20 Year plan – impact on business

The National Planning Framework highlights nine projects that the Government believes are vital to sustainable development in Scotland over the next 20 years.

The Planning Act 2006 was introduced to give the National Planning Framework statutory authority and enables projects to be identified as "national developments".  Each project that is given this designation has essentially already obtained outline planning approval.  However the projects still need to pass the local planning system, allowing the details as to their implementation to be further assessed.

The nine projects

• Facilities and infrastructure to support the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games
  While 70% of the venues and infrastructure are already in place, an athletes' village, indoor sports arena, velodrome and hockey centre, together with transport links, are among the developments that the Scottish Government  hopes to complete by 2014.
  
  
• Grid reinforcements to support renewable energy development
  The plans include new sub-sea cable links for the Outer Hebrides and Shetland Islands and reinforcing sub-sea cables between Orkney and the mainland, as well as strengthening the Scotland-England interconnectors.
  
  
• Improvements to Glasgow Airport
  The Government expects Glasgow Airport's passenger numbers to double by 2030. To facilitate this, they intend to improve transport to the airport, including a rail link from the city centre.  The Framework notes the importance of enhancing Scotland's airports particularly as rail is not an option for linking directly with the continent.
  
  
• Development of Edinburgh Airport
  A new rail link, including a station at Gogar, has been proposed, together with expanding the terminal, creating additional plane stands and relocating the Royal Highland Showground.
  
  
• Glasgow strategic drainage scheme
  This project involves upgrading and replacing the drainage infrastructure, including the construction of new water treatment plants and flood reduction measures.
  
  
• Enhancing access to Grangemouth freight hub
  The Scottish Government plans to improve Grangemouth's road and rail links and expand the freight storage and handling facilities.  It is hoped these measures will enable Scotland's busiest container port to fulfil its full potential.·Scapa Flow Container Transhipment Facility, the Framework includes both land based and off shore developments in order to provide an international container transhipment facility.  It is believed that Scapa Flow's location and deep water will enable it to cope with the increasing size of container ships.
  
  
• Rosyth international container facility
  The Scottish Government is planning to improve road and rail links as well as create a multimodal container terminal at Rosyth in order to strengthen links with the rest of the world and realise Scotland's potential as a land bridge between Ireland and Europe.
  
  
• Replacing the Forth crossing
  The Scottish Government plans to build a new four lane crossing west of the existing bridge, with the hope of it being in operation by 2018.  The development has an estimated cost of £4 billion.

Mr Swinney has deliberately restricted himself to just nine projects, in order to allow local councils the greater freedom they have been promised.  While other developments have been mentioned in the Framework, Mr Swinney claims that these will be achieved by other means. The other projects include faster rail journeys, dualling the A9 and completing the M74 through Glasgow.  These projects are to be achieved through the Government's transport strategy, which is due to be announced this summer.

Response to the Framework
Most opposition parties and business organisations have welcomed the projects, however the Framework has also met with some resistance from the Scottish Green Party which has criticised the lack of focus on renewables projects. Labour has also found fault with the Framework, claiming that the absence of nuclear energy from the plan will risk both jobs and the economy.

There are also concerns about manpower shortages as the construction of the new Forth Bridge, the Commonwealth Games facilities and several other projects all converge at the same time.  The shortage of skilled planners has also been identified as an obstacle to Scotland's economic development. 

Despite these concerns, John Swinney claims his Framework will "create a more successful country, increase sustainable economic growth and create opportunities for all Scotland to flourish."The Framework will be open for consultation until 15 April 2008, after which it will be considered by Parliament.  It is hoped the National Planning Framework will be published in winter 2008.A copy of the consultation can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/01/07093039/0

25 January 2008

EU - The year ahead

Following the signing of the Lisbon Treaty at the end of 2007, 2008 is likely to see a pan-European focus on encouraging the timely ratification of the Treaty.  In fact, one of the stated priorities of the new Slovenian Presidency is to secure the entry into force of the Treaty before the next European Parliamentary elections.  Slovenia itself hopes to set an example by completing its own ratification process in early 2008, while the Hungarian Parliament was the first to approve the Treaty with ratification taking place on 17 December 2007.  Ratification is, however, likely to prove more challenging in other Member States.

