Chamber and committees

At this stage, the Scottish Government considers it is too early to make an assessment of the likely impact of the merger of BT and EE on the mobile telecoms market in Scotland. The increasing convergence of fixed and mobile infrastructure and services will require Ofcom to keep regulation in this area under review to protect consumers, stimulate infrastructure investment and innovation, and encourage the growth of mobile markets. In our response to Ofcom’s Strategic Review of Digital Communications, we called on Ofcom to undertake more extensive regional market analysis, which would assess the likely impacts of such mergers in Scotland and therefore help determine which remedies, if appropriate, would be most effective.

Following our recent announcement to align kinship and foster care allowances we have agreed with COSLA to now look at the overall allowances system and will convene a group shortly. We will look closely at the desirability and feasibility of a national scheme through this work which will report as soon as possible. The group will take into account new welfare powers accruing to the Scottish Parliament and the timescales governing the UK Government welfare reform agenda.

The issues raised in the British Infrastructure Group’s report, including structural separation of BT, are currently being considered by Ofcom as part of the Strategic Review of Digital Communications.

The Scottish Government set out its position in response to Ofcom’s recent discussion paper. We believe that the regulatory environment governing BT must stimulate higher service quality and deliver greater transparency and levels of investment. It is our view that strengthened, and more rigorously enforced, functional separation arrangements could deliver those outcomes, without the associated disruption to the market. However, if this is not achievable, then structural separation of Openreach should be considered.

We believe that Ofcom is best placed to assess these options; and look forward to continued engagement with them throughout the strategic review process.

Scottish Government policy on allowances reflects the recent announcement to align kinship and foster care allowances following the legal challenge to local authorities in 2015 and the agreement to provide 10.1 million a year to support this. We have agreed with COSLA to now look at the overall system and will convene a group shortly. We will look closely at the desirability and feasibility of a national scheme through this work which will report as soon as possible. The group will take into account new welfare powers accruing to the Scottish Parliament and the timescales governing the UK Government welfare reform agenda.

The most recent statistics on the number and percentage of fuel poor households by local authority area were published on 29 January 2016. They relate to the period 2012-14. The next publication of fuel poverty statistics for Scotland is due in December 2016 and will include figures broken down by local authority for the period 2013-15.

In December 2015, ministers commissioned Zero Waste Scotland to explore a number of key issues associated with deposit return systems, following a feasibility study and call for evidence undertaken earlier in the year. Should ministers decide to develop proposals for a deposit return scheme, a cost-benefit assessment would be undertaken.

Scottish Government officials have had several discussions with their counterparts in the Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive on a range of waste topics including deposit return. I will shortly be writing to ministers in the Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive to invite them to discuss these issues further.

I wrote to and discussed the issue with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2015 and will shortly be writing to UK ministers to invite a further discussion of the matter.

In December 2015, ministers commissioned Zero Waste Scotland to explore a number of key issues associated with deposit return systems, following a feasibility study and call for evidence undertaken earlier in the year.

I believe carbon capture and storage technology is necessary for a successful global response to climate change. Without Peterhead, I fear we will not see the development of this crucial technology. Following the UK Government's announcement to withdraw £1 billion funding for the carbon capture and storage competition in November 2015, I have written to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change to urge her to review options to keep the carbon capture and storage competition projects alive.

On 17 September 2015 I announced to Parliament our intention to work towards a new overarching energy strategy for Scotland. A review of our Electricity Generation Policy Statement, and the impact of recent UK Government policy announcements, will form an essential part of this work.

The energy strategy will seek to optimise the benefits of Scotland’s significant energy resources and expertise, and ensure we have the best suite of policies to address the future challenges of delivering affordable, secure, low-carbon energy supplies.

We propose to align the final strategy to the publication of the third report on policy and proposals, required by the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, expected late 2016, recognising the importance of energy decarbonisation in meeting our climate change targets.