Chamber and committees

A total of 51 organisations applied for Section 10 funding. All applicants will be advised of the outcome of their application in due course.

The Council of Economic Advisers meets twice each year, and the council last met on 12 November 2014. The dates of future meetings will be announced in due course.

An Annual Chair’s Report is published by the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Crawford Beveridge. The reports are published at the following address:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Economy/Council-Economic-Advisers/Reports

The reports of the Fiscal Commission Working Group are also available at the following address:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Economy/Council-Economic-Advisers/FCWG

Future reports produced by the council will be published on the Scottish Government website.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-23832 on 14 January 2015. 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.

The costs associated with each meeting of the Council of Economic Advisers are available at the following address:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Economy/Council-Economic-Advisers/disclosures

Members of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) and any associated sub-groups are appointed on a voluntary and personal basis. They do not receive any direct remuneration related to this role. All reasonable expenses incurred by members in the course of attending the CEA and any associated sub-groups are met by the Scottish Government. These include air travel, rail travel, meal allowances and accommodation.

Members of the stakeholder working group, which has been set up to help identify proposals for consultation on minimum standards of energy efficiency in private sector housing, represent a range of interests, including environmental, local authority, private rented sector, consumer and fuel poverty interests. The organisations currently represented on the working group are the Existing Homes Alliance, the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum, the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, Citizens Advice Scotland, Scottish Land and Estates, the Scottish Association of Landlords and Historic Scotland.

The Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland (HEEPS) Delivery Report for 2013-14 was published on 22 December 2014 and is available on the Scottish Government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/warmhomes/heeps.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission meets as required in order to fulfil its remit to provide independent scrutiny of Scottish Government forecasts of devolved tax revenue and of the economic determinants underpinning Scottish Government forecasts of non-domestic rate income.

Under the Smith Commission’s proposals, the Scottish Government would have full autonomy to deliver assistance with funeral costs to help those in need. We plan to consult widely with stakeholders and service users in the coming months on how we can use these proposed new powers to best effect, building on the appetite for engagement and dialogue amongst civic Scotland.

Funeral costs payments are currently reserved to the UK Government, and are awarded by the Department for Work and Pensions through its Regulated Social Fund scheme.