Chamber and committees

The agendas and minutes of the National Planning Forum meetings held in 2011 have been published on the National Planning Forum website:

www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/NHS-Scotland/NationalPlanningForum/NPFMeetings.

Yes. The advice of practicing interventional cardiologists will be sought. The established Scottish Health Technologies Group processes for gaining clinical advisers and external clinical reviewers for this work will be followed.

Practicing interventional cardiologists were not directly involved in NHSScotland National Planning Forum’s discussion at their meeting on 1 July 2011. As indicated in the answer to parliamentary question S4W-443 on 14 June 2011, advice will be sought from practicing interventional cardiologists as part of the established review process conducted by the Scottish Health Technologies Group.

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/Apps2/MAQASearch/QAndMSearch.aspx.

The process for the review of the latest evidence on TAVI was considered by the NHSScotland National Planning Forum (NPF) on 1 July 2011. The NPF agreed that the Scottish Health Technologies Group will conduct a full analysis to assess whether the latest evidence offers more robust evidence about the clinical and cost effectiveness of TAVI.

It is expected that the outcomes of this review will be available later this summer.

Consideration of any new clinical service in Scotland will depend upon the outcome of the current review of transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Details of the agenda and minutes of the Scottish Health Technologies Group can be found on the Healthcare Improvement Scotland website: http://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.org/programmes/clinical__cost_effectiveness/shtg/about_the_group/membership_and_meetings.aspx.

The Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006 brought forward enhanced opportunities for people to get involved in planning and recent planning advice on wind turbines has been published online at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/planning/National-Planning-Policy/themes/renewables/Onshore.

With the exception of a number of support schemes to assist with the development and deployment of small scale renewable energy projects, including Wave and Tidal Energy Support Scheme, Wave and Tidal Energy: Research Development and Demonstration Support and Community and Renewable Energy Scheme, developers do not typically benefit from government subsidies.

In terms of financial impacts on consumers, under the existing Renewables Obligation Scotland (ROS), in evidence to the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee in March 2011 OFGEM stated, "The ROS creates additional costs for electricity suppliers, which they can then pass through to industrial, business and domestic consumers as part of their electricity bills. By way of illustration, estimates published in previous years by Ofgem, the industry regulator, have forecast that the Obligation added around £12 to annual electricity bills in 2009-10, and that these costs could rise to around £20 per year by 2015. However, the extent to which the additional costs incurred by suppliers are actually passed through to each consumer group is a matter for the suppliers themselves, meaning that robust estimates remain difficult."

In addition, OFGEM estimate that transmission charges account for around 3% of an average domestic dual fuel bill.

Wholesale prices are currently the main driver of changes in domestic bills, making up 60% of the total retail price. The cost to consumers will be determined by the outcome of the Electricity Market Reform (EMR) and it is critical that the EMR does not deliver support mechanisms for nuclear generation in England at the expense of renewable energy sources and carbon capture and storage in Scotland.

The Scottish Government welcomes BBC ALBA’s availability on Freeview since 8 June 2011, and has frequently made clear to the BBC Trust its view that BBC ALBA should be available on Freeview. It has also stated that, if at all possible, this should not be at the expense of the availability of radio stations on Freeview. It has expressed this view in the following correspondence:

The Scottish Government’s response to the BBC Trust’s consultation on whether BBC ALBA should be placed on Freeview. This response, which was issued on 14 January 2010, can be found on the Scottish Government’s website at:

http://scotland.gov.uk/Topics/ArtsCultureSport/arts/Broadcasting/Broadcasting.

It set out the Scottish Government’s view that “given Scottish Ministers have consistently maintained that BBC ALBA should be made available on Freeview, the Scottish Government is sympathetic to Option A (placing ALBA on Freeview at the expense of radio stations while BBC ALBA is broadcasting) as a short-term option. However, the Scottish Government would prefer in the long-term if a more satisfactory option could be developed. This would enable radio listeners in Scotland to once again enjoy full access to radio stations, including through Freeview, in the same way (as) radio listeners throughout the rest of the UK.”

This view was reiterated in a letter from me to Sir Michael Lyons on 16 February 2010, following the Parliamentary debate on BBC ALBA on 11 February 2010, and a further letter from me to Sir Michael Lyons on 16 April 2010, following the BBC Trust’s announcement that it would delay taking a decision on whether to place BBC ALBA on Freeview until later in 2010.

The First Minister wrote to Sir Michael Lyons, the Chair of the BBC Trust, on 28 October 2010. In his letter he said that “I urge the BBC Trust to grant carriage on Freeview to BBC ALBA on the basis proposed. If it becomes possible in the future to find a technical solution which allows both BBC ALBA and all existing BBC services to be available on Freeview, then this would of course be welcome.”

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-174 on 2 June 2011. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.