Hansard

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

22 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Leith Biomass Plant (Consultation)

I note that suggestion. We should note that the process has been properly followed, open and consultative. I hope that such features will be the hallmark of future processes.

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

22 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Leith Biomass Plant (Consultation)

I note Malcolm Chisholm’s comments. We are working closely with the United Kingdom Government to help it to develop its biomass strategy. As he properly said, I cannot comment on live planning applications. It is obvious that I cannot comment on any call for a moratorium on ap...

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Chamber

22 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Leith Biomass Plant (Consultation)

The energy consents and deployment unit received 1,900 consultation responses from organisations that were consulted on the proposed development and from members of the public who submitted representations. Of those responses, 1,156 were objections, which include holding objec...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

17 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Employment (Falkirk West)

I recognise the scenario that the member has painted. Alexander Dennis, Malcolm Allan and HEROtsc have all displayed resilience and perseverance, have invested in and developed new products and services, and have sought out markets and won new contracts. The Scottish Governmen...

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Chamber

17 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Employment (Falkirk West)

I am aware of the success of places such as Falkirk in building broad-based employability partnerships with a combined focus on the needs of adults and young people. It is clear that the approach is working because, despite the difficult economic conditions, the number of peop...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

16 Mar 2011

Local Electoral Administration (Scotland) Bill

We have less than a week left of the current parliamentary session. We have debated many issues, and there has been some agreement and some disagreement, but all with the intention of improving the lives of people in Scotland.Although the Local Electoral Administration (Scotla...

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Chamber

16 Mar 2011

Local Electoral Administration (Scotland) Bill

I am pleased to be here for the debate. The parliamentary process has been fairly smooth and has reflected the consensus across all parties on the need to continue to improve the administration of elections. I am grateful for members’ support and, in particular, for the work o...

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Chamber

16 Mar 2011

Local Electoral Administration (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Amendment 1 is a technical amendment, which will alter the way in which the bill will amend section 5 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, to extend the Electoral Commission’s function in relation to reporting on the administration of ordinary local go...

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Chamber

10 Mar 2011

Fenwick Weavers Society

I, too, congratulate Willie Coffey on securing the debate and thank everyone who has contributed for their interesting, supportive and personal remarks.Two members are making their final speeches to the Parliament today. I join James Kelly in acknowledging the contribution of ...

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Chamber

10 Mar 2011

Lee Jeans Sit-in

I warmly congratulate Duncan McNeil on bringing the debate to Parliament and for telling the Lee jeans story so well. The common theme in the debate is that the Lee jeans experience touched us all. I was born and brought up in Greenock. I have lived in Greenock, Gourock and Po...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

10 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Whistleblowers

That is a matter for another portfolio. However, as someone with a track record of favouring mediation, I am interested in the member’s question, which I am sure has been heard by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing.

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

10 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Whistleblowers

I apologise, but I did not catch what was said.

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Chamber

10 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Whistleblowers

The Scottish Government has an established policy on whistleblowing for Scottish Government staff, which is based on the provisions of the civil service code and the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. The policy is published on the Scottish Government website.The relevant na...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

10 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Unemployment

I would love to have a full day to discuss that. Although I will leave politics in May, I will continue to be part of that process, which is the direction of travel. The current position is the ratcheted thin end of a wedge that will go further and further. Scotland will becom...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

10 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Unemployment

I note the fervour of the question. I know that the member is now well connected in high places in London and can get that message across directly. Yesterday in Edinburgh, Richard Lochhead and I attended an event on rural broadband. Real lead is being put into the pencil of ru...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

10 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Unemployment

I admire the proposition that the member puts forward. It is entirely right that we focus on unemployment and unemployed young people. Unemployment is impacting on them very badly. Having economic recovery and high levels of employment is the main focus of this Government, and...

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Chamber

10 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Unemployment

The latest published figures show that Scotland has the highest employment rate in the UK: 71.1 per cent compared with the UK average of 70.5 per cent. In the last three months of 2010, Scotland was the only part of the UK where unemployment actually fell.While those figures a...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

10 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Energy-from-waste Plants

The key message is that only materials that cannot be reused or recycled should go to energy-from-waste plants. Local authorities should avoid committing large tonnages to long-term residual waste treatment contracts, as they might struggle to meet their contractual obligation...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

10 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Energy-from-waste Plants

I am happy to build on my original answer. I reaffirm that the Scottish Government’s position remains that we do not support large-scale, inefficient energy-from-waste facilities. I fully expect that any future SNP Government would maintain that position.

