Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-33093

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 15 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive in what ways the WATERS fund will differ from the Wave and Tidal Energy Support Scheme in terms of (a) project eligibility, (b) applicant eligibility, (c) the type of support available, (d) the distribution of payments and (e) the expected number of successful applicants.

The eligibility criteria under WATERS are broadly similar to those which applied under WATES. The key difference with respect to projects is that there is no requirement to locate at EMEC, or to connect directly to the relevant local distribution network. Meanwhile, WATERS has also ruled out from its current call applications for collaborative projects, as these have the option to respond to a separate call from the Technology Strategy Board.

While capital intervention under WATES was capped at 40%, WATERS will be able to award grants ranging from 25% to 50% of eligible costs, depending on both the nature of the application and the size of the applicant. Unlike WATES, there will be no revenue payments available through the WATERS fund.

Payments under WATERS will be made quarterly in arrears, based upon actual expenditure against pre-defined eligible costs. This is similar to the system of payments under WATES, which have been issued in arrears subject to the achievement of key agreed milestones. The expectation is that projects receiving support through WATERS will typically be of 18 to 24 month duration.

One area where WATES and WATERS are entirely in sync is that neither fund opened with a view on the expected number of successful applicants.

Question reference: S3W-33091

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 15 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the £12 million WATERS fund will be made up of unallocated, unclaimed or withdrawn funds from the Wave and Tidal Energy Support Scheme and, in the case of unclaimed or withdrawn funds, what are the values of these funds and to whom were they originally allocated.

Question reference: S3W-33092

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 15 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what role it will play in managing and administering the WATERS fund.

Question reference: S3W-33083

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 15 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it has distributed in the form of grants to support marine renewable research and development in each of the last seven years.

The first research and development grants to marine projects and developers were awarded in February 2007, under the Wave and Tidal Energy Scheme (WATES). Payments under the scheme have been as follows (based on financial years):

2007-08:	£1,204,355
2008-09:	£573,752
2009-10:	£888,462
Total:	£2,666,569

In addition to this, the Scottish Government has also released over £2.5 million during the last two years to help develop the infrastructure needed to accommodate WATES projects located at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.

Question reference: S3W-32576

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 14 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications to the Land Managers Options mechanism were received in 2009 and how many have been (a) approved and (b) rejected, broken down by (i) option and (ii) size of allowance allocated, also expressed as percentages.

The following table shows the number of Land Managers Option (LMO) applications received in 2009 by option. LMO is non-competitive and there is no approval process so applicants are eligible for payment if they apply and comply with the rules. The maximum allowance available to a beneficiary is calculated according to the land in their single application form (SAF). A beneficiary can choose LMO options in addition to any existing Land Management Contract Menu Scheme (LMCMS) and LMO commitments up to the level of that allowance. Hence an allowance is not available at option level. The total number of 2009 LMO applicants was 7,999 whose maximum allowances totalled £24.72 million of which 39.97% was taken up.

LMO 2009 Option	Number of Applications	Value of Applications
Axis 1
Skills Development (Training)	920	£379,621.65
Business Audit	59	£8,061.80
Nutrient Management Plan	70	£13,926.04
Modernisation through electronic data management - agriculture	899	£738,536.52
Management of genetically appropriate tree stocks for seed production	1	£2,222.00
Modernisation through electronic data management - forestry	16	£13,026.10
Sustainable Forestry Management - Access Routes	133	£468,712.44
Membership of Quality Assurance Schemes	5,880	£532,822.15
Axis 2
Wild Birdseed Mix/Unharvested Crop	266	£156,828.75
Improving Rush Pastures	571	£411,615.00
Summer Cattle Grazing	108	£42,097.41
Management of Moorland Grazing	32	£34,757.03
Management of Linear Features	257	£50,777.49
Management of Grass Margins and Beetlebanks in arable fields	66	£34,570.27
Biodiversity Cropping on In-Bye	13	£1,404.35
Management of Conservation Headlands	14	£2,918.14
Retention of Winter Stubbles	175	£144,331.20
Small Scale Woodland Creation	135	£204,450.00
Management of Small Woodlands	57	£19,485.96
Animal Welfare Programme	106	£142,505.43
Axis 3
Improving Access	163	£306,695.88
Management of Archaeological and Historic Sites	24	£22,222.08
Management of Vernacular Rural Buildings	1,283	£2,416,943.96
Total*	11,248	£6,148,531.64

Notes:

*More than number of applicants as multiple options chosen.

