Chamber and committees

Industry-led analysis provides estimates of the current UK offshore wind workforce and workforce shortfall. The Offshore Wind Industry Council and RenewableUK’s Wind Industry Skills Intelligence Report 2025 estimates that 39,898 people currently support the UK offshore wind sector. Under its baseline scenario, the report estimated a UK offshore workforce shortfall of 12,584 in 2025, with the largest UK-wide occupational deficits including: Wind Turbine Technicians; Export Cable Engineers; Fabrication Engineers; Electrical Managers; and, Commissioning Engineers.

For North-East Scotland, the report estimates that annual workforce demand in “Aberdeen & North-East” could reach a peak of 27,702 between 2026 and 2030 under its baseline scenario of 39 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030. The report is available here.

The Scottish Government is working closely with industry and public sector partners to identify and respond to offshore wind workforce demand. This builds on the work of the Offshore Wind Skills Short-Life Working Group, which brought partners together to agree the skills shortages requiring urgent action and to develop a joint Offshore Wind Skills Priorities and Action Plan.

Through the £3.85m Offshore Wind Skills Programme, the Scottish Government is supporting industry and delivery partners to increase the supply of skilled workers into priority occupations, including through expanded training for new entrants and career changers and targeted college provision in the North-East.

The £200,000 investment announced by the Scottish Government is intended to support the development of a Justice Social Impact Partnership, focused initially on reducing reoffending and providing safe spaces for young people. This pilot will help inform the potential for wider application of Social Impact Partnerships across government.

As the programme is currently at a development stage, no decisions have yet been taken on eligibility for any future funding, including the potential £10 million fund. Consequently, criteria for participation and access to funding have not been determined. Any future expansion of Social Impact Partnerships would be informed by the outcomes of the justice pilot and the objectives of individual programmes.

The Scottish Government has not provided funding specifically for the evaluation, purchase or distribution of rapid testing strips. However, organisations receiving National Mission funding may have used a proportion of that funding to support such activities as part of wider harm reduction or service delivery programmes.

The Scottish Government has committed more than £1.7 million to deliver Scotland’s drug checking pilot, including the establishment of a National Testing and Research Laboratory at the University of Dundee and local drug checking services planned in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. In line with our evidence-based approach, the drug checking pilot will be evaluated, and we expect to provide further detail on our evaluation approach over the coming months.

Addressing gender inequalities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a key priority within our Women's Health Plan.

The Plan adopts a life-course approach to cardiovascular health, recognising the links between heart disease and factors such as pregnancy, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and menopause. In particular, work is underway to test care pathways designed to reduce and manage the lifetime risk of CVD among women who experience hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

The Scottish Cardiac Audit Programme funded by the Scottish Government routinely disaggregates relevant data by sex, supporting a better understanding of sex-based differences in cardiovascular outcomes and care.

Questions on stroke rehabilitation have been prepared and will be incorporated into the Scottish Stroke Care Audit (SSCA) from 1 January 2027. An initial pilot in Grampian and Lanarkshire informed further refinement of the proposed dataset. The data collected will be used to inform patients and the public regarding service provision in their local area.

In addition, an updated organisational audit is to be completed this year. Rehabilitation service provision is also explored in detail as part of each Board’s annual review. Areas of concern are identified and addressed, while examples of good practice shared across Scotland’s Health Boards to support continuous improvement and better patient care.

The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce a two-year suspension of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax Additional Dwelling Supplement for purchases of residential properties intended for long-term private rental.

Recruitment and retention of staff is a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service as an employer. Wholetime firefighter recruitment is heavily oversubscribed by applications and therefore there are no significant barriers in place. There are challenges in recruiting on-call firefighters in some remote and rural locations. SFRS is addressing these through its On-Call improvement programme.

The Scottish Government does not procure buses. Bus services are predominantly provided by commercial operators, with local authorities and other public bodies procuring or supporting services where appropriate. As these organisations are autonomous contracting authorities, they are responsible for their own procurement activity and for determining, on a case-by-case basis, how best to meet their legal obligations and policy objectives.

Where the Scottish Government provides funding support through subsidy schemes, such as the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB), schemes must be designed and delivered in accordance with the UK Subsidy Control Act 2022. Under that framework, subsidies cannot be made contingent on the use of domestically produced goods or services, often referred to as local-content requirements.

ScotZEB3 was a competitive, criteria-led scheme. Applications were assessed against published criteria, including market development and wider community benefits, which together accounted for 30% of the assessment. The scheme is intended to support the transition to zero-emission buses while helping to grow Scotland's green economy, support jobs and strengthen supply chains.

The Scottish Government intends to implement the right to breaks for unpaid carers of all ages, including young carers, in line with Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Care Reform (Scotland) Act 2025. It is also committed to setting statutory timescales for preparing young carer statements and to establishing new duties for organisations to promote take-up and awareness of carer support, including support for young carers, both in accordance with the same chapter of the 2025 Act.

The Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2026 to 2031 includes our commitment to “engage with local authorities, trades unions, and healthcare and service providers to reach agreement on reform of social care which makes best use of the funding in the system, delivers fairer and more efficient services and achieves economies of scale, while enhancing the focus on community need”.

The Scottish Government does not mandate a single national training programme recognising heart attacks in women for NHS Scotland staff. Decisions on workforce training and professional development are primarily a matter for individual NHS Boards, informed by national clinical guidance, professional standards and evidence-based practice.

NHS Scotland staff are supported through a range of clinical guidelines, professional education and evidence-based resources relating to the recognition, diagnosis and management of cardiovascular disease, including myocardial infarction. For example, NHS Inform provides dedicated information on women's heart health, including information on heart attack symptoms in women and the importance of seeking urgent treatment. NHS Inform also highlights that women may experience symptoms differently and may delay seeking help, emphasising the importance of recognising symptoms and accessing emergency care promptly.