Chamber and committees

Scottish Government do not (a) incentivise (c)inhibit or (d) discriminate against community owned energy providers. Scottish Government conduct all procurement in accordance with the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 and the Public Procurement Regulations. Under Section 8 – General Duties of the Act, procurement authorities must:

“in carrying out a regulated procurement—

(a) treat relevant economic operators equally and without discrimination,

(b) act in a transparent and proportionate manner.”

To actively incentivise or discriminate any provider or group of providers would be a clear breach of the requirements of the Act.

The framework terms and conditions do (b) facilitate self generating sources to approach the Supplier, and there is a mechanism in the Terms and Conditions for local authorities to approach EDF to sell electricity which they have generated. The Framework also has included the option of Power Purchase Agreements.

The terms and conditions state that for the Supply of Electricity from a self-generating source the Supplier shall enter into a Power Purchase Agreement with such Scottish Public Sector Body on normal commercial terms. Such purchase shall stand entirely separate to the arrangements under the Framework and the Supplier shall not be under any obligation to sleeve the electrical output of such Public Body’s facility into the supply of electricity under the framework.

The Supply of Electricity agreement has also included the options of 6 different Power Purchase Agreement variations as part of the Statement of Requirements and the Terms and Conditions, these include.

Option 1 - A PPA entered into between the Scottish Government (Authority) and a third party generator. The generator is not a Client under the Framework. (Direct PPA)

Option 2 - A PPA entered into between the Contractor and a third party generator. The generator is not a Client under the Framework. (Indirect PPA)

Option 3 - A PPA entered into between the Scottish Government (Authority) and a generator. The generator is a Client under the Framework ( for example a Local Authority). Under this category of PPA the power sleeved into the Framework volume for use by the entire portfolio

Option 4 - A PPA entered into between the Contractor and a generator. The generator is a Client under the Framework. Under this category of PPA the power sleeved into the Framework volume would be for use by the entire portfolio.

Option 5 – : Export PPA where Client under the framework sells excess volume to the Contractor

Option 6 (as advice only) - Private Wire. This category is distinct from any of the above as it involves a direct physical connection between the generator and the buyer.

Overall the National Framework for the Supply of Electricity includes a statement of requirements and Ts and Cs which are agreed by the User Intelligence Group made up of public sector representatives (including representatives from local authorities). They have set out that the framework supplier needs to ensure it has the capacity to secure forward purchases on behalf of all framework customers. The Supplier also needs to account manage each individual customer organisation including billing, invoicing, meter reading queries, complaints, energy efficiency queries, and social value programmes within the framework. As well as managing the consumption for over 30,000 meters for electricity that are part of the portfolio. Therefore the supplier needs to have capacity to trade large volumes and achieve Value For Money for the whole Scottish public sector.

All of these aspects have been set out as well as the options of Power Purchase Agreements and the mechanism for local authorities to approach the Supplier to sell the power which has been self-generated.

The Scottish Government has provided Scottish Agritourism with £60k funding in 2024-2025 to support with preparations for Scotland hosting the 2026 World Agritourism Conference.

There are 107 entries in the pilot phase of the Cladding Remediation Programme. Entries in the pilot can comprise a single block or building, or a development, or part of a development consisting of multiple blocks or buildings.

Only a Single Building Assessment meeting the Scottish Standards can identify what cladding if any, a building has and further identify whether the cladding is unsafe.

Developers, homeowners or other organisations could have commissioned assessments without informing the Scottish Government. Therefore, the true number may be higher and could increase as further information becomes available.

The Scottish Government Procurement and Property Directorate (SPPD) conduct all procurements in accordance with the requirements of procurement law which requires that we treat all providers equally and without discrimination. National Statutory, Policy and Best Practice guidance is available to support buyers across the public sector on delivering against our ambitions, along with a range of point-of-use tools, support and training for buyers and suppliers.

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 includes a Sustainable Procurement Duty which requires all public sector procurers to consider how their procurement process can:

“Facilitate the involvement of small and medium sized enterprises, third sector bodies and supported businesses in the procurement process” (Section 9(1)(a)(ii) of the Act)

To support the procurement officers with making decisions about the best approach to market, the Scottish Government provide a suite of Sustainable Procurement tools which ensure that appropriate consideration is given at strategy stage to the nature of the requirement, the complexity of the market and the volumes which require to be delivered to identify the best strategy and approach.