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Chamber

10 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Energy-from-waste Plants

The Scottish Government recognises that the energy-from-waste process has a role to play in the delivery of our zero waste policy, albeit a restricted role.It must be remembered that the new regulatory measures that we seek to introduce under the zero waste plan will restrict ...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

03 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Scottish Investment Bank

Given the nature of the question and the way that Mr Park phrased it, I would very much prefer to sit down with him and discuss the particulars of those businesses, so that I understand them more clearly. We are in very challenging times. People will know how expensive it is t...

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Chamber

03 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Scottish Investment Bank

Demand for the Scottish Investment Bank equity products remains high with the likely level of investment in 2010-11 being similar to the previous year’s high level. Last month, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth was pleased to announce that the Scottish l...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

03 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Economic Growth (North Ayrshire)

Manufacturing is vital to the whole of the Scottish economy and its importance was highlighted in “The Scottish Economic Recovery Plan: Update February 2011”, which was published last week. The manufacturing sector is helping to lead Scotland’s economy out of recession. The mo...

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Chamber

03 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Economic Growth (North Ayrshire)

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting North Ayrshire Council’s implementation of its economic development and regeneration strategy. A joint working party will be established in the near future, to address a range of physical regeneration, economic and social issu...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

03 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Co-operative Enterprises

I know David Erdal well. He is the man who sold his company, Tullis Russell, to its employees. The company has shown real resilience since, which supports the international evidence on the productivity of co-operatives and employee-owned businesses, and the good work of the Ba...

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Chamber

03 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Co-operative Enterprises

The development of co-operative enterprises is an operational matter for Co-operative Development Scotland, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Scottish Enterprise. CDS has a specific role to promote and support all forms of new and existing co-operatives with growth potenti...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

03 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Businesses and Jobs (Inverclyde)

I very much agree with that. Coming together on that has been the hallmark of what I have been trying to do, in my small way, in politics. We are endeavouring to come to the right conclusions and press the right buttons when it comes to important decisions about lowering fuel ...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

03 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Businesses and Jobs (Inverclyde)

I recognise the situation that Duncan McNeil portrays. I was educated in Greenock in Inverclyde and I worked there. I remember companies such as Drummond’s, Mitchell’s, Hastie’s, Kincaid’s, Scott’s and Lithgow’s, which all contracted and have gone.Duncan McNeil must face some ...

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Chamber

03 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Businesses and Jobs (Inverclyde)

In 2009-10, Scottish Enterprise spent £338 million on promoting economic development in Scotland. The Scottish Government provided £281 million of that amount in grant in aid. Scottish Enterprise’s investment and continuing involvement in Riverside Inverclyde, an urban regener...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

03 Mar 2011

There is a Better Way Campaign

No. Time is against me.There are two-parent families that are struggling, which means that both parents must work where only one had to before.I say to Hugh Henry that this is not an issue for us to have a spat and a split on and to poke each other in the eye about. The situat...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

03 Mar 2011

There is a Better Way Campaign

The big prize is cohesion. Local government is compensated for the council tax freeze. This is an issue on which we can avoid polarising the argument, albeit that some have polarised it through their absence. We should look to take the moral high ground here. The climate is ri...

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Chamber

03 Mar 2011

There is a Better Way Campaign

I thank Elaine Smith for securing the debate. Viewed in the wider context of the increasingly extreme political and economic challenges that are being faced by other eurozone nations, it is even more important that the Parliament focuses on the economy and how we can act colle...

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Chamber

03 Mar 2011

There is a Better Way Campaign

There is a big difference between light touch and no touch. The Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority let this country down enormously badly.

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Chamber

03 Mar 2011

Scottish Parliament Elections

On 5 May, the people of Scotland will have the opportunity to ensure that their voices are heard and to give us as politicians their feedback on our performance. More important, they will have the opportunity to tell us what the priorities for our country should be and how the...

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

Thank you very much indeed. That is much appreciated.

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

Perhaps it was a condemnation of some of the things that we taught in our business schools in the past, but they are being remedied here in Scotland as I speak.

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

The robustness and scrutiny exist. The scrutiny is not only national but global. We have some interesting parties—such as Ronnie Bowie from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, which has repositioned itself as the faculty of enterprise risk managers—looking over our shoulde...

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

That will be more an issue for Marine Scotland than for local authorities per se.

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

In terms of offshore wind?

