Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Angus MacDonald and Douglas Alexander(3 days, 21 hours ago)
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Mr Alexander
One of the regrettable aspects of the SNP-led Scottish Government’s record has been their failure to fully harness the capability of city regions and the economic contribution they can make. My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland is in China along with Glasgow chamber of commerce and representatives from Glasgow and four other cities. At the moment, they are focused on a trade mission to the Shanghai international technology fair, specifically to champion the region’s world-renowned strengths in technology, life sciences and advanced manufacturing.
Mr Angus MacDonald (Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire) (LD)
Scotland exports 10 to 12 times more electricity than it needs. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is doing a review of community benefits, and we are very concerned that that review will produce a poor outcome for the people of rural Scotland. Could the Secretary of State make representations on that?
Mr Alexander
I am always happy to make representations to colleagues within Government—of course, the Energy Minister is a fellow Scot, representing a Scottish constituency. I know this has been a matter of long-standing concern for the hon. Gentleman, and if he wants to write to me, I will make sure I take it up with the Energy Minister.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Angus MacDonald and Douglas Alexander(7 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Mr Angus MacDonald (Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire) (LD)
The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr Douglas Alexander)
This Government are taking action to support vulnerable families this winter, including by expanding the warm home discount scheme, which means that more than 500,000 households now benefit from that £150 payment—one in five Scottish households.
Mr MacDonald
Will the Minister acknowledge the unfairness that my constituents in Skye, and indeed people all across rural Scotland and rural Great Britain, are paying four times as much to heat their houses using locally generated renewable electricity—often while looking at wind turbines outside their windows—than those in cities who heat their houses using imported high-carbon gas, which is largely due to the fact that the environmental tariffs fall wrongly on the renewables and not on the carbon fuel gas?
Mr Alexander
Communities can feel tangible benefits, but those community benefits are largely voluntary at the moment. The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, however; that is why this Government are considering mandating the provision of community benefit funds for low-carbon energy infrastructure across the United Kingdom. We will have more to say in our plans when they are set out later this year.