Chamber and committees

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Our Alcohol Bill is receiving growing support, and minimum pricing is now backed by a broad coalition. As well as all 17 of Scotland''s public health directors in NHS Scotland, others supporting our policy on minimum pricing include the four UK Chief Medical Officers, the British Medical Association, the Royal Colleges, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, and the Church of Scotland.

Last week, the House of Commons Health Select Committee published a detailed report on alcohol which included a clear recommendation for minimum pricing backed by Labour and Liberal Democrat members. The Chairman of the Committee, Kevin Barron MP, said I agree with the Chief Medical Officer that introducing unit pricing will reduce binge drinking and the committee dismissed as a myth the claim that responsible drinkers would be affected.

It is disappointing the some colleagues continue to put party politics before public health, or fail to appreciate the urgent need to put in place measures that would save lives.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth wrote to Commissioner Kroes on 3 November 2009 on a number of issues in relation to Scotland''s financial services industry and, in particular, the banking sector.

The letter also highlighted the results of the Scottish Government''s SME Access to Finance Survey and sought assurances on future dialogue between the Commission and the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is aware that the Big Lottery Fund has supported a number of renewable energy projects in Scotland. Scottish Government officials recently met with Big Lottery staff based in Scotland to emphasise the importance of continuing support for community renewable energy projects.

The Scottish Government supports the development of renewable energy projects for charities and not-for-profit community-based organisations through the Community And Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES). The scheme provides eligible organisations with free advice and potentially grant funding for the installation of devices such as small wind turbines, micro hydro, solar energy systems, heat pumps and woodfuel boilers. A network of CARES Development Officers covers the whole of Scotland.

In March this year the Scottish Government published guidance to help communities develop their own renewable energy projects. The Community Renewable Energy Toolkit includes advice on the available technologies and highlights some of the issues which communities may need to address. It also signposts potential sources of funding, including the Big Lottery Fund. The Toolkit is available online at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/03/20155542/0.

The Scottish Government provides support for businesses to invest in renewable energy through a number of schemes. These include the Energy Saving Scotland small business loan scheme, which provides small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with interest free loans of up to £100,000 to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency measures.

The Scottish Biomass Heat Scheme is specifically targeted at SMEs and is helping businesses to reduce emissions and potentially save money, while supporting jobs in forestry and the supply chain. A recent round of the scheme saw over £1 million allocated to business across Scotland.

The Scottish Rural Development Programme offers financial support to eligible businesses to take up renewable energy technology and reduce their emissions.

In addition, businesses who wish to invest in renewables and energy efficiency initiatives may be eligible for support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is the UK''s statutory fund of last resort for customers of financial services firms, banks and building societies, and credit unions. The FSCS is an independent body, set up under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. If a financial services firm is unable, or likely to be unable, to pay claims against it, the FSCS can pay compensation to consumers. This means that credit unions enjoy exactly the same protection as banks and building societies.

In order to benefit from the safety net provided by the FSCS, all financial services firms and credit unions must pay a levy. There is a limit to the amount that FSCS can levy and it is proportionate to the size and nature of the individual financial institution or credit union.

Credit unions have an important role to play in addressing financial exclusion. Without the protection offered by the FSCS, should a credit union fail, its members would suffer disproportionately from the loss of their savings.

On 28 January 2008, Linda Fabiani, the then Minister for Culture, Europe and External Affairs, wrote to Andy Burnham, the then UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Linda Fabiani''s letter, which followed a debate on the televising of Scottish football matches held in the Parliament on 9 January 2008, emphasised the dissatisfaction felt by many people in Scotland about Scottish men''s football qualifying matches being available only on subscription television services. The letter also encouraged the UK Government to make progress as soon as possible with establishing its review of Free-to-air events.

The Scottish Government submitted its response to the UK Government''s Free-to-air Events Review consultation on 15 July 2009. Its response stated that qualifying matches (home and away) by the Scottish men''s national football team for the European Championships and the World Cup should be broadcast live on free-to-air television.

Compliance is a matter for the local authority and its PPP partner. A new Health and Safety (Offences) Act came into force in January, following which the Health and Safety Executive issued a detailed new Enforcement Policy Statement.

There have been discussions between officials, although local authorities recognise that these are matters to be resolved with their PPP partners.

The Scottish Government will publish the findings of the Cycling Action Plan for Scotland consultation document in November. The findings will help to inform the recently announced inquiry into Active Travel being undertaken by the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee this year. We will consider the Committee''s report before publishing the final Cycling Action for Scotland document.

In the meantime, we will continue to support the seven Smarter Choices, Smarter Places communities in Scotland which aim to increase active travel, including cycling and to encourage healthier lifestyles. We will fund and provide support to the eight Healthy Weight Communities projects whose objectives are to engage families and young people in particular, in programmes that embrace healthy eating, physical activity and healthy weight initiatives.

We will also continue to provide funding to Sustrans to maintain and extend the National Cycle Network and provide safe routes to schools for children who wish to cycle to school. We will provide grant funding to local authorities for Cycling, Walking and Safer Streets projects to increase physical activity through more active travel. We will provide funding to Cycling Scotland to increase numbers taking part in the Pedal for Scotland bike ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh, which on 13 September saw 7,003 participants of all ages undertake the 51 mile route. And we will continue to monitor the increase in the growth in numbers of cyclists in order to achieve the proposed target in the Cycling Action Plan consultation of 10% modal share for bikes by 2020.