Chamber and committees

I wrote to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on 13 September 2024 to give the Scottish Government’s response to the latest progress update on the delivery of MV Glen Sannox.

Since then, liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel has been successfully loaded on to MV Glen Sannox and sea trails to test those systems commenced on 20 September. Work on the vessel will continue in the coming weeks, with a further set of sea trials planned for the end of September.

The Scottish Government maintains regular and ongoing communication with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on shared priorities. The Scottish Government and UKHSA do this through formal meetings, working groups, and collaborative efforts on public health issues such as disease surveillance, pandemic preparedness, emerging health threats and emergency response. UKHSA also provides expert advice and support to Public Health Scotland and other relevant bodies to ensure a coordinated approach to health security across the UK.

This collaboration plays a vital role in ensuring robust public health surveillance, managing health risks effectively and protecting Scotland’s population.

Scotland’s River Basin Management Plans 2021-2027 (RBMP) set out a range of actions aiming to improve the overall condition of Scotland’s water environment by 2027.

The Scottish Government invested almost £5m last year in the Water Environment Fund, a key element of the RBMP. Work continues this year providing access to rivers for migratory fish and restoring urban rivers providing benefits for biodiversity, climate change adaptation and flood management.

The most up to date RBMP classification information is available at the water classification hub.

The responsibility for development and delivery of flood protection schemes rests with individual local authorities, who are best placed to respond to local resilience needs.

The Scottish Government provides funding to local authorities to enable delivery of these important projects. £570million will be invested in flood resilience in the period 2016-2026. 40 of 42 have received funding to support development. 2 are not eligible because they have previously received funding.

15 of the cycle 1 flood schemes have now been completed. The status of those that remain is as follows:

The Scottish Hospitals Inquiry is a public inquiry established in accordance with the Inquiries Act 2005 and is entirely independent of the Scottish Government. It would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government or Ministers to comment on the Inquiry’s proceedings while the Inquiry is ongoing.

Bullying and harassment is unacceptable in any circumstance. We expect all staff, regardless of position, to act in line with the values and behaviours expected of everyone in NHSScotland.

Staff must be confident in raising any concerns they may have, and when they do, that these concerns are fully investigated. The NHSScotland Bullying and Harassment Workforce Policy provides a supportive environment for employees seeking an early resolution to bullying or harassment concerns. It is also a formal mechanism to address unresolved, significant or persistent bullying or harassment, or both.

We emphasised the importance of good workplace cultures with the publication of Improving Wellbeing and Working Cultures (IWWC) in July 2024. IWWC sets out our ambition to enhance working cultures across our health, social work and social care workforce, through programmes of work at a national level that focus on the pillars of: wellbeing, leadership and equality.

The Offshore Energy Skills Passport is an initiative led and driven by industry.

The most recent statement from the key industry delivery bodies, Renewable UK and Offshore Energies UK, indicates that an initial version of the Passport will be available for workers to access later this year.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting the Passport’s successful implementation. Ministers last met with Renewable UK and Offshore Energies UK to receive updates on progress on 10 September 2024.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-29845 on 24 September 2024. 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.

Following his appointment as First Minister, Humza Yousaf met with James Hamilton on 27 July 2023 and with Lady Dame Elish Angliolini on 2 August 2023. Scottish Government officials have also engaged with the First Minister's independent advisers on a number of occasions in the course of routine business, including to consult them on the 2023 edition of the Code prior to its publication.

The Energy Saving Trust (EST), on behalf of the Scottish Government, publishes the annual Community and Locally Owned Energy in Scotland (COLO) Report.

This reports against six specific ownership categories (Farm & Estate, Local Authority, Local Business, Community, Housing Association, and Public Sector and Charity) with ownership then broken down by technology and distribution by local authority area. This last category groups public sector and charity organisations together as they are commonly considered not for profit organisations.

The latest report states that, as of December 2023, there are 92 MW of operational capacity across 12,110 installations in the Public Sector and Charity category, across a range of technologies.

As confirmed in the Programme for Government, we will shortly publish the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan to support Scotland’s just transition to a green economy.

Scottish Government capital investment is primarily focussed on the demand sectors of heat, transport and industry.

In support of the delivery of our energy ambitions this financial year (2024-2025) we have allocated:

• over £145 million for active travel, in addition to the over £2 billion we invest in public transport annually.
• £266 million budget for Heat in Buildings.
• £12.2 million for hydrogen projects.
• £9 million to Scotland’s manufacturing industries through the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund.
• £2 million to support the Acorn Carbon transport and storage project.
• Our Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray continues to support a range of pioneering projects with an allocation of £16.4 million

Funding for future years will be subject to annual budget allocations.