A Total Allowance is available to each applicant for their total LMO and ongoing LMCMS commitments.

Question reference: S3W-32577

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 14 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications to the Land Managers Options mechanism received in 2008 were paid out in 2009, broken down by (a) option and (b) size of allowance allocated, also expressed as percentages.

The following table shows the number of Land Managers Option (LMO) applications received in 2008 and paid in 2009 (the remainder of the payments are still being made, in 2010) by option. LMO is non-competitive and there is no approval process so applicants are eligible for payment if they apply and comply with the rules. The maximum allowance available to a beneficiary is calculated according to the land in their single application form (SAF). A beneficiary can choose LMO options in addition to any existing Land Management Contract Menu Scheme (LMCMS) and LMO commitments up to the level of that allowance. Hence an allowance is not available at option level. The total number of 2008 LMO applicants was 3,941 whose maximum allowances totalled £12.17 million of which 60.7% was taken up.

LMO 2008 Option	Number of Applications Per Option	Paid in 2009
Axis 1
Skills Development (Training)	1,055	£8,258.38
Business Audit	109	£272.90
Nutrient Management Plan	65	£748.60
Modernisation through electronic data management - agriculture	878	£40,987.44
Management of genetically appropriate tree stocks for seed production	1	£0.00
Modernisation through electronic data management - forestry	13	£508.53
Sustainable Forestry Management - Access Routes	39	£3,088.75
Membership of Quality Assurance Schemes	496	£2,915.32
Axis 2
Wild Birdseed Mix/Unharvested Crop	181	£47,127.21
Improving Rush Pastures	374	£196,200.41
Summer Cattle Grazing	84	£17,048.98
Management of Moorland Grazing	20	£12,912.96
Management of Linear Features	168	£23,261.06
Management of Grass Margins and Beetlebanks in arable fields	38	£17,320.66
Biodiversity Cropping on In-Bye	7	£712.14
Management of Conservation Headlands	9	£547.32
Retention of Winter Stubbles	106	£63,636.14
Small Scale Woodland Creation	150	£111,186.06
Management of Small Woodlands	31	£1,415.30
Axis 3
Improving Access	116	£31,782.92
Management of Archaeological and Historic Sites	27	£1,816.00
Management of Vernacular Rural Buildings	1,141	£156,291.08
Total*	5,108	£738,038.16

Note: *More than number of applicants as multiple options chosen.

Question reference: S3W-32381

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 12 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 26 March 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many Energy Saving Scotland home loan applications have been approved in each month since March 2009.

Question reference: S3W-32379

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 12 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 25 March 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how much financial support was provided to microgeneration technology installations in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Domestic installations supported by Energy Saving Scotland home renewables grants (formerly part of Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative) and home loans:

	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Aberdeen City	6,156	25,719	3,257	9,688	19,540
Aberdeenshire	72,683	289,846	321,773	438,468	447,243
Angus	34,316	119,695	60,236	88,026	88,358
Argyll and Bute	38,841	153,451	123,829	176,365	172,201
Clackmannanshire	2,802	8,975	13,441	15,479	20,236
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	20,335	29,411	42,520	169,371	128,885
Dumfries and Galloway	49,484	181,090	190,938	162,989	152,494
Dundee City	1,758	5,005	6,499	4,568	16,109
East Ayrshire	27,558	36,534	48,091	34,395	45,856
East Dunbartonshire	0	18,238	27,735	22,265	12,856
East Lothian	10,592	13,723	41,836	57,469	53,724
East Renfrewshire	2,698	13,026	14,659	10,661	25,420
City of Edinburgh	24,869	41,221	49,784	44,717	75,649
Falkirk	3,276	16,423	4,677	6,668	17,769
Fife	41,426	147,534	153,656	102,405	133,409
Glasgow City	1,102	27,471	23,481	3,162	42,799
Highland	120,443	461,043	358,246	438,225	440,295
Inverclyde	0	5,615	4,527	13,052	10,213
Midlothian	11,455	15,762	14,544	9,523	19,769
Moray	42,641	40,919	47,086	117,442	95,699
North Ayrshire	4,616	56,430	65,580	68,601	46,881
North Lanarkshire	3,222	11,160	11,204	20,587	9,570
Orkney	43,980	7,215	168,042	104,961	140,209
Perth and Kinross	85,589	209,903	153,553	227,652	258,466
Renfrewshire	0	8,757	3,270	25,500	30,684
Scottish Borders	55,501	135,861	165,466	158,901	197,100
Shetland	30,913	64,988	95,087	83,059	80,159
South Ayrshire	4,690	34,874	82,456	55,501	68,090
South Lanarkshire	34,028	76,466	64,095	73,846	88,850
Stirling	25,444	79,48	43,968	87,327	101,248
West Dunbartonshire	4,000	1,546	8,395	12,574	4,000
West Lothian	12,050	15,579	37,813	52,576	49,224
Total	816,483	2,432,980	2,449,761	2,896,040	3,093,020

