Chamber and committees

The Network Study Group's remit is to examine the existing electricity network in Scotland; its potential and constraints; the likely impact of planned network investments, and the possible costs involved in strengthening and upgrading the network.The members of the Network Study Group are Scottish and Southern Energy, Scottish Power, the Scottish Renewables Forum, the Inter-University Centre for Economic Renewable Power Delivery, the Scottish Executive and the Department of Trade and Industry.The interim report of the group was placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre on 29 November 2000 and the final report will be published in the summer.

Funding for research and development of renewable energy is a reserved matter, and is the responsibility of the Department of Trade and Industry. Scottish developers and Scottish projects have received around £10 million in funding from these programmes over the last 10 years. In addition, Scottish Enterprise have worked with the renewable energy industry in Scotland for several years to support its development, including some financial support and a series of seminars for companies interested in diversifying into renewable energy.

Currently, there are no capital grants available for the development of wave technology, although the industry has benefited down the years from the Department of Trade and Industry's research and development programme, and will continue to do so as funding in this area increases.Wave energy has made great progress in Scotland, due at least in part to the support provided under the third round of the Scottish Renewables Obligation. We will continue to work closely with the industry as we consider appropriate ways in which to help further the industry in Scotland.

We are about to award a contract to update the report completed in 1993 on Scotland's renewable resource. Running concurrently with that, the two Scottish electricity grid owners are, with external validation, conducting a study of the capacity of the network to accommodate the new renewable capacity that we expect our policies to bring on stream. Both reports are due to be available later in the summer.

A total of 238 responses to the consultation were received, and all have been placed in the Scottish Executive library. The table shows the number of responses from different categories of respondent.

Private Individuals	98
Representative Organisations	43
Local Authorities	23
Railway Campaign Groups	15
Community Councils	10
MSPs	10
Railway Industry	7
Councillors	6
Railway Unions	4
Consultants	4
Railway Organisations	4
Scottish Enterprise Companies	4
Other Transport Industry	3
Scottish Chambers of Commerce	3
Environmental Organisations	2
Freight Facilities Grant Applicants	1
MPs	1
Press	1
TOTAL	238

In relation to the Invergordon-Kirkwall aspect of the question, the Scottish Executive provides support under the Tariff Rebate Subsidy (TRS) scheme to reduce the costs of imports to the islands and mainland seaboard areas of the Highlands and Islands and to promote exports from these areas. The Scottish Executive has recognised the contribution of the Kirkwall-Invergordon route for the export of livestock from Orkney and £200,000 was allocated to the route under the TRS scheme during 2000-01. The Executive confirmed in discussions with the operator and Orkney Islands Council before the service was withdrawn that a TRS allocation continued to be available for 2001-02, at the same assistance rate of 50% of shipping costs. This assistance will now be available to alternative operators.The Executive continues to liaise with the Islands Council and other operators on options for providing sufficient capacity for the export of livestock from Orkney on this or alternative routes.In the case of Campbeltown-Ballycastle, Sea Containers Ltd operated a summer season-only service on this route between 1997 and 1999 but the company decided early in 2000 not to continue with its operation due to mounting losses. As this route extends beyond Scotland the imposition of a PSO is a reserved matter. The Scottish Executive is in discussion with the Scotland Office on options for progress.

The procedure involves a number of stages beginning with advertising for the positions for which we are seeking candidates. The advertisement was brought to the attention of a large number of diverse organisations and individuals to encourage applications, including MSP's and MP's to whom I wrote in early March. Applications received in response are assessed against the criteria for the positions, following which individuals are invited for interview. The interview panels, chaired by the Head of the Scottish Executive Health Department, and including an Independent Assessor, will make recommendations for appointment to the Scottish Ministers. This procedure complies with the guidelines of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-15113.

Scottish Executive attendance will be decided nearer to the Summit.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-15113.