Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government received advice on the benefits of establishing the Scottish European Green Energy Centre from a range of organisations. In particular, the economic rationale for intervention was established through independent consultancy advice and the Centre''s objectives and work priorities were refined following detailed discussions with the European Commission, the Energy Technology Partnership, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Development International, Scotland Europa and the Scottish EU Energy Network, which comprises representatives of the public, private and voluntary sectors.

The benefits of establishing the centre have been recognised by both the EU Energy Commissioner and by the UK Government former Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in correspondence with the First Minister.

The Scottish European Green Energy Centre business plan sets out how the Centre will work in partnership with these organisations. This partnership working will be essential to the activities of the Centre in practice, although the business plan does not envisage this being a formal requirement.

The principal remit of the Scottish European Green Energy Centre is set out in the centre''s three strategic aims:

Promoting the internationalisation of sustainable energy research

Fostering good practice in the development and deployment of green energy, and

Supporting sustainable economic growth and the European Union''s sustainable energy targets

Further details of how these aims will be realised are contained in the centre''s business plan, a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 47164)

The Scottish European Green Energy Centre business plan envisages funding from a range of sources, including the Scottish Government, other public and private bodies, and European Structural Funds, where applications have been submitted to the current round in both the Lowlands and Uplands and Highlands and Islands programmes. A copy of the business plan has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 47164).

We had no formal discussions with any external stakeholders about our proposals prior to the publication of the Scottish Government Response, to the final report of the Committee of Inquiry on Crofting, because no small farmer needs to be worse off as a result of our decision to focus the scheme on crofters.

Small farmers who are not crofters are currently eligible for grants under both the Crofting Counties Agricultural Grants Scheme and the Rural Priorities part of the Scotland Rural Development Programme. In future they will continue to be eligible for support on the same financial terms under Rural Priorities. Or, it they wish to retain access to both schemes, they will need to convert their landholdings to crofting tenure.

The Scottish European Green Energy Centre will complement and co-ordinate the range of work already undertaken by the Scottish Government''s existing departments and agencies in the development of green energy, with a specifically European dimension.

It will do this by providing a stronger focus and dedicated resources to proactively engage Scottish researchers, companies and government agencies in European energy policy and associated funding opportunities. This will enable Scottish organisations to access the dedicated expertise required to effectively track and influence this policy environment and develop projects for funding.

The centre will also have a specific focus to disseminate the results of Scottish and other collaborative green energy research across the European Union, raising the profile of Scottish expertise, and capitalising on the significant market opportunities for the green energy sector.

The average fuel bill for the last 10 years has to be derived from two sources, the Scottish House Condition Survey and the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform. Combining these sources and making an adjustment for higher fuel bills in Scotland, we estimate that the average domestic fuel bill in Scotland was:

Period Covered (October to September)	Annual Average Fuel Bill in Scotland (£)
April 1998	870
April 1999	830
April 2000	810
April 2001	860
April 2002	860
April 2003	860
April 2004	870
April 2005	920
April 2006	1,000

Sources: 1998-2003 “ estimated based on data from BERR. 2004-2006 “ Scottish Household Condition Survey.

Figures for 2007 are still currently unavailable.

The Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) was approved in February 2008. Resultant proposals for funding from programme resources have only been made on projects and proposals since then. It is therefore too early to provide an evidence based assessment of the impact of the programme.

The success of the programme will be judged through a combination of the work of the SRDP''s statutory programme monitoring committee, on-going evaluation activities, an annual programme implementation report to the European Commission and annual review meetings with the Commission. The performance of the SRDP will also be assessed in a mid-term evaluation in 2010 and an ex-post evaluation to be completed by 2015.

In addition, the Scottish Government expects to be reviewing the SRDP early next year. This will ensure the programme continues to meet the needs of rural Scotland especially given recent economic developments and taking into account the experience gained in the first year of the programme''s operation.

When reviewing the Rural Priorities and other parts of the Scottish Rural Development Plan, the Scottish Government has the option to look at the balance of funding across the different measures as well as other issues such as application procedures. We intend to carry out the review in early 2009 once the 2008 round of Regional Proposal Assessment Committees has been completed and are currently considering the remit and scope of the review.

The Scottish Government is supporting the sustainable economic growth of the Scottish aquaculture industry through developing a renewed strategic framework for Scottish aquaculture. That framework has identified the issues to be tackled and proposes a flexible approach to delivery.

In addition, as part of our economic recovery plan, we have recently challenged the industry to bring forward applications for European Fisheries Funding (EFF) grants by the end of 2008 that can incur expenditure and claim reimbursement by 31 March 2009. Grants available through EFF support investment in Scottish aquaculture (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Fisheries/grants-subsidies).