Chamber and committees

The Green Jobs Fund was created to support new and increased opportunities for green job creation across Scotland, by providing up to £100 million capital investment over a five year term.

Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise are working to deliver £50 million to businesses which provide sustainable or low carbon products and services to help them develop, grow and create jobs. Up to a further £50 million is aimed at supporting businesses and their supply chains create and safeguard jobs by investing in equipment, premises, research and development.

While public sector budgets are now under extreme pressure, the Scottish Government continues to invest in supporting existing businesses to transition to a low carbon environment and looking to fund new and innovative projects, which will take time to develop and deliver, and could result in more funding being required over the latter part of the five year term, as these newer markets grow and mature.

The breakdown of the Green Jobs Fund includes actual payments made in financial years 2021-22, 2022-23 and a mix of actual and forecast payments for the 2023-24 financial year, which will be confirmed at the end of this financial year.

More than 100 projects have received support from the Green Jobs Fund.

Jobs created through the Green Jobs Fund are categorised as green jobs if they meet certain criteria including being defined as:

• Jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources.
• Jobs in which workers’ duties involve making their establishment’s production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources.

118 projects have been forecast to create up to 6,956 green jobs.

During 2020, Scottish Ministers announced their intention to administer a separate fund to the UK Government's Industrial Energy Transformation Fund and that more funds would be available for Scottish Industries than received as Barnett consequentials. We are in the process of concluding the due diligence process for SIETF applications and in the coming weeks intend to announce a further set of projects. Following this, we will engage with industrial representatives regarding potential proposals for future decarbonisation initiatives, including the possibility of a next phase for SIETF.

There are currently 5 Cabinet Sub-Committees in operation, the titles and membership of which are set out in the following table.

There are currently 21 ministerial working groups that fall under the remit of the Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio. In addition, portfolio Ministers sit on a number of ministerial working groups which are led by other Scottish Government portfolios.

Ministerial working groups that are headed by the Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio remit are as follows:

FM Environment Council

National Strategy for 20mph Working Group

National Litter and Flytipping Forum

Storm Babet Ministerial Taskforce

National Strategy for Economic Trans Private Investment in Natural Capital Working Group

Deposit Return Scheme Ministerial Strategic Assurance Group

National Transport Strategy Delivery Board

National Transport Strategy Business Group

Orkney Ferry Replacement Task Force

Shetland Ferry Replacement Task Force

A83 Taskforce Group

LEZ Leadership Group

SEFARI Gateway Waste Emissions Specialist Advisory Group

Environment and Economy Leaders' Group (EELG)

Cleaner Air for Scotland 2: Ministerial Group

Peatland Expert Advisory Group

Green Heat Finance Taskforce

Sustainable Aviation Fuel Ministerial Group

Climate Change Plan Advisory Group

Scottish Aquaculture Council

Hydro Nation Forum

The 2024-25 draft Scottish Budget document, published on 19 December, set out a budget of £130.1m for community eyecare services. This increase in the budget provision supports national provision of free universal NHS eye examinations, NHS optical vouchers for eligible persons to help with the cost of glasses and contact lenses, and new NHS services such as the Community Glaucoma Service which will enable patients to be seen closer to home.

The Scottish Government can confirm that patients in Edinburgh and the Lothians will continue to benefit as recipients of these national policies.

I receive regular performance delivery updates on the three Policy Prospectus missions of equality, opportunity and community. I also engage regularly with Cabinet Secretaries to support strong collaboration across portfolios and budgets and enable effective delivery of Mandate Letter commitments. These arrangements are routinely reviewed and improved where appropriate.

I refer to my answer to question S6W-24369 on 18 January 2024. The suitability of any closure of the sandeel fishery in Scottish waters as a compensatory measure for potential impacts from offshore wind farms will be considered by Scottish Ministers if and when such a case for compensation may be required and according to the merits of that specific case.

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 .

There are 21 Ministerial Working Groups that fall under the remit of the Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy Portfolio which are currently in operation. They are:

1. Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) Ministerial Forum

2. Community Wealth Building (CWB) Bill steering Group

3. Construction Leadership Forum

4. Fair Work Oversight Group

5. Financial Services Growth & Development Board (FISGAD)

6. Grangemouth Future Industry Board

7. Hydrogen Industry Forum

8. Industry Leadership Group Chairs Roundtable (ILG CRT)

9. Manufacturing Strategic Leadership Group

10. National Strategy for Economic Transformation Delivery Board

11. New Deal for Business Group (NDBG)

12. Non-domestic energy consumers working group

13. Oil and Gas and Energy Transition Short Life Working Group

14. Onshore Wind Strategic Leadership Group

15. Retail Industry Leadership Group [please note this group is economy related but chaired by the Minister for Local Government Empowerment and Planning]

16. Rural energy consumers working group

17. SEAB: the Scottish Energy Advisory Board

18. Tourism & Hospitality Industry Leadership Group

19. Trade Board

20. Vulnerable energy consumers working group

21. Wellbeing Economy Expert Advisory Group (WEEAG)

Please note these groups will be kept under review.