SME Installations Supported by Energy Saving Scotland SME Loans (formerly Loan Action Scotland)

	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Aberdeen City		8,735			109,752
Aberdeenshire			33,422	7,190	26,000
Angus		10,000
Argyll and Bute
Clackmannanshire
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar				7,910
Dumfries and Galloway	10,600			116,754
Dundee City				8,425	100,000
East Ayrshire				22,000	9,449
East Dunbartonshire
East Lothian					21,709
East Renfrewshire				22,375
City of Edinburgh				18,465
Falkirk					15,950
Fife
Glasgow City
Highland	8,495		50,000	17,463	128,191
Inverclyde				9,250
Midlothian			5,260		100,000
Moray
North Ayrshire			9,588		36,715
North Lanarkshire			49,560
Orkney					14,000
Perth and Kinross			25,903		7,351
Renfrewshire				7,240
Scottish Borders				17,625	46,702
Shetland
South Ayrshire
South Lanarkshire			49,031	56,925	6,500
Stirling				86,342
West Dunbartonshire
West Lothian				14,850	32,257
Total	19,095	18,735	222,764	412,814	654,576

Community Installations Supported by Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (formerly part of Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative) from 2003 to Present

Aberdeen City	282,603
Aberdeenshire	939,054
Angus	313,634
Argyll and Bute	1,442,735
Clackmannanshire	51,165
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	1,722,117
Dumfries and Galloway	569,844
Dundee City	457,443
East Ayrshire	78,873
East Dunbartonshire	7,305
East Lothian	136,753
East Renfrewshire	42,536
Edinburgh City	512,482
Falkirk	65,879
Fife	391,804
Glasgow City	583,842
Highland	2,842,389
Inverclyde	37,500
Midlothian	487,353
Moray	393,733
North Ayrshire	117,923
North Lanarkshire	387,604
Orkney	1,161,546
Perth and Kinross	384,580
Renfrewshire	28,511
Scottish Borders	320,778
Shetland	1,172,958
South Ayrshire	43,779
South Lanarkshire	269,944
Stirling	242,744
West Dunbartonshire	0
West Lothian	153,171
Total	15,642,593

The data on community installations is not held in the format requested i.e. broken down by year. It is likely to be cost prohibitive to obtain this.

Question reference: S3W-32376

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 12 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 25 March 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of domestic properties have microgeneration technologies installed.

The Scottish Government gathers data on the number of domestic installations supported by Energy Saving Scotland home renewables grants and home loans. These figures in total are as follows:

Programme

No. of Installations

Supported

Home renewables grants

4,619

Home loans

81

Outwith these schemes, information on domestic microgeneration installations is not held centrally.

Question reference: S3W-32371

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 12 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 25 March 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-16666 by Jim Mather on 22 October 2008, whether a consultation into possible changes to the accreditation standards for installers of microgeneration equipment has been undertaken and, if so, what the result was.

There has been no formal Scottish consultation into possible changes to the accreditation standards for installers of microgeneration equipment. The industry-led group proposing the changes represents the views of many Scottish installers and they have ensured their members are kept up to date with developments.

The Scottish Government recently received proposals from the group and we are currently considering these. We are committed to reach a solution that will satisfy microgeneration installers but not exclude Scottish consumers from forthcoming UK‘wide clean energy cash back schemes.

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