Chamber and committees

As part of a series of introductory meetings with Scottish businesses, I met with both the Company Secretary and Public Affairs Officer of British Energy on the 20 September 2007. I was accompanied by two officials with responsibility for Energy Policy.

During the course of the meeting we discussed a range of issues including the Scottish Government's policy on new nuclear power.

In addition, I met British Energy personnel at our Energy consultation event on 25 June 2007, at a dinner arranged by Paul Foley of Kynesis on 31 January 2008 and at the National Economic Forum in Edinburgh on 6 February 2008.

The provisions in the concordat are subject to a range of monitoring arrangements which involve ministers, COSLA Office Bearers, officials from the Scottish Government, its agencies and local government and Audit Scotland.

All elements of government will make a constructive contribution to delivering the components of the concordat.

Electricity generation from these sources qualifies for support under the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) mechanism. Onshore wind and hydro power are established technologies which do not require additional support. However, we will consult in the near future on proposals for the Obligation to provide additional support for emerging technologies, and through the Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland (FREDS) we are exploring the potential for the further development of the hydro sector.

The Scottish Government has made offers of grant totalling almost £25 million to support a number of projects using wave and tidal energy, biomass and hydrogen fuel cells.

Scottish Government also funds support for community and microgeneration, covering a wide range of renewable energy technologies. Expenditure was £4.2 million in 2006-07 and is expected to be over £5.5 million for 2007-08.

Electricity generating developments (greater than 50Mw generally and 1Mw for water driven generating stations) are consented by Scottish ministers under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. In considering an application made under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989, Scottish ministers would consult with statutory stakeholders including the local planning authority, Scottish Natural Heritage and Scottish Environment Protection Agency as well as non-statutory bodies and the public. Since May 2007, the following applications have been approved by Scottish ministers under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989;

Mature Technologies		Developing Technologies
Onshore wind	3	Wave	1
Hydro	2	Tidal	0
		Offshore Wind	0
		Biomass	0

 

Smaller scale on-shore developments below the Electricity Act 1989 thresholds are consented by local planning authorities under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. We do not currently maintain records of the number of applications consented by local planning authorities but arrangements are being put in place to do so.

Off-shore electricity generating developments (tidal, wave and off-shore wind) which have a generating capacity below 1Mw do not require consent under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. Instead all offshore developments (regardless of size or purpose) require consent under section 34 of the Coastal Protection Act 1949 for works which could cause an obstruction or danger to navigation and additionally a licence under Food and Environmental Protection Act 1985 for construction activities or depositing of materials in the sea. Figures for these consents and licences are not held centrally.

The European Commission has not outlined any proposals to prohibit the use of patio heaters. The European Commission has, however, published an action plan for energy efficiency to realise significant savings in EU annual primary energy consumption by 2020, the scope of which could include products such as patio heaters.

The UK Government leads on the energy efficiency of products and the Scottish Government works closely with them to ensure that this is in line with our policies. We support the UK Government's commitment to reducing energy wastage in consumer products and the lobbying of the EU to press for improvements in efficiency, particularly through Directive 2005/32/EC on the eco-design of
energy-using products.

We want the Commission to concentrate its initial efforts on the Directive to drive improvements in the major energy-using products such as lights, household appliances, consumer electronics, air conditioning and electric motors. While patio heaters are wasteful, they account for a relatively small amount of energy use in comparison. We would not therefore see them as the highest priority for EU legislative action, but would support work to look at them in due course.

At the same time we continue to urge all consumers and businesses to think carefully about their CO₂ emissions and how to reduce them, from all sources, including the use of appliances for outdoor heating.

Under the concordat agreed between Scottish ministers and COSLA, local authorities are expected to set financial priorities to meet local needs. From 1 April 2008, the funding for BRDG will be included in the main local government settlement. The Scottish Government will be producing guidance to aid local authorities in the consideration of new route development projects.

Sections 49 to 64, which provide for the creation of Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations (SCIOs), will not be brought into force until the introduction of the subordinate legislation, necessary to set out the detailed operational arrangements of the regime.

SCIOs are a new legal form, and the policy development process will require detailed planning and extensive stakeholder engagement to ensure that it is fit for purpose but not overly resource-intensive for charities or for the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator. Under current plans, which allow for a number of phases of engagement, we would not expect to bring sections 49 to 64 into force before the end of 2009.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10399 on 5 March 2008. 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/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10400 on 4 March 2008. 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/webapp/wa.search.

All answers to oral parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's Official Report website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/index.htm.