Meeting of the Parliament 23 May 2013 : Thursday, May 23, 2013
The Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism (Fergus Ewing) Presiding Officer, I understand that copies of the statement should have been made available to you very recently. I would have far preferred that far more notice had been given; I apologise for that. I felt that it was correct to say that to you and to members to whom I have not been able to provid...
Meeting of the Parliament 23 May 2013 : Thursday, May 23, 2013
Fergus Ewing I will try to answer the questions raised. Of course I can confirm that my absolute concern is to ensure that, of the people who are presently redundant, as many as is practically possible will have the offer of re-engagement. I have made that abundantly clear at both the task force meetings that I ...
Meeting of the Parliament 23 May 2013 : Thursday, May 23, 2013
Fergus Ewing Murdo Fraser is correct in saying that, following the first meeting, I wrote to the liquidators to express the general view of the task force. At that time there had been no announcements by the liquidator as to any preferred bidder. That matter was not by any means clear, so at the request of the t...
Meeting of the Parliament 23 May 2013 : Thursday, May 23, 2013
Fergus Ewing Restoration is not a simple issue; it is a thorny one. It is an issue with considerable challenges, as all members will recognise.
Traditionally, restoration bonds have been used. They can come in many shapes and forms, as financial instruments. Their essential common element is that they...
Meeting of the Parliament 23 May 2013 : Thursday, May 23, 2013
Fergus Ewing I will obviously work with all relevant stakeholders who have a contribution to make. I understand that the SMRT fully intends to work with the communities that are most affected.
As I said in my statement, community engagement is imperative and an essential part of all the work that is ...
Meeting of the Parliament 23 May 2013 : Thursday, May 23, 2013
Fergus Ewing I thank Mr Coffey for that question. I have been in frequent contact with Mr Ingram, who, although still on sick leave, is working hard for his constituents in these matters, as his area is one of the most affected in Scotland.
Mr Coffey asks about the impact of the ORR’s proposals on the...
Meeting of the Parliament 23 May 2013 : Thursday, May 23, 2013
Fergus Ewing I thank Dr Elaine Murray for her attendance at the task force and for her work on the issue as a constituency MSP over a fairly long period of not inconsiderable dialogue between us.
The purpose of the Scottish opencast coal task force is to consider issues relating to the opencast coal s...
Meeting of the Parliament 23 May 2013 : Thursday, May 23, 2013
Fergus Ewing I am pleased that we have representatives from Fife Council involved in the task force. Alex Rowley attended the last meeting, as did Keith Winter, who is one of the senior officials. I also believe that Claire Baker attended the previous task force meeting.
The work of the task force is ...
Meeting of the Parliament 23 May 2013 : Thursday, May 23, 2013
Fergus Ewing Mr MacKenzie is absolutely right. The regulator, Ofgem, warned last October that the spare generating capacity in the UK was considerably lower than it should be. In respect of England, I believe that the figure for spare generating capacity was around 4 per cent, which is far below a safe and prude...
Meeting of the Parliament 23 May 2013 : Thursday, May 23, 2013
Fergus Ewing Those are serious matters, but they are not new. The general issue of restoration has been around for a long time. What is new, however, is that we have put in place a mechanism in the form of the Scottish Mines Restoration Trust, which seeks to facilitate solutions.
The SMRT provides a ...