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

It certainly came from the industry, but you will remember that we held a low-carbon finance conference last year, on 28 and 29 September. Another conference has been announced today, so there is a process. By bringing people together in that format, we identified greater clar...

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

It would be negative. We have been flexing with the reality of the sector and the technologies, which are evolving. That has won us a lot of friends and has also meant that many people have read the signals and made the investment—hence we have been able to meet the 31 per cen...

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

That is a function of timing. We are not approaching the issue from a doctrinaire position; we are showing a willingness to engage and a keen desire to do that in conjunction with colleagues in Westminster.

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

One lesson that I have learned in politics, particularly in my role as minister, is that the more that we lend ourselves to consultation, the more likely it is that when the consultation is completed, no matter how elegantly we carve our way through it, we may well offend the ...

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

Many respondents to our consultation pressed the Government to reconsider its current level of support on tidal power. Specifically, they pressed the Government to raise it from three to five ROCs, which is the same level for wave power. We are not making that change as part o...

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

I am joined by Nicola Shiels, Neal Rafferty and Sue Kearns. Thank you for this chance to make some opening comments. I am well aware that the committee is familiar with the renewables obligation, as I have sat before the committee and discussed the matter every year since 2007...

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

We have carried out a world-leading exercise with Russel Griggs, who heads up the regulatory review group. It was essentially a two-day scenario planning exercise, getting all the players in the room. It was not just the geologists, people with oil interests and the generators...

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

The key thing is that the Scottish centre for carbon storage is headed up by Professor Stuart Haszeldine, who is one of the leading geologists in the sphere. We have taken him to various settings to be involved in debate with others, and he has confirmed to us that he believes...

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

I will bring Ross Loveridge in, as he is more heavily steeped in it.

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

We have been told that it is anything from 100 to 200 years’ capacity. We will take your numbers and find out. What is your source for those data?

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

No, he is visiting the Parliament today and will take part in a session on electricity market reform that will take place tonight in the Macdonald Holyrood hotel. We have debated the issue in Parliament, but it is significant that Charles Hendry and a roomful of other people—a...

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

We are told that a decision will be made in the summer—fingers crossed, given that Longannet is the last man standing in the UK demonstrator competition.

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

We do not believe so, because we believe that we retain control.

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

There are two stages to the regulations. We have the licensing regime, which will bring us into line with what is happening throughout the UK and Europe, and the permitting mechanism. That will ensure that what we have in Scotland is exactly what we want. We do not want onshor...

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

I am joined by Olive Hogg, Ross Loveridge and Lorna Orr. I thank the convener for the opportunity to make a statement—I will be as brief as possible.Members are all well aware that Scotland’s energy opportunities are vast. However, a balanced energy future for Scotland depends...

Jim Mather SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Local Electoral Administration (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

Amendment 3 is a technical amendment that seeks to enable any issues arising as a result of the Electoral Commission’s work in relation to Scottish local government elections to be considered by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman rather than by the United Kingdom ombudsman...

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Committee

02 Mar 2011

Local Electoral Administration (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

The bill sets out to extend the Electoral Commission’s remit to include local government elections in Scotland. However, we do not intend to confer a greater range of responsibilities for elections in Scotland than that which exists for England and Wales. Since the bill’s intr...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

24 Feb 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Scottish Borders (Economic Development)

Having just finished an answer in a collegiate fashion, I have no option but to agree with Mrs Grahame. There was an opportunity to show cohesion with the vast mass of Borders businesses and many people throughout the Borders who face hard times and uncertainty, but that oppor...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

24 Feb 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Scottish Borders (Economic Development)

I will cut to the chase: I would welcome the opportunity to meet Mr Purvis. We have recently raised the issue of the south of Scotland in conversations with United Kingdom ministers and we are working assiduously to ensure that the Scottish Borders case is as strong as it can ...

The Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism (Jim Mather) SNP Chamber

24 Feb 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Scottish Borders (Economic Development)

We are working with the south of Scotland alliance, which is a partnership of Scottish Borders Council, Dumfries and Galloway Council and Scottish Enterprise, to facilitate its competitiveness strategy, and we have transferred responsibility for local economic development, inc...

Jim Mather SNP Chamber

10 Feb 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Employment Legislation

The matter is of course reserved and we do not yet have detailed proposals from the UK Government. However, the Scottish Government will—as ever—act in the best interests of the people of Scotland. Our newly approved budget is evidence of our capacity to support individuals, c...