Chamber and committees

The Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) supports communities across Scotland to participate in, and benefit from, the energy transition to net zero emissions. Since its inception, CARES has offered funding of over £61 million to over 800 projects and helped support the installation of 58.6 MW of renewable energy.

CARES funding is allocated across financial years. The breakdown of funding offered to groups for financial years 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 by local authority area is set out in the following table.

CARES is a demand-led scheme, and so relies on organisations submitting successful applications for funding. This means that there is often a difference between the CARES budget and the funding offered to projects.

The figures provided below relate to the date when funding was offered, and so do not necessarily correlate to when the funding was drawn down or spent by communities.

We have undertaken the full suite of assessments required for the introduction of the Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill and these were published on the Scottish Government website on 14 June 2023. There is no requirement to assess the potential impact of Bills on developing countries. We are, however, committed to ensuring Scotland remains a global leader in equality, inclusion and human rights, and recently I met representatives of Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace Justice & Peace Scotland > Home (justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk) , from Malawi, who gave a very informative and moving presentation on Human Rights and Mining.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22335 on 7 November 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

When an application for consent is received, the Energy Consents Unit (ECU) completes a data check in accordance with the relevant guidance. The carbon calculation is then published and available to view online.

All applications submitted and received using the carbon calculator may also be subject to audit by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). This is to ensure, as far as possible, that the carbon calculator continues to be used appropriately. Finally, on a case-by-case basis, the Scottish Ministers may request an audit by SEPA.

In the Onshore Wind Policy Statement 2022, the Scottish Government committed to assess the operation of, and if necessary update or replace the carbon calculator. This work is currently ongoing and its outcomes will be published in due course.

The Scottish House Condition Survey provides a snapshot of the Scottish housing stock in each survey year including the construction age and built form of Scottish domestic buildings. Within this it provides estimates of the number of dwellings with a prepayment meter for gas or electricity.

The most recent estimates of households with a prepayment meter are from 2019, and are presented in the following table.

Table 1: Number of households with prepayment meters.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22335 on 7 November 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

95 wind applications have been consented by Scottish Ministers, under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989, in the last ten years. Effects on peatland (where relevant) are assessed on a case by case basis in accordance with current methodology and available tools, including the carbon calculator , and are taken into account through the statutory consultation process with SEPA and NatureScot when considering applications made to Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government does not collate peatland data from each application and we are therefore unable to provide analysis of how much peatland has been excavated and restored and how much carbon has been emitted from those consented developments (if built). Applications and related environmental information are advertised and made publicly available for inspection in accordance with the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 and the Electricity (Applications for Consent) Regulations 1990.

More about our processes and consultation requirements can be found on the Scottish Government website .

Anti-social behaviour is clearly unacceptable on Scotland's public transport, and in wider society, and we are committed to tackling it. The police, local authorities and other agencies are responsible for tackling anti-social behaviour at the local level. These agencies, empowered by the Scottish Government, work in a concerted and co-ordinated way with local people to co-ordinate activities to tackle the problem of anti-social behaviour in communities.

Formal Warnings, Fixed Penalty Notices and Anti-social Behaviour Orders, alongside positive diversionary and early intervention activities can be used. Police Scotland and Local Authority Anti-Social Behaviour teams support bus operators to enforce their conditions of carriage and British Transport Police is responsible for law enforcement on Scotland’s rail network.

To tackle the issue of Anti-Social behaviour, BTP formed a Safer Transport Strategic Group bringing together partners from the wider transport network with the aim to create a safe space on all modes of transport through partnership working.

In regards to monitoring data and recorded incidents of anti-social behaviour on Scotland’s railway the British Transport Police holds this and can be contacted at [email protected].

Since the launch of the Wellbeing Economy Governments (WEGo) in December 2018, the group have engaged mainly through online events. Two in-person policy lab events have been held in Scotland with officials attending from WEGo member governments - in Edinburgh on 1-2 May 2019 and in Glasgow on 21 November 2022.

Two Scottish Government officials took part in a short WEGo meeting with officials from other governments in Reykjavik, Iceland on 15 June 2023 whilst attending the Wellbeing Economy Forum held by the Icelandic Government. The cost of the officials attending the Forum was £2,415.02. I spoke to the Forum on 14 June 2023 in my role as Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy, but did not attend the WEGo meeting. My expenses for the visit are published here: Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts: June 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .