Chamber and committees

At present no information on income from feed-in-tariffs (FIT) is collected in the Scottish House Condition Survey and therefore income from feed-in tariffs is not added to the income of the household when calculating fuel poverty. However, the Scottish House Condition Survey does record the presence of renewables on a property and where a renewable is found the modelled fuel cost is adjusted for the property to take account of the energy generated by these renewables.

From 2013, we will include the estimated impact of income from FIT’s and other forms of incentive payment in our fuel poverty modelling. However, it is important to note that the main impact of micro generation on fuel poverty will be from the reduction in energy costs which as noted above is already modelled in fuel poverty estimates.

The Green Deal does not start until later in 2012 so no data could be collected on Green Deal repayments until Scottish House Condition Survey data collection starts in 2013. The fuel poverty forum is currently undertaking a review of fuel poverty. Once this review is concluded the Survey team will identify whether additional information or methods are required to measure fuel poverty.

The National Services Advisory Group has accepted the recommendations of the review and this is now under consideration by the NHS Board Chief Executives Group which has asked for additional supplementary work to be undertaken prior to reaching a conclusion on the recommendation. I expect to receive the review report and to make a final decision by the end of the financial year.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-04699 on 16 January 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The review is currently being considered by the NHS Board Chief Executives prior to consideration by Scottish Government ministers. The recommendations of the review group would allow for the current costs of running the chamber in NHS Orkney for NHS Scotland and European Economic Area (EEA) patients to be covered by the nationally designated service which is funded collectively by all NHS boards in Scotland.

Licensing of teachers and coaches is not mandatory at the moment and the choice of qualifications to become a swimming teacher is a matter for the providers of these qualifications and the individuals concerned.

This is a matter for sportscoach UK, British Swimming (and its home country members) and key stakeholders to decide when considering the introduction of the licensing scheme.

Applications for a swimming coaching licence require a recognised teaching and or coaching qualification (UKCC qualification or equivalent).

Licensing of teachers and coaches is not mandatory at the moment, I understand the UK government intend to introduce licensing and registration through the UK Action Plan for Coaching by 2012.

One of the key actions identified within the Scottish Government’s “2020 Routemap for Renewable Energy in Scotland” is to minimise the costs and risks associated with offshore renewables. This programme has been established to do exactly that.

Therefore the majority of this programme will be used to enable cost and risk reduction and accelerate the deployment of offshore renewables.