Seòmar agus comataidhean

<>A map showing the locations of Scottish ministers’ crofting and other agricultural estates, along with those of other SEARS partners, is available on the Scottish Government website at www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/259920/0082987.pdf.

Most of the estates or holdings were acquired between 1900 and 1939 for lease to smallholders and crofters for land settlement purposes. The acquisition of land took place under the Congested Districts (Scotland) Act 1897, the Small Landholders (Scotland) Acts 1886 and 1931, the Land Settlement (Scotland) Acts 1919 to 1934 and the Agriculture (Scotland) Act 1948.

The above legislation conferred power on the Board of Agriculture (a forerunner to the Agriculture, Food and Rural Communities Directorate) to acquire land by agreement, purchase, lease, gift and compulsory purchase for occupation and settlement by crofters, cottars, fishermen and returning ex-servicemen. The main aim was to provide, equip and adapt land under favourable conditions and in less-congested districts of Scotland at that time.

These powers still exist, but Scottish ministers’ policy has been to sell and not purchase for some time.

The majority of estates were purchased by the Board of Agriculture and a purchase price was paid. Records of the purchase price are held by the Scottish Government’s Estates Management team.

The estimated net cost of administering the Scottish ministers’ crofting and agricultural estates is £143,000 per annum.

I launched the Microgeneration Strategy for Scotland on 22 June 2012 in Inverness. It sets out the Scottish Government’s support for microgeneration, our ambitions for the sector and the successes and key actions we have taken to date across a range of policies: planning, building regulation, skills, housing and fuel poverty. The Strategy also showcases what has been achieved by national and local government, industry, communities, householders, the skills sector and other stakeholders across Scotland to grow the market for microgeneration.

Alongside the Strategy, I also announced a £5 million boost to our Home Renewables Loans scheme to help householders install new green heating systems in their homes. From August 2012, loans of up to £10,000 will be available to householders to install renewable heat technology such as biomass boilers and heat pumps in their own homes.

This is a UK Government policy. Relevant information may be found on the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s website. Of particular interest may be a document titled: Carbon Saving Community Obligation: Rural and Low Income Areas. Further information may be found in the The Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) Order 2012 available at:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2012/9780111525456/contents or sought directly from DECC.

<>The UK Government Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) consultation on the Energy Company Obligation closed in January this year. Scottish Ministers responded. DECC have recently published their response. This and other DECC publications relating to the Energy Company Obligation and Green Deal are available at: www.decc.gov.uk.

The Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers will produce a Chair’s Brief at the end of the year summarising the advice that the council has provided over the year.

There were no meetings of the Council of Economic Advisers in 2011.

The council meeting on 10 September 2010 was the last during the previous parliamentary term. The Council of Economic Advisers was then reconvened by the First Minister following the Scottish parliamentary elections in May 2011 and the start of the new parliamentary term. The reconvened council met for the first time at the start of 2012 (on 20 January 2012).

The Fiscal Commission Working Group was established on 25 March and has since been co-ordinating the work to help establish a fiscal and macro-economic framework for Scotland.

A formal meeting will take place in Edinburgh on 27 August 2012 to review progress.

The outputs of the group will be published in due course. It will form an important part of the development of the White Paper on independence, which will be published in autumn 2013.

The Council of Economic Advisers published its previous annual reports on the following dates: First annual report – 5 December 2008; Second Annual Report – 4 December 2009; and Third Annual Report – 10 December 2010.