Chamber and committees

Regulations concerning the safety of products are reserved and, while there has been no discussion between Scottish Government and UK Government on this, we welcome the UK Government’s recent action in establishing a working group to improve the safety of white goods.

In Scotland there is an information sharing protocol between the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) and its network of partnership agencies which allows the sharing of information about fire-related product safety issues.

This information for Scotland is not held centrally. A methodology for estimating costs for England was developed by the UK Department for Communities and Local Government. This was last updated in 2008 using data available at that time, and published in its Fire Research Report 3/2011. The report is available online here; http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121108165934/http:/www.communities.gov.uk/documents/corporate/pdf/1838338.pdf

SFRS works with partners in communities to identify risks and to target fire prevention activities at those most vulnerable and it is SFRS, in collaboration with those partners, who is best placed to develop and inform fire prevention strategies on a local and national basis.

Through the Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2016, Scottish Ministers require SFRS to collect, produce and analyse data and other intelligence to promote the safety and well-being of communities.

SFRS works with partners in communities to identify risks and to target fire prevention activities at those most vulnerable and it is SFRS, in collaboration with those partners, who is best placed to identify the data required to inform fire prevention strategies on a local and national basis.

This information is not held centrally.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) publishes statistics on accidental dwelling fires, broken down by local authority, however this data is not broken down into specific causes.

These statistics are available on SFRS’s website, and can be found at this link http://www.firescotland.gov.uk/about-us/fire-and-rescue-statistics.aspx

The SFRS has a statutory duty to promote fire safety across Scotland. In the Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2016, Scottish Ministers require SFRS to contribute fully to improving the safety and well-being of Scotland’s communities and to ensure that there is a clear process for working with partners to identify the risks faced by communities and individuals so that activity can be targeted using a risk-based approach.

The SFRS considers how best to reduce dwelling fires, including those caused by electricity, what the focus of its preventative action will be, and with which partner organisations it will work to achieve this.

In addition to a programme of fire safety awareness campaigns and community safety engagement events, the SFRS carried out 71,743 Home Fire Safety Visits in 2015-16. The SFRS website also carries safety information for householders on a range of issues, including home appliances and electrical safety.

This information for Scotland is not held centrally. A methodology for estimating costs for England was developed by the UK Department for Communities and Local Government. This was last updated in 2008 using data available at that time, and published in its Fire Research Report 3/2011. The report is available online here; http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121108165934/http:/www.communities.gov.uk/documents/corporate/pdf/1838338.pdf

Information on the number of exploration and appraisal wells drilled is produced by the Oil and Gas Authority. This information can be found via https://www.ogauthority.co.uk/data-centre/data-downloads-and-publications/well-data/

Activity in the North Sea oil and gas sector depends on a range of different factors, including oil and gas prices, costs, investment, demand and exploration and production efficiency.

The North Sea has a bright future, with up to 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent of known reserves remaining in the UK continental shelf. Production has increased by an estimated 16% since 2014 and is expected to continue to grow in 2017 and 2018. The oil and gas sector has shown great resilience during challenging global conditions, with average unit operating costs around half their peak level in 2014. Merger and Acquisition activity so far in 2017 has already seen nearly twice as much money invested than across all of 2016, highlighting the continued appetite to invest in the basin.

However, last week’s Oil and Gas UK Business Outlook clearly highlighted the urgent need for fresh capital in the basin if we are to unlock the remaining 20 billion barrels of oil and gas. The UK Government holds the key fiscal levers and the Scottish Government will continue to call for further measures to urgently stimulate activity and investment, which will be of particular help to the hard hit supply chain

We have repeatedly called on the UK government to take steps to incentivise investment and maximise economic recovery. It is encouraging that the UK Government has finally listened to the Scottish Government about the need to ensure ‘the right assets are in the right hands’. This is an area where we have repeatedly called for reform and which the UK Government have been too slow to react, and therefore it is important that we now see urgent action from UK Ministers and not simply the establishment of another talking shop.

Previous analysis by the Scottish Government have used a range of different price assumptions based on historic trends and a range of external analysis and forecasts.

The UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy regulates the decommissioning of offshore oil and gas installations and pipelines. A table of draft decommissioning programmes under consideration and approved decommissioning programmes can be found via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/oil-and-gas-decommissioning-of-offshore-installations-and-pipelines

There are a number of estimates around the potential cost and timing of oil and gas decommissioning activity, including:

Scottish Enterprise and Highland and Islands Enterprise published an Oil and Gas Decommissioning Action Plan in December 2016. This includes an analysis of decommissioning costs and activity. This can be found via: https://www.scottish-enterprise.com/knowledge-hub/articles/publication/oil-gas-decommissioning-action-plan

The Oil and Gas Authority’s Decommissioning Strategy summarises current cost projections, outlines efficiency improvements and transformative options that will support the delivery of Maximising Economic Recovery UK. This can be found via: https://www.ogauthority.co.uk/decommissioning/strategy/

Oil and Gas UK’s Decommissioning Insight 2016 report presents forecasts of offshore oil and gas infrastructure decommissiong in the UK and Norway over the next ten years. This can be found via: http://oilandgasuk.co.uk/decommissioninginsight.cfm