Chamber and committees

Since its establishment in 2022, the Scottish Government has allocated Just Transition Fund support to the North East and Moray as follows:

• 2022 - 2023: £10 million
• 2023 - 2024: £50 million
• 2024 - 2025: £12.172 million
• 2025 - 2026: £15.9 million

The Green Jobs Fund supported businesses and their supply chains to help them better transition to a low carbon economy. The support provided by the fund, all of which was capital, aimed to create green employment through investment in equipment, premises, and research and development.

Since its creation, the Green Jobs Fund has provided £38.7 million in grant funding to support 122 projects. Figures provided by the recipients of these awards estimated that these projects will support up to 7354 jobs over the life of the individual projects.

The Green Jobs Fund was discontinued in financial year 2023-24. It formed a relatively small part of the Scottish Government’s broader investment in the transition to net zero. This includes many institutions, funding packages and investment vehicles which provide advice, support, and financial assistance for businesses at the forefront to building Scotland’s green economy.

The Green Industrial Strategy provides further strategic direction on how such investment supports the development, growth and scale-up of existing and new businesses seeking to take advantage of the global opportunities of the transition.

Figures provided by the recipients of the Green Jobs Fund awards estimated that the projects will support up to 7354 jobs over the life of the individual projects.

The Green Jobs Fund has provided £38.7 million in grant funding.

The Right to Buy (RTB) policy pre-dates the Scottish Parliament. The Tenants’ Rights, Etc. (Scotland) Act 1980 introduced the RTB for tenants of local authorities, New Town Development Corporations, the Scottish Special Housing Association and Housing co-operatives to buy their homes at a discount depending on how long they had lived in the property. Any original guidance would have been the responsibility of the UK Government.

The Scottish Government published the Right to Buy Guidance Circular for social landlords in 2011: Right to Buy Guidance Circular A guide for social landlords - gov.scot

This covered changes to RTB as a consequence of the Housing (Scotland) 2010 Act and a comprehensive overview of the legislation relating to the RTB. The procedure in relation to RTB sales was covered by sections 63 to 68 of the 1987 Act and is also covered in the guidance.

A guide for social housing tenants, “your right to buy your home” was also published by the Scottish Government in 2011, and included information and advice for social tenants on buying the home and the costs involved in this. The guidance strongly recommended the purchaser to have a survey carried out on the condition of the home to make sure there are no structural problems as they will be responsible for repairs once they buy the property. Additionally, the guide confirms the owner’s responsibilities for the repair and maintenance costs of the property, after the home has been purchased, details of this are included in the conditions of sale.

Information on the criteria used to assess applications for the Housing Infrastructure Fund and how to apply can be found here: Housing Infrastructure Fund : guidance for applications - gov.scot

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36648 on 29 April 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 Scottish Government notes the emergency composite motion from the Scottish Trades Union Congress.

The motion calls for updates to be made to the Equality Act 2010 with respect to the protected characteristic groups as defined in the 2010 Act. As the Equality Act 2010 is a mainly reserved piece of legislation any updates to protected characteristics under the Act would have to be brought forward by the UK Government.

The Scottish Government believes in equality and fairness for all. Our 2025-26 Programme for Government includes a commitment to create safe spaces for the LGBTQI+ community - funding work that tackles discrimination and upholds the human rights of this group, including through the Equality and Human Rights Fund, and progressing actions within the Non-Binary Equality Action Plan.

The Scottish Government is considering carefully the implications of the UK Supreme Court judgment. In taking any steps to implement the judgment, we will do so in a manner that is consistent with our human rights obligations, including those under the Human Rights Act 1998. In our updates to public bodies, we have highlighted the importance of compliance with legal obligations.

The Scottish Government’s human rights due diligence guidance sets out recommendations on how we, our executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies should undertake due diligence on an individual or company’s human rights record before entering into an investment relationship.

It is for the accountable officer of each agency and non-departmental public body to ensure that their organisation complies with guidance issued by Scottish Ministers.

Scottish Enterprise is progressing in its work on its review and the Scottish Government continues to stay in close contact with Scottish Enterprise on this. I will update Parliament and wider stakeholders once the review has concluded.