(S4O-02319) Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland

8. Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Government how the distribution of funds from the home energy efficiency programmes for Scotland is calculated. (S4O-02319)

The Minister for Housing and Welfare (Margaret Burgess): The Scottish Government’s budget for fuel poverty and energy efficiency in 2013-14 is £79 million. The majority of that, £60 million, is being spent on council-led area-based schemes to tackle fuel poverty. Following agreement with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, half of the £60 million was distributed among all 32 councils based on their levels of fuel poverty and the energy efficiency of their stock. The other £30 million was set aside for more ambitious projects by councils.

The remaining £19 million will be used to deliver our national affordable warmth and energy assistance schemes and provide funding to the Energy Saving Trust and others to help support the home energy Scotland hotline and advice centres to provide advice and guidance to people about the energy efficiency of their homes and the support for which they might be eligible.

Stewart Stevenson: Does the minister agree that that funding is particularly important in supporting energy efficiency in rural areas, where many houses are reliant on heating oil?

Margaret Burgess: Yes, I do. Aberdeenshire got £4.4 million of the HEEPS money. It is clear that it is a national scheme that is being delivered locally. Local authorities can determine what is required in their area. The projects in Aberdeenshire take account of the area’s rurality, which was the intention of the scheme.

Statement: Budget Outturn 2012-13

The Deputy Presiding Officer (John Scott): The next item of business is a statement by John Swinney on the 2012-13 provisional outturn.

14:41
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Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP): Is the cabinet secretary aware that in 2010 it was said:

“the UK government continues to take Scotland for granted”?

That was in relation to employment. That statement was, of course, made by the gentleman who is now the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Does the cabinet secretary think that it is time for that gentleman to respond to what he said in 2010 and change his capital spending plans in Scotland but especially in the UK, where unemployment—in contrast to the situation in Scotland—is rising?

John Swinney: I think that the comparative position on employment patterns north and south of the border is instructive. That is why I marshalled information to demonstrate that the different economic strategy that this Government has taken has delivered a different outcome for Scotland. To go back to my answer to Mr Hepburn’s question, the UK Government needs to understand that, without action to remedy the reductions in capital expenditure, the ability of many people in our society to recover from the economic difficulties that we face will be affected and those difficulties will be prolonged.

(S4O-02277) Arts Festivals (Regeneration Areas)

Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP): 6. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the contribution that local arts festivals make to communities in regeneration areas. (S4O-02277)

The Minister for External Affairs and International Development (Humza Yousaf): We are aware of the significant cultural, social and economic contribution that Scotland’s arts and culture festivals make to all our communities. That is why Creative Scotland’s creative place awards, for example, reward the hard work and imagination that contribute to the rich cultural life of a community, as well as its social and economic wellbeing.

Stewart Stevenson: Does the minister agree that arts events such as the coast festival, the launch of which I attended recently in Macduff, are vital in supporting community spirit and boosting the local economy by attracting visitors, both foreign and domestic?

Humza Yousaf: I absolutely agree. We all know that the arts and culture make a vital contribution to social and economic wellbeing. On top of that, they are a great way in which people can come together, as the member said, and share creative experiences.

I heard that the coast festival was a fantastic success, particularly the sandcastle competition and the rubber duck race. I was delighted that the festival took the opportunity in our year of natural Scotland to celebrate the beauty and creativity of the Banffshire coastal towns.

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh Northern and Leith) (Lab): Given that the Leith festival benefits not just regeneration areas in Leith but the whole of Leith and Edinburgh and further afield, is it not time that the Leith festival received some funding from the national fund that is available for national festivals? Would the Leith festival at the beginning of June each year not be the ideal curtain-raiser for the great summer of festivals, which continues tonight with the launch of the film festival?

Humza Yousaf: The member makes a good point about the wider contribution and impact that festivals can make. I am not entirely sure whether the Leith festival has applied for funding, but I am more than happy to sit down with the member to explore that.