Seòmar agus comataidhean

Scottish ministers are committed to the low carbon economy and the world-leading targets set out in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 provide certainty for businesses and communities to plan for the low carbon future.

The Scottish Government is showing the way on renewable development and since May 2007 ministers have approved 29 large scale renewable energy projects contributing to a total installed and consented renewables capacity for Scotland of just under 7 GW. The pace and momentum set by the Scottish Government continues with a further 26 large scale renewable energy projects applications currently under consideration. The Crown Estate''s recent announcement for the world''s first commercial scale leasing round for wave and tidal energy in the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters has the potential to deliver as much as 1.2 GW of marine energy off Scotland''s north coast, with significant associated economic benefits.

The Scottish Government launched the £10 million Saltire Prize and has tripled funding for micro and community generation with £13.5 million available per year. In October 2009, we launched £2 million pathfinder Energy Saving Scotland Home Loans. We committed £15 million to a new Home Insulation Scheme targeting 100,000 homes in 10 local authority areas in 2009-10. As part of the Scottish Government''s recent budget, this will be increased in 2010-11 from £15 million to £25 million. The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 places a duty on local authorities to establish council tax discount schemes for Scots who install energy efficient measures in their homes. The Scottish Government is spending almost £2.4 billion over three years on greener transport. Scottish ministers have pledged to plant 100 million trees by 2015 as part of The Climate Group States and Regions Alliance commitment to plant 1 billion trees to encourage governments, businesses and communities worldwide to plant a tree for each person on the planet. The 100 million trees would, over their lifetime, absorb around a year of Scotland''s current emissions.

The Scottish Government only holds this information for those Agencies to which we provide an HR function. Registers of Scotland, Scottish Prisons Service, Historic Scotland, Scottish Courts Service and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have their own HR function and hold their own HR data and therefore have not been included in the table.

The table shows an increase in staffing figures of 59 which can be explained as follows:

General Register Office, Scotland: This department is showing an increase of 56 FTE staff from May 2007 due to the need to recruit additional staff to handle work associated with the 2011 census.

Transport Scotland: This department is showing an increase of 43 FTE staff from May 2007 due to the ongoing recruitment campaign for specialist engineer posts. Several major projects have also resulted in the recruitment of staff, in particular work on the Forth Replacement Crossing, Edinburgh “ Glasgow Improvement project and the M74 Upgrade.

During this period there has been the absorption and creation of agencies as part of the Public Sector Simplification Programme. More generally, the Scottish Government''s Simplification Programme has reduced the number of public bodies from 199 to 161 with that number set to fall to around 120 by 2011. Projects already delivered through this simplification agenda are estimated to save taxpayers £127 million between 2008 and 2013, and will deliver annual recurring savings of £36 million each year thereafter, rising to over £40 million annually through proposals in the Public Services Reform Bill. That Bill includes powers that can help the process and as a result should command the cross party support of those who demand greater efficiencies.

Between the dates of 31 May 2007 and 31 May 2009 staff from Communities Scotland, Scottish Building Standards Agency, Scottish Agricultural Science Agency, Disclosure Scotland, Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency, Fisheries Research Services and Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland have been absorbed into the Core Scottish Government DGs.

To allow a more accurate headcount comparison, Disclosure Scotland (DS) staffing figures have been removed from the table. These staff joined the Scottish Government in October 2007 from Strathclyde Police under TUPE.