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Under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989, the building of any new thermal based stations would require consent from Scottish Government ministers. We published draft Section 36 guidance for thermal power stations in late 2008 for consultation. We published the individual responses in March 2009 and have since held subsequent workshops to discuss some of the issues in more detail.

Details of the response to the consultation have been lodged with Scottish Parliament''s Information Centre (SPICe) and can also be found at:

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The UK Government has now issued a consultation on a number of aspects of CCS, including proposals for a levy on generation to fund demonstration projects, consideration of the issue of Emissions Performance Standards and policy proposals for the basis on which coal fired power stations will be required to operate in the future. This consultation is due to end in September 2009 and the Scottish Government is working closely with the UK Government on this matter.

With this consultation in mind, we have decided to await the completion of the UK consultation process before issuing our final thermal generation guidance. This will ensure that the regulatory framework in broad terms is similar across the UK as a whole, with the overall objective of encouraging CCS deployment and the objective of decarbonisation of the electricity sector by 2030.

In the meantime, we can confirm that in relation to Carbon Capture Readiness (CCR), we agree with the position as set out by the Department of Energy and Climate Change on April 23 2009. These proposals were also broadly supported in the responses to our own consultation. The Scottish Government will now only consider applications if they have demonstrated consideration of the following criteria:

demonstrate that they have sufficient space on or near the site to accommodate carbon capture equipment in the future;

undertake an assessment into the technical and economic feasibility of retrofitting carbon capture technology;

propose a suitable area of deep geological storage offshore for the storage of captured CO₂;

undertake an assessment into the technical and economic feasibility of transporting the captured CO_2Ìýto their proposed storage area; and

if necessary, apply for and obtain Hazardous Substance Consent (HSC).

This position will now apply to all new gas, oil, biomass, waste-to-energy and also coal power station applications on or above 300MW. I should also like to confirm that we have asked the Scottish Environmental Protection Authority to work with us on preparations for CCR assessment.

On the issue of requirements for CCS demonstrators and a possible Emissions Performance Standard for new coal fired power stations, we want to work with the UK Government closely on this issue. We have already received a number of representations on these points in our consultation on thermal guidance and will give serious consideration to these options as we take the matter forward. We are therefore considering, in line with the UK approach:

Requiring any new coal power station in Scotland to demonstrate CCS on a defined part of its capacity;

Requiring new coal stations to retrofit CCS to their full capacity within five years of CCS being independently judged technically and economically proven;

The development of an Emissions Performance Standard in line with the development of CCS technology.

As the First Minister stated at the launch of the Scottish Research Report into Carbon Capture and Storage on 1 May, the Scottish Government is determined to ensure that we become Europe''s leader in carbon capture and storage. The Scottish Government will continue to work with the UK Government, EU, business, research and academics to ensure we fully capitalise on Scotland''s potential.

A clear understanding emerged on what Government can and cannot do in a de-regulated market. I announced funding for a dairy carbon foot-printing project and reiterated our support for the early establishment of a supermarket ombudsman, as well as for clearer labelling of food produce to allow consumers make more-informed purchasing decisions.

A further meeting is planned to take forward some the issues discussed at the summit.

Persons Fined for Litter Offences¹ in Scottish Courts by Approximate Local Authority Area², 2002-03 to 2006-07

Notes:

1. Where main offence.

2. Incorporates an approximate mapping of sheriff courts into local authority areas. Some sheriff courts will deal with cases from more than one local authority area. Four local authority areas, namely East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Midlothian and North Ayrshire, do not contain a sheriff court.

Average Available Staffed Beds¹ by NHS Board Area²; Financial Years Ending 31 March 1994-2008

Source: ISD Scotland [ISD(S)1].