Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has not received any formal representations from Scottish Renewables and marine renewables developers concerning the potential impact of the Crown Estate Commissioners approach to new leases for wave and tidal energy in the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters strategic area. However, it is aware of the fact that Scottish Renewables has covered this issue in the recommendations set out in its recent Driving the Low Carbon Economy “ Wave and Tidal Energy paper.

The Scottish Government has not sought any such advice.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-37939 on 22 December 2010. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-37930 on 22 December 2010. 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.

The Scottish Government has had some informal discussion with marine renewables developers concerning the Crown Estate Commissioners approach to new leases for wave and tidal energy in the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters strategic area. We discussed this issue with Scottish Renewables prior to the publication of their paper on Driving the Low Carbon Economy “ Wave and Tidal Energy.

Marine Scotland is part of the Scottish Government.

It is the responsibility of those charged with delivering support measures to ensure that, whether in matters of interpretation or implementation, those benefiting from those measures are treated fairly and in accordance with the relevant legislation. To that end, there are contacts between officials from all UK administrations engaged in various aspects of support measures to ensure a harmonised approach to the implementation of EU legislation.

I agree that support measures need a more proportionate penalty regime but until that is delivered, the reality is that the Scottish Government''s Rural Payments and Inspections Directorate (SGRPID) does not have any discretion to vary the level of penalties since only the EC can alter the penalty regime through changes in the appropriate legislation. Therefore, SGRPID''s approach is to help farmers and crofters to claim only land that is eligible for support and, thus, avoid penalties. It has done this by setting out what constitute eligible land in guidance booklets supporting its subsidy schemes and by holding around 20 public meetings, in cooperation with the National Farmers Union of Scotland, that were attended by over 2,000 farmers to hear how they could safeguard their CAP payments. At a very personal level, prospective beneficiaries have been given a personal letter telling them how they could take advantage of provisions to amend applications forms to remove ineligible land and avoid penalties. If there is evidence that further, similar steps such as these outlined here need to be taken in future, these will be taken.

My officials have visited a number of member states to examine their systems for delivering agricultural support and have hosted several reciprocal visits to look at our systems. Although each member state is unique in terms of their support schemes, computer systems and farming structures, nevertheless, these exchanges have been particularly helpful in informing best practice in the implementation of these measures. As I explained in answer to question S3W-36729, however, European legislation governs all member states and, amongst other things, defines what constitutes eligible land, and sets out in detail how penalties are to be applied. I expect any variation in these areas, in other words non-compliance with the regulations, would lead to the member state concerned being fined by the Commission''s auditors.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-37906 on 13 December 2010. As I explained, European legislation on these issues governs all member states and any comparison exercise would not yield a conclusive result.

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.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken any specific research on the potential advantages of deploying osmotic power generating facilities.