The outcome of this test is considered by the team and informs the strategy which is then presented to a cross sectoral User Intelligence Group (UIG), consisting of procurement and technical staff from across the public sector. For the provision of the national electricity framework, the UIG agreed with the SPPD recommendation that a single supplier framework would deliver best value, taking into account the requirement for competitive pricing and guaranteed security of supply.

The framework terms and conditions have a mechanism for local authorities to approach EDF to sell electricity which they have generated. The Framework also has included the option of Power Purchase Agreements.

The terms and conditions state that for the Supply of Electricity from a self-generating source the Supplier shall enter into a Power Purchase Agreement with such Scottish Public Sector Body on normal commercial terms. Such purchase shall stand entirely separate to the arrangements under the Framework and the Supplier shall not be under any obligation to sleeve the electrical output of such Public Body’s facility into the supply of electricity under the framework.

The Supply of Electricity agreement has also included the options of 6 different Power Purchase Agreement variations as part of the Statement of Requirements and the Terms and Conditions.

Inclusion of these terms within the structure of the Framework Agreements ensures that our procurement of Electricity is conducted in a fair and proportionate manner.

Within the National Electricity Supply Framework no power is procured from community – owned energy providers.

The framework has been set up to supply electricity to all of the Scottish Public sector. The supplier on the framework is required to purchase power on the futures market through a risk managed hedging strategy. The strategy is owned by a Risk Management Committee who represent all of the main Public Sector bodies.

The framework supplier needs to ensure it has the capacity to secure forward purchases on behalf of all framework customers. The supplier also needs to account manage each individual customer organisation including billing, invoicing, meter reading queries, complaints, energy efficiency queries, and social value programmes within the framework. As well as managing the consumption for over 30,000 meters for electricity that are part of the portfolio. Therefore, the supplier needs to have capacity to trade large volumes and achieve Value For Money for the whole Scottish public sector.

There is no mandate for (a) local authorities or (b) other public sector organisations that are generating power, to sell that power to Scottish Government or the appointed contractor under the National Electricity Framework.

Ofgem administer a Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) scheme where renewable electricity can be fed into the grid. Customers can apply for a SEG tariff, where their generating system meets the SEG eligibility requirements.

EDF (the current framework supplier for electricity) have a SEG licence to facilitate this service.

This or any other arrangement a local authority or public sector organisation puts in place to sell power and find the best price in the open market, is outside the terms and conditions of the electricity framework. However, a local authority or public sector organisation can have an export arrangement in place and remain part of the wider portfolio.

It is not practical to estimate the behavioural response of businesses to any change in the Higher Property Rate that may arise from restoring parity with the English Standard Multiplier in order to assess the economic impact robustly.

It is however possible to assess the financial impact of changes in liability for an individual business. The median rateable value for properties liable to pay the Higher Property Rate in Scotland is £191,000. The additional gross non-domestic rates liability for a property with that rateable value in Scotland in 2024-25 is £2,483.

Children and young people are not taught about their own gender identity in Scottish schools. That is a personal matter for any individual and, in the case of young people, their family.

Relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education is an integral part of the health and wellbeing area of the school curriculum in Scotland. Learning and teaching focusses on equipping children and young people with the knowledge, skills and values to make informed and positive choices about forming relationships. This aspect of the curriculum is intended to enable children and young people to build positive relationships as they grow older. Relationships, sexual health and parenthood education has been in place since 2010, the same year Curriculum for Excellence was implemented.

Following the UK Chancellor's July statement, the Scottish Government continues to face the most challenging financial situation since devolution.

Whilst any reduction is regrettable, we remain committed to taking forward our work across mental health, working closely with key partners. Our collective focus has to be on making as much difference as possible with our funding.

We continually monitor both CAMHS and Psychological therapies (PT) waiting times performance and directly engage with all 14 territorial NHS Boards. The latest CAMHS and PT waiting times statistics published on 3 September 2024 show positive signs of improvement. However, we are not complacent and continue to direct enhanced support to those NHS Boards with the longest waits.

A number of public health campaigns will continue to run. Public Health Scotland will continue to undertake targeted communications work for vaccine programmes, including Winter Flu, to ensure those who are eligible for vaccinations are aware and encouraged to take them up. The Scottish Government’s Detect Cancer Early and Dementia campaigns are currently running and a number of public health topics continue to be supported by social media, public relations and partner marketing, which is delivered directly by the Scottish Government Communications Directorate.