Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-33162 on 23 January 2025. 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 draft budget published on 4 December 2024 includes new investment of £4.5 million to deliver new specialist support across the country for long COVID, ME, Chronic Fatigue, and other similar conditions.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Precise job numbers for Scotland’s offshore wind sector and its supply chain are challenging to pinpoint due to the evolving nature of the industry and transferability of skills across the wider energy sector. It is clear that the sector has seen significant growth since 1 January 2023, with increasing opportunities across a wide range of roles as we continue to invest in infrastructure, manufacturing, and skills development. Examples of this growth include the £100m joint credit facility from the Scottish National Investment Bank and National Wealth Fund for Ardersier Port in the Highlands, which is estimated will enable around 3,000 jobs and reskilling opportunities for the community over the next decade, and Sumitomo’s £350m subsea cable manufacturing plant under construction at the Port of Nigg, set to create hundreds of high-quality jobs.

Security of supply for gas and electricity is a reserved matter and is delivered by the National Electricity System Operator (NESO) across the whole of Great Britain, under regulation from Ofgem. The National Grid has also confirmed that Great Britain’s eight main gas storage sites remain healthy. However, we remain engaged to plan for any challenging scenarios that might emerge this winter, and engage regularly with the UK Government on issues of energy security.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with the offshore oil and gas industry on a range of topics, including workforce planning. For example, the First Minister last met with Offshore Energies UK along with the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy in September 2024 and this included discussion of jobs in the context of the energy transition.

The Scottish Government is continuing to work in partnership with business and industry to plan for a multi-skilled energy workforce, one that can benefit from opportunities across sectors as the transition to net zero progresses. This includes exploring opportunities for mutual recognition of qualifications between different energy sectors including funding support from the Just Transition Fund to support the industry-led Energy Skills Passport which is now being piloted.

Justices of the Peace are appointed to sheriffdoms not local authorities. The current number of serving Justices of the Peace broken down by sheriffdom is as follows:

Transport Scotland conducts machine-based surveys using specialist vehicles each year to gather information on the surface integrity of the road; the friction characteristics of the surface; and the structural capacity (strength) of the underlying road construction. The data obtained provides an annual snapshot of the road condition across the network and is used to determine a Road Condition Index for each section of road. The Index values can then be used to identify where detailed engineering investigations should be focused in order to determine maintenance requirements.

The proportion of the A90 that has been assessed as requiring further preliminary investigation to determine whether structural maintenance is required has varied over the last 5 years as follows:

2019-20 – 13%; 2020/21 – 10%; 2021-22 – 9%; 2022-23 – 10%; 2023-24 – 18%

This information is not held by the Scottish Government and responsibility for such rests with the British Transport Police and Police Scotland respectively.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government. The member may wish to contact Network Rail.