Chamber and committees

Reported claims of document falsification are entirely unfounded. We are committed to processing the appeal in a fair, transparent, and lawful manner. Baseless speculation to the contrary is unhelpful and damages public trust in the planning system.

While there are currently no dedicated programmes specifically for workers displaced by AI, the Scottish Government is taking steps to support individuals through broader digital and AI literacy initiatives.

Programmes such as Living with AI aim to help people understand and adapt to the changing technological landscape. In addition, we are working with Skills Development Scotland and other partners to address AI-related skills gaps and support workforce transition.

We also fund postgraduate programmes and industry placements through The Data Lab, helping to build a resilient and future-ready talent pipeline. Strengthening the AI skills base remains a key priority for Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is working closely with local authorities and enterprise agencies to explore opportunities for AI-related investment.

While certain aspects of economic zoning and investment policy may intersect with reserved matters, the planning, infrastructure, and economic development components are largely devolved responsibilities.

We remain committed to ensuring that Scotland is an attractive location for AI investment and data infrastructure, and will continue to work with partners to assess the feasibility and benefits of such zones.

The licensing regime for offshore oil and gas is a matter currently reserved to the UK Government, with the North Sea Transition Authority as its regulator.

The Scottish Government is clear in our support for a just transition for Scotland’s valued oil and gas sector, which recognises the maturity of the North Sea basin and is in line with our climate change commitments.

That is why we continue to call on the UK Government to approach decisions on the North Sea on a rigorously evidence-led, case by case, basis – with climate compatibility and energy security as key considerations.

Scottish Government Ministers and officials engage with both energy industry bodies and the North Sea Transition Authority on a regular basis.

The Scottish Government continues to monitor and consider a range of evidence in relation to the energy sector.

As part of this approach, we commissioned and published independent analysis on Scotland’s Energy System and Just Transition found here: Publication of the outputs from a programme of work to better understand our energy requirements as we transition to net zero - Energy system and Just Transition: independent analysis - gov.scot. This analysis considers the economic impact of Scotland’s oil and gas industry, including in terms of employment, during the transition to net zero. A partial final-report.pdf of the baseline data underpinning this analysis was published in April 2025.

Between 2020 and 2022, ten projects received funding from the Scottish Government’s Decommissioning Challenge Fund. The Fund, which ran from 2017 to 2022, supported infrastructure upgrades and innovation in salvage and transport methods at Scotland’s ports and harbours as well as supply chain projects that aimed to strengthen Scottish decommissioning capabilities and capacities.

Additional support to companies engaged in oil and gas decommissioning activities is provided through Scottish Enterprise.

This is an operational matter for Police Scotland whose recent successes working with agencies in Scotland, the UK and internationally are helping to deliver on Scotland’s Serious Organised Crime strategy.

Operations including UK-wide Operation Venetic have seen the removal of significant quantities of illegal drugs from our streets and have led to numerous arrests in Scotland as well as the seizure of firearms, ammunition and explosives.

Other work includes the Scottish Parliament’s agreement to a Legislative Consent Memorandum on 26 June 2025 extending to Scotland the measures in the UK Government’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill which criminalise the supply or handling of items suspected for use in organised crime, including pill presses.

The Scottish Government has committed or already invested £87m in Grangemouth. This includes the newly established £25m Grangemouth Just Transition Fund which will support near term low carbon opportunities that have emerged following the conclusion of Project Willow. A table outlining the full breakdown of the £87m sum has been included in the following table.

The Scottish Government has met with trade unions regarding its policy position on nuclear energy.

We regularly meet representatives from the nuclear industry.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38932 on 22 July 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.