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

My noble friend asked the Minister one or two pertinent questions, at least one of which I was going to ask. I shall wait with great interest to hear what he has to say. I want to ask the Minister a question of detail. At present, if a wind farm is in a renewable energy zone, I think I recollect that there has to be a great deal of consultation before planning permission is given because of the interests of shipping and people who go about in boats for pleasure and business. Where you put a large wind farm at sea is quite controversial. I wonder whether the requirement for consultation passes to Scottish Ministers in the Holyrood Parliament as this responsibility for planning permission in renewable energy zones passes to them. That seems very important. Will there be an automatic requirement for discussion between the DTI and Scottish Ministers about the whole thing anyway? My noble friend mentioned the fact that electricity is a national matter for the United Kingdom, so a decision about a wind farm is part of that. This issue of whether there are different political types of government at Westminster and Holyrood is very serious, but my specific question regards consulting before planning permission is granted.