Along with the new Treaty, climate and energy issues look set to keep Europe occupied in 2008.  With climate change already taking place, the Commission has suggested in its legislative and work programme for 2008 that the EU now needs to identify the sectors and policies that will need to adapt most to the impact of climate change.  Actions will include the proposal of a white paper and particular consideration will be given to "the greening of the transport sector".  In early 2008, the Commission also plans to present the second Strategic Energy Review.  The Review is intended to form the basis of the Energy Action Plan from 2010 onwards and will include a review of the Energy Taxation Directive.

A further priority for the EU over the coming year is the strategy for growth and jobs.  As part of this, the Commission intends to focus on making markets work better in areas where its efforts are likely to have the greatest impact on both companies and consumers.  In particular, it is looking to enable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to benefit more fully from the internal market.  On the basis of its assertion that SMEs create most of the jobs and wealth in Europe, the Commission aims to improve the market performance of SMEs by taking specific measures in the form of a "Small Business Act".  In the field of competition, businesses should also keep a look out for the launch of a review of the Merger Regulation, the Procedural Regulation and several Block Exemption Regulations.

In addition to new work streams, the Commission will also be continuing existing initiatives.  In this regard, it has decided that in light of the turmoil in the financial markets, further analysis will be required.  This may ultimately lead to suggestions for regulatory change with the Commission working towards ensuring transparency for investors, markets and regulators.

As the legislative and work programme highlights, the EU has a busy year ahead of it.  It will be interesting to see how the ratification process for the Lisbon Treaty progresses and how the Commission's legislative intentions unfold.  All of this will be set against a backdrop of promoting dialogue between cultures, beliefs and traditions as Europe enters the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue.

The European Commission's legislative and work programme for 2008 can be viewed at http://ec.europa.eu/news/employment/071024_1_en.htm.

The Scottish Parliament's European and External Relations Committee is currently consulting on issues within the Commission's legislative and work programme that have implications for Scotland.  The deadline for submissions is 25 January 2008.  Further details are available at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/committees/europe/LWP2008-consultation.htm.

25 January 2008

US election process explained

The first step on the long, exhausting path to the White House has begun, as voters across the US have begun to back candidates in the primary elections. Although George W Bush will not leave office until the 20 January 2009, the race to succeed him began in earnest on 4 January when candidates from both main parties – the Democrats and the Republicans - began competing for their party's nomination. For the first time since 1928, neither a sitting president nor vice president will be a candidate in the race, theoretically creating a wide-open fight for both nominations.
 
While the UK has a restricted General Election campaign period, the United States system is vastly longer and much more complicated. It consists of a primary election period, party conventions in the late summer, general election campaigning and then polling day, which is always held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
 
At the moment, candidates are in the midst of the primary election stage with most states holding state-wide votes, called primaries, to determine their preferred candidates from the two main parties. Other states use a slightly different procedure involving public meetings, called caucuses. In both cases the upshot is that the state will send a certain number of delegates committed to supporting a particular candidate, to the party convention in August or September 2008. The candidate with the most delegates wins the nomination. While the official primary election stage runs from January to June, it usually becomes apparent who the winning candidate will be much earlier on in the primary season. This year the winning candidates are expected to be known after Super Tuesday.
 
Super Tuesday is a Tuesday when a lot of states hold primaries or caucuses simultaneously. The practice began in the 1980s.  In 2000, 16 states held primaries on 7 March, at which about 60% of all delegates were up for grabs. In 2004, Super Tuesday split in two, there was a Super Tuesday I on 3 February, followed by a Super Tuesday II on 2 March, when California, Ohio and New York all held their votes. This year, 24 states including California, New York and New Jersey have said they intend to hold primaries or caucuses on Tuesday, February 5. This makes it the day when most delegates backing a candidate can be won.
 
After the primary election period and once both parties have chosen their candidate, both parties hold their party conventions. The Democrats will hold their convention in Colorado in late August and The Republicans will hold theirs in Minneapolis in early September. After this, the presidential candidates will take part in TV debates on 26 September, and 7 and 15 October. There will also be furious campaigning in key battleground states before the presidential election is held on the 4 November.

25 January 2008