Chamber and committees

The provision in the Climate Change Bill for a Scottish Energy Efficiency Action Plan will require Scottish ministers to prepare and publish the action plan no later than 12 months after the legislation comes into force, and to report on the implementation of the action plan every year to Parliament. The action plan will also have to be reviewed at least every three years. In order to assist Parliament in its consideration of the provision in the bill we intend to publish an outline of the proposed plan in the spring.

Scottish Government officials are in regular discussions with officials from the Department of Energy and Climate Change on the justification process and are being kept updated on its progress.

The position of the Scottish Government with regard to new nuclear power stations is well known and that position is understood by the UK government. It was also made clear in our formal response to the UK Government Consultation on the Future of Nuclear power in November 2007.

We are committed to ensuring that the new body provides robust assurance and scrutiny for both NHS and independent health care services, and also continues to play a significant role in supporting service improvement.

The £13 million Wave and Tidal Energy Support Scheme (WATES) is fully subscribed and has awarded grants to eight wave or tidal developers.

We also intend to introduce in April, the most generous revenue support scheme in the UK through the Renewables Obligations legislation for commercially deployed marine renewable energy projects. Five Renewable Obligation Certificates would be available for wave and three Renewable Obligation Certificates for tidal. At present  one Renewables Obligation Certificate is available for both wave and tidal technologies. Given the nature of this support (income generation dependent on renewable electricity produced) it is impossible to quantify the value of the support at this stage.

The recently reconvened Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland (FREDS) Marine Energy Group will consider and make recommendations regarding future funding for the marine renewables sector through a Roadmap which will be published early this year.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to extend the Wave and Tidal Energy Support Scheme (WATES) which is fully subscribed.

However, the recently reconvened Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland (FREDS) Marine Energy Group will consider and make recommendations regarding future funding for the marine renewables sector. These recommendations will feed into a high level Road Map which will address the development of the marine sector. This is due to be launched early this year.

We also intend to introduce in April, the most generous revenue support in the UK through the Renewables Obligations legislation for commercially deployed marine renewable energy projects. Five Renewable Obligation Certificates would be available for wave and three Renewable Obligation Certificates for tidal. At present one Renewables Obligation Certificate is available for both wave and tidal technologies.

The £10 million Saltire Prize launched on 2 December 2008 also exists to encourage the development of marine renewable technologies.

The £10 million Saltire Prize is expected to be awarded by 31 March 2015.

John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, announced on 4 July 2008 that he wanted to ensure that the eligibility criteria of the Scotland-wide Free Bus Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People is extended so that injured veterans in Scotland are able to benefit from free bus travel. Consideration of the detail of this is being included as part of the review of the scheme, which is currently being completed.

Visitors to Scotland for Homecoming 2009 will use many different forms of transport to get here. Once in Scotland, VisitScotland encourages visitors to cherish the Scottish environment, and raises awareness of tourism impacts and what can be done to reduce these impacts.

Their activity to promote the use of public transport, which will continue throughout the Homecoming year includes:

Providing excellent, highly visible information for visitors on how to access and travel around Scotland by public transport, cycling and walking through the VisitScotland.com website.

Promoting the advance booking service offered by rail companies and integrated ticketing opportunities.

Providing sustainable itineraries for tourists.

The Scottish Government considers that good air links support Scotland''s economy, including the tourism industry. The government has introduced the Scottish Climate Change Bill which sets a target of an 80% cut in Scotland''s greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The target applies collectively across all sectors of the economy, including international aviation. Although the government is not in a position to assess the level of greenhouse gas emissions that will be generated by aviation resulting from Homecoming 2009 it is expected that the Homecoming Year may make flights to and from Scotland more fuel-efficient by filling empty seats.

VisitScotland''s promotional work for Homecoming Scotland 2009 is focussed on increasing overall tourism revenue from domestic and international tourism, rather than on straightforward visitor numbers. They will seek to measure the net positive difference which results from the intervention of EventScotland and VisitScotland in their marketing of Homecoming 2009.

VisitScotland''s European campaigns prioritise Homecoming Scotland, picking up on the culture, whisky and golf themes. VisitScotland has secured prominent positions for Homecoming Scotland throughout VisitBritain''s web platforms and e-communications and PR programmes “ this further extends the reach and impact of Homecoming.

The Homecoming Scotland TV advert has been seen by over 60 per cent of the Scottish population in the week over St Andrews Day 2008. Tailored information on Homecoming has been mentioned in mailshots to 260,000 UK consumers through the Visitscotland relationship marketing programme last summer.

Three hundred and fifty thousand UK consumers have received information about how to get involved and celebrate Burns through the World Famous Burns Supper campaign in November. 1.9 million UK consumers will have seen Homecoming press adverts in key magazines last autumn including Coast Magazine, Good Housekeeping and Guardian Weekend. Half a million London consumers have seen 25 large outdoor posters around the main arterial routes in London and digital advertising in over 30 underground stations last autumn.