Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S3W-29127

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 1 December 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to promote Energy Saving Scotland small business loans to private sector landlords.

Through the Scottish Government''s support of the Energy Saving Scotland advice network, the Energy Saving Scotland small business loans scheme is promoted to the many private sector landlords who contact the network for advice on energy efficiency and other sustainable living issues.

More broadly, the scheme has been advertised in publications such as The Scotsman and Chartered Accountants Scotland magazine. A digital marketing campaign has also promoted the scheme to over 3,000 potential applicants, including private landlords.

Question reference: S3W-29122

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 1 December 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many private sector landlords have been approved for an Energy Saving Scotland small business loan in each month since December 2008.

Question reference: S3W-29124

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 1 December 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many Energy Saving Scotland small business loans were approved in each month since November 2008.

Question reference: S3W-29125

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 1 December 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total value was of approved Energy Saving Scotland small business loans in each month since November 2008.

Question reference: S3W-29121

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 1 December 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many private sector landlords have applied for an Energy Saving Scotland small business loan in each month since December 2008.

The following table illustrates the monthly breakdown of applications, number of approvals and the value of these, from private sector landlords since the Energy Saving Scotland small business loans scheme was re-launched to include this sector in December 2008.

Month	Number of Applications	Number of Approvals	Value of Approvals (£)
December 2008	1	0	0
January 2009	1	0	0
February 2009	0	0	0
March 2009	0	2	93,446
April 2009	2	0	0
May 2009	1	0	0
June 2009	0	1	6,830
July 2009	0	1	11,625
August 2009	0	0	0
September 2009	2	0	0
October 2009	0	1	2,210
November 2009 (to 23 November)	2	0	0

The Energy Saving Trust is in the process of developing material for a wider energy efficiency campaign aimed at private landlords. Material will be distributed in early 2010 to around 2,000 landlords via local authorities, and will include promotion of the loans scheme.

Question reference: S3W-29089

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 27 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 for (a) new and (b) extensions to existing hydro power energy developments it has considered since May 2007.

Question reference: S3W-29090

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 27 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 for (a) new and (b) extensions to existing hydro power energy developments submitted after May 2007 it has determined.

Since May 2007, the Scottish Government has determined the following applications for new hydro power developments:

Name of Development	Date of Decision	Capacity
Rannoch	18 May 2009	1.5MW
Invervar	12 February 2009	1.2MW

Since May 2007, the Scottish Government has not determined any extensions to existing hydro power energy developments.

Question reference: S3W-29088

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 27 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 it has received for (a) new and (b) extensions to existing hydro power energy developments since May 2007.

Since May 2007, the Scottish Government has received the following applications for new hydro power energy developments:

Name of Development	Date Received	Capacity
Allt Fionn	21 July 2009	2.1MW
Ben Glas	21 July 2009	1.6MW
Cia Aig	4 Sept 2009	3MW
Derrydarroch	21 July 2009	2MW
Ederline	22 April 2009	1.7MW
Maldie Burn	11 June 2009	4.5MW
Upper Falloch	21 July 2009	1MW
Rannoch	31 July 2008	1.5MW
Invervar	25 July 2007	1.2MW
Loch Eilde Mor	19 Dec 2007	7MW

Since May 2007, the Scottish Government has also received an application for an extension to the existing hydro power energy development at Loch Sloy (received September 2009).

Question reference: S3W-29091

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 27 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications for (a) new and (b) extensions to existing hydro power energy developments received since May 2007 it has failed to determine in line with its target of a decision within nine months where there is no public inquiry.

In December 2007, I announced an objective of having applications being determined within nine months where there is no public inquiry.

Since that date, we have received nine applications for new hydro power energy developments and one application for an extension to a hydro power energy development. Of these, the following have not been able to be determined within our nine month objective.

Applications for New Hydro Power Energy Developments

Name of Development	Date Received	Status
Rannoch	31 July 2008	Consented within 10 months
Loch Eilde Mor	19 December 2007	Application under consideration

Question reference: S3W-29030

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 25 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has received in Barnett consequentials as a result of the £25 million allocated for community heating schemes in the 2009-10 UK Budget.

The £25 million from the UK Government budget funding for community district heating included approximately £2.1 million in consequentials for the Scottish Government.

It is for Scottish ministers to decide on the eventual allocation of consequential funding (general or the product of subsequent new funding) in light of Scottish needs and priorities. It does not follow that this funding would be allocated in similar areas to that allocated by Whitehall Departments.

There is funding available to support biomass fired CHP/district heating in Scotland (up to £100,000 per project) through the Communities and Renewable Energy Scheme. Our Energy Efficiency Action Plan Consultation paper: Conserve and Save, which we are currently consulting on, considers what Scottish Government support is needed for low carbon district heating.