Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-30570

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many road traffic accidents have been recorded in the (a) Aberdeen City, (b) Aberdeenshire and (c) Angus Council area on trunk roads (i) in each of the last five calendar years and (ii) since January 2020.

The Scottish Government only holds personal injury accident information. It does not hold information relating to damage only accidents (i.e. not involving an injury).

There has been the following number of personal injury accidents recorded on trunk roads in Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Angus Council in the last 5 years:

Year (1 January – 31 December)	Aberdeen City	Aberdeenshire Council	Angus Council
2019	8	40	15
2020	4	27	9
2021	3	38	18
2022	4	23	11
2023	6	31	10
*2024 (1/1/24 to 7/9/24)	2	15	10

* data available until 7 September 2024 (fatal accidents to 23 October 24).

Source: Transport Scotland Accident Manager Database

Notes:

Statistics for Police Scotland

Date Period: 1 January 2019 – 7 September 2024

Date Extracted – 24 October 2024

Please note that the personal injury accident information provided above is based on the current figures available. The following are potential reasons for an accident not appearing on our system:

Transport Scotland only holds accident information which is provided to us by Police Scotland. Transport Scotland does not hold information relating to damage only accidents (i.e. not involving an injury).
Transport Scotland only holds accident information for the trunk road network.
The accident information Transport Scotland holds is subject to change. E.g. we receive late returns from Police Scotland, who are responsible for recording details of injury accidents.
Annual Scottish accident figures are published by Transport Scotland on a yearly basis and can be found by entering Reported Road Casualties Scotland into your search engine.
From summer 2019, Police Scotland introduced a new system for recording traffic collisions. Due to improved recording and categorisation processes, it is expected that there will be an increase in the number of casualties and accidents on Scottish roads that are classified as serious.

Question reference: S6W-30562

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met (a) Aberdeen City and (b) Aberdeenshire Council to discuss road safety in the North East.

On 30 October I chaired the Road Safety Strategic Partnership Board. This meeting involved a range of operational partners, including Police Scotland and local authorities, to discuss measures aimed at enhancing road safety and progressing towards achieving our vision for Scotland, including the north east, to have the best road safety performance in the world by 2030.

One of my Transport Scotland officials recently attended the Aberdeenshire Road Safety Seminar on 10 October, with Police Scotland, local authorities, elected members and key stakeholders in attendance. Road safety at a national level and issues pertaining to the local road network, with a particular focus on the A90 and A952, were discussed.

Question reference: S6W-30560

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with Police Scotland to discuss road safety in the North East.

Question reference: S6W-30414

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 31 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the Energy Skills Partnership to discuss the coordination of skills initiatives across Scotland.

The Scottish Government engages frequently with the Energy Skills Partnership (ESP) to discuss their work supporting Scotland’s college sector. Skills officials last met with ESP directly in August 2024.

The Scottish Funding Council funds ESP to act as the college sector lead for the transition to net zero, supporting institutions in developing their capability, capacity and curriculum pathways. SFC are represented on the ESP Advisory Board and maintain regular contact with ESP.

Question reference: S6W-30416

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 31 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Scottish Renewables to discuss employment and training initiatives for the renewable energy sector.

The Scottish Government regularly meets with Scottish Renewables to discuss a wide range of matters related to the energy transition. The First Minister met Claire Mack, the Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, in August, and this meeting included discussion of skills, workforce and training in the renewables sector.

Following this, the Minister for Higher and Further Education and the Minister for Climate Action met Claire Mack, along with other partners, in September to discuss the needs of the energy sector.

Question reference: S6W-30415

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 31 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the Scottish Funding Council to discuss funding for energy skills initiatives.

Question reference: S6W-30417

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 28 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group to discuss employment and training initiatives for the renewable energy sector.

Question reference: S6W-30439

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 28 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many green jobs have been created directly as a result of Just Transition funding.

The Just Transition Fund has allocated £75 million to date, supporting a cross-sector portfolio of projects ranging across sectors like energy, agriculture, digital innovation and construction while also supporting communities across the North East and Moray to create jobs, support innovation, and secure the highly skilled workforce of the future.

This includes £9.7 million on a package of skills interventions supporting the transferability of workforce across sectors to meet the needs of the net zero transition including: a digital offshore energy skills passport; and an Energy Transition Skills Hub.

The Scottish Government does not currently hold overall figures relating to employment outcomes or job creation as a result of our funded programmes. We are currently commissioning an independent evaluation which will help to determine this and the impact of the Fund to date, in due course.

Question reference: S6W-30438

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 28 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many former oil and gas workers have transitioned to green jobs as a result of Just Transition funding.

The Scottish Government does not currently hold overall figures relating to employment outcomes or job creation as a result of our funded programmes. We are currently commissioning an independent evaluation which will help to determine this and the impact of the Fund to date, in due course.

Through the Just Transition Fund specifically, we have allocated £9.7 million for a package of skills interventions in the North East. We are currently commissioning an independent evaluation of the Fund’s impact to date which will include existing jobs supported and new jobs created. This work is due to complete by March end 2025.

This includes:

£4.5 million over 5 years for the Energy Skills Transition Hub – which aims to support 1000 people into energy transition roles.
£1 million for the National Energy Skills Accelerator to support a pilot scheme to better understand future energy skills needs and deliver workforce training.
funding for a feasibility study about net zero skills requirements and labour supply chain bottlenecks in Moray.
£3.7 million for the development of the Offshore Energy Skills Passport.

In addition, we are taking forward and supporting a wide range of sector-specific efforts, designed to help workers seize new opportunities, while ensuring that the sector does not lose essential skills and experience.

Question reference: S6W-30418

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 28 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Offshore Energies UK to discuss employment and training initiatives.

Scottish Government Ministers and officials regularly meet with industry stakeholders, including OEUK to discuss their ongoing employment and training initiatives. The First Minister and I met with David Whitehouse, CEO of OEUK on 30 September 2024. The Scottish Government is working with the energy sector to plan for a multi-skilled workforce to ensure a fair and just transition for Scotland’s highly skilled offshore workers.

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