Sampling and testing of food and feed is undertaken by local authorities under their own authority, without reference to central government. I am informed by the Food Standards Agency that it funds a programme of food surveys which includes tests for contaminants and unauthorised ingredients. In addition, the agency receives central funding for sampling and analysis of contaminants in imported food at a UK level. This funding is made available to local authorities for sampling and analysis on application. In addition, local authorities receive funding from the Scottish Government and from their collection of council tax. Local authorities set their own priorities in terms of spending.