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Detailed information on thebackground to the policy and issues ministers expect to see addressed inreviews is issued each year as reviews are announced. This advice has developedover the four years since the policy was announced. Since December 2002, advicehas been offered to the bodies, beginning relocation reviews, on the weightingsto apply to socio-economic factors.

Relocation decisions arebased on a range of factors. The organisation carrying out the review isinvited to forward material bearing on key location criteria; socio-economicconsiderations; business efficiency (including the position of existing staff);sustainable transport links; accessibility and propertyavailability/suitability.

For relocation reviews, the Executive recommends that a weighting of 50% is allocated to socio-economic factorswhich shows a measure of its determination to assist disadvantaged areas in Scotland.The remaining assessment criteria, however, are weighted by each organisationto reflect their own strategic requirements.

In taking forward ourrelocation policy we consider the objective of our policy and range ofmeasurable factors relating to the organisation concerned.

The organisation carryingout the review is invited to forward material bearing on key location criteria;socio-economic considerations; business efficiency (including the position ofexisting staff); sustainable transport links; accessibility and propertyavailability/suitability.

The Sewel memorandum andmotion were forwarded to the Enterprise and Culture Committee for consideration on 12January. The memorandum addresses a wide range of provisions within the EnergyBill that fall within devolved competence. These include provisions toestablish the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority; to reconstitute the UKAEAConstabulary as the Civil Nuclear Constabulary; to amend the RadioactiveSubstances Act 1998; to establish Renewable Energy Zones; to provide powers inrespect of the decommissioning of offshore renewable energy installations; toextend the scope of the Renewables Obligations and to permit funds from theFossil Fuel Levy to be paid into the Scottish Consolidated Fund.

Scottish Natural Heritage(SNH) submitted a project plan on 31 October which contained a cost estimate of£22 million for the entire relocation package. The elements contained in theplan are currently subject to discussion between SNH and Executive officials.

The Executive’s refinementand analysis of the discounted costs of the various relocation optionsidentified in the DTZ Pieda study was placed in the Parliament’s ReferenceCentre (Bib. number 27058) on 20 March 2003. Over a 30-year period this showedthe move to Inverness would cost in the region of £21.7 million in netpresent value terms, assuming that premises would be rented. On the same costbasis, the status quo would cost £15.3 million.

This is an operationalmatter for Scottish Natural Heritage.

Staffing levels are anoperational matter for Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). The number of staff currentlyworking in SNH headquarters who will still be employed by SNH in future yearswill depend on a variety of factors including the pattern of staff retirement andturnover.

The Office of the Deputy PrimeMinister (ODPM) implementation group is presently considering energyperformance calculation methods. It is possible that the present standard assessmentprocedure can be modified for the domestic sector. The paper on Methodologiesin support of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive: The UK approach toimplementation for buildings other than dwellings describes the strategythat ODPM, the Department forEnvironment Food and Rural Affairs andthe Scottish Executive are pursuing in developing the methodologiesrequired by the directive. It can be found on the Executive’s website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/DD/BSD/00018340/page425754724.aspx.

We are liaising with theOffice of the Deputy Prime Minister implementation group on how best toimplement the requirements of Article 7 of the directive. However, we alsorecognise the need to take account of distinctive Scottish circumstances.