Chamber and committees

COP27 is ongoing. I understand from the Minister at COP that there is a real need for pace and urgency in negotiations over these last few days to both protect and build on what was agreed at Glasgow, and to finally deliver for countries experiencing loss and damage. In due course I will be happy to report on progress once the conference has concluded.

The Scottish Government will consult on a draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP) in the coming months.

The ESJTP will outline a co-ordinated vision for Scotland’s future energy system setting out a route map of steps required to deliver the vision and highlighting the energy sector’s role in achieving our emissions reduction targets.

The Scottish Government is clear that unlimited extraction of fossil fuels is not consistent with our climate obligations and is not the right solution to the real cost of living crisis families are facing. We support the fastest possible just transition for the sector and the oil and gas workforce, the communities in which they live and work, and the regional economies that have greatly benefited from oil and gas activities and have much to gain from the transition to net zero.

Offshore oil and gas licensing is reserved to UK Government. Scottish Government is clear the world cannot extract fossil fuels indefinitely, if we are to reach the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees. Instead, we must accelerate development of renewable sources of energy, providing new jobs, and enabling a faster transition from oil and gas.

We are conducting analysis to better understand Scotland’s energy requirements as we transition to net zero, ensuring an approach that supports and protects our energy security and our highly skilled workforce whilst meeting our climate obligations. We will publish our Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan later this year.

In line with due process, the joint Scottish Government/COSLA Settlement Distribution Group made recommendations on the allocation mechanism for the funding at their meeting on 15 November. COSLA Leaders will be asked to give their final sign-off on 25 November.

As soon as possible after that date we will be in a position to share further information.

A Local Authority cannot apply alone for funding. This funding is not intended to replace core/statutory duties of Local Authorities. Local Authorities may however allocate funding to facilitate the commissioning of recruitment, upskilling and the rebuilding of the Local Action Group (LAG) but are not direct recipients of the funding.

Funding is allocated to Local Action Groups rather than single Local Authorities areas. Local Authority area spend is ongoing and unavailable at present. The LAG allocation breakdown is provided in the following table;

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12054 on 17 November 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government doesn’t want anyone to stay in a hotel or temporary accommodation for longer than necessary. We are therefore taking action to strengthen the matching process to help more displaced people access host or longer-term accommodation as quickly as possible. Through our review of the super sponsor scheme, we have identified a number of interventions to improve matching that we are already taking forward. This includes introducing a new digital matching tool to support the matching process.

This is in addition to the £11.2 million the Scottish Government has committed to Local Authorities to increase capacity of resettlement teams, support refurbishment of properties, help integration and enhance the pace of checks.

We have also introduced the £50 million Ukraine Longer Term Resettlement Fund: Ukraine Longer Term Resettlement Fund - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . Through this Fund, the Scottish Government is working with Local Authorities and Registered Social Landlords to increase the number of homes available to support the longer term resettlement of displaced people from Ukraine, by improving and bringing void homes back into use. The Fund has so far provided over £400,000 to North Ayrshire Council and £6 million to Aberdeen City Council to increase the number of homes available to support displaced people.

Within the Ayrshire LEADER 2014-2020 Programme there were 90 projects (61 organisations) supported over the funding period. Project awards were as follows:

• 34 projects funded in East Ayrshire with £1,836,762;
• 14 projects funded in North Ayrshire with £808,123;
• 40 projects funded in South Ayrshire with £1,205,832; and
• 2 pan-Ayrshire projects funded in North Ayrshire with £227,919.

Just over half were Community projects (56%), with the remainder split between Farm Diversification (20%) and Small and Medium sized enterprises.

The Scottish Government commissioned an independent evaluation by the James Hutton Institute. Additionally, outcome evaluations by each of the 21 Local Development Strategies were required as part of closure of the 2014-2020 LEADER Programme.

Local Action Group (LAG) Membership has continued with the LEADER membership that was based on a skills matrix. Plans to recruit new LAG members through a procurement process are planned. Representation will be drawn from the public sector, businesses/third sector and community interests.

LAG members may be representatives of wider rural bodies or applying on behalf of organisations they represent. LAG members are not permitted to participate in any decision making process where they have a conflict of interest. This is a standing item on the agenda for the LAG.

There is no allocation of funding to individual LAG members since decisions are taken as a collective LAG.

The Ayrshire LAG and South Ayrshire Council Internal Audit have approved and undertaken technical checks on all projects applying for funding. Guidance on these checks is in the public domain.

https://www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/media/5979/ARIA-Fund-Applicant-Guidance/pdf/ARIA_Fund_22

Only those projects that meet the technical checks progress for consideration by the Local Action Group. Of the twenty seven organisation that applied, seventeen of those progressed to the technical check stage, sixteen of which proceeded to assessment stage.