Scotland Act 1998 (Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc.) (No. 2) Order 2006

I thank the Minister for explaining the purpose of the order, although I have to question whether it is technically a consolidating measure, as he described it, since it appears to amend the law by extending the functions exercisable by Scottish Ministers to include the renewable energy zone, as has been defined. The anomaly, which seems to have been the result of exclusion in an earlier order, is certainly worthy of correction, but it will be widely recognised that energy is a sphere of public policy where decisions, particularly regarding electricity generation, are still split between the two tiers of government. Although we are dealing here only with renewables, it is not entirely clear why they are being treated differently from other generating modes. We cannot debate that extensively in the discussion of an order, but it remains a subject worthy of discussion, perhaps in a wider forum.