Chamber and committees

Today the Scottish Government will publish its Hydrogen Policy Statement and the report of the Scottish Hydrogen Assessment. The Policy Statement can be accessed at https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781800045033

The Hydrogen Policy Statement sets out our support for the strategic growth of a strong hydrogen economy in Scotland. In the Statement, we commit to making hydrogen a key element of Scotland’s decarbonisation plans, setting out the potential roles for hydrogen in our energy transition and our ambitions and strategic priorities regarding the various applications of hydrogen in our energy system in light of our net zero commitments.

In the statement we commit to providing the supportive policy and regulatory environment required to enable Scotland to take a pioneering role in a growing global industry and support our vision for Scotland to become a leading Hydrogen Nation in the production of reliable, competitive, sustainable hydrogen.

We will describe our next steps in our hydrogen journey and set out how we will implement our hydrogen policies when we publish our Hydrogen Action Plan in 2021 which will be supported by £100 million investment to support its delivery over the next five years.

The Hydrogen Policy Statement is accompanied by the publication of three supporting research studies, the Scottish Hydrogen Assessment , Scottish Offshore Wind to Green Hydrogen Opportunity Assessment and a Deep Decarbonisation Pathways for Scottish Industries study , which form a robust evidence base on Hydrogen that informed the development of the Policy Statement.

I am pleased to inform Stewart Stevenson and other MSPs that I have today published a high level Statement of Intent on biodiversity, which is available on the Scottish Government website at the following address: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781800044708 .

I am pleased to advise Parliament that the North lot contract of the Reaching 100% (R100) programme was signed on 11 December, successfully concluding the procurement process and meeting our commitment to do so before the end of this calendar year.

Through this contract, the Scottish Government is investing £384 million as part of our commitment to give every home and business across Scotland access to superfast broadband. BT plc has been contracted to deliver all of the R100 contracts. The North lot contract will ensure that some of Scotland’s most remote rural and island communities will now benefit from superfast broadband.

Over 80% of the North lot contract build will be delivered utilising fibre-to-the-premises or FTTP technology, capable of providing gigabit speeds – over 30 times faster than our superfast commitment. It will involve the laying of 16 new subsea cables, ensuring there are subsea connections in all of our island local authorities providing resilient, future proofed, gigabit-capable connectivity.

As was the case with the Central and South lot contracts, following contract signature, we will issue BT with an updated intervention area taking into account changes in commercial roll-out plans. Openreach will, however, commence survey work in the North lot area early in the New Year while the remodelling work is finalised. Our online checker will be updated to reflect these roll-out plans in due course.

I can confirm that I have laid a report in Parliament today that provides an update on the actions that the Scottish Government is taking to reach our renewable heat target. The report is now available on the Scottish Government website (at https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781800042070 )

Renewable heat generated in Scotland in 2019 was equivalent to 6.5% of non-electrical fuels consumed for heat. This represents a 5% increase in the quantity of useful renewable heat generated since 2018. Renewable heat capacity increased by 1%.

The growth in renewable heat has been challenging over recent years, and this has been accompanied by outturn data on higher than anticipated demand that indicate that around a third more non-electrical fuel is consumed for heat than had been anticipated in 2009, when the target was set.

The impact of the delay in introducing tariff guarantees for the Renewable Heat Incentive, resulted in uncertainties for businesses in Scotland and delays to investment in new capacity. However, the Scottish Government recognises the need to enhance our own support to investment in this area and we are committed to scaling up and accelerating the deployment of renewable heat; we are re-assessing our approach based on our now more ambitious climate targets, the imperative of a green recovery and lessons from the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).

Over recent months we have launched a number of new funding invitations including a new £20 million Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund; a further £50 million Green Recovery Low Carbon Energy Project Funding invitation to support, among other things, projects that demonstrate innovative low carbon heat solutions for buildings; and I am very pleased to announce that today applications open for a new
‎ £4.0 million cashback scheme which will support SMEs in installing renewable heating systems and improving energy efficiency of their premises. SMEs will be able to apply for cashback of up to £10,000 towards the cost of renewable heating systems and a further £10,000 towards energy efficiency measures.

As set out in the Programme for Government over the next Parliament we will invest nearly £1.6 billion in transforming our buildings to ensure that emissions from heating are eliminated by 2040 to remove poor energy efficiency as a driver of fuel poverty.

We will shortly issue a consultation on regulations to ensure that new homes consented from 2024 use renewable or low carbon heat. In addition we are convening an expert group to make recommendations on the scope of a potential heat pump sector deal for Scotland.

In December we will publish a draft Heat in Buildings Strategy setting out our strategy for reducing emissions from heating our buildings, including an updated renewable heat target.

In addition to the report I laid today, the Energy Savings Trust have published the report Renewable Heat in Scotland 2019 , which provides further insight into these figures. The Energy Savings Trust report is now available at https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/report/renewable-heat-in-scotland-2019/

Last year, extensive engagement was held with a wide range of stakeholders to discuss key principles and matters which would inform the development of a Future Fisheries Management Strategy. We received 120 written responses to the discussion paper, and ran a series of successful events across Scotland in order to properly engage stakeholders in the process.

It had been the intention to publish the outcomes of those discussions and the Scottish Government’s response last autumn.

Due to the uncertainties relating to Brexit and the need for Scottish Government officials to engage fully with those processes, including the UK Fisheries bill. and then the COVID-19 pandemic impacting on available resource in Marine Scotland which was diverted to supporting the fishing and seafood industry through the crisis, this timetable was unavoidably delayed.

However, today I am able to publish that Outcome report and also the Scottish Government’s response. Both are available on the Scottish Government website at:

• Future Fisheries Management - Scottish Government response to stakeholder input into the national discussion paper – https://www.gov.scot/ISBN/978-1-80004-121-9
• Future Fisheries Management Discussion Paper - Outcome Report – https://www.gov.scot/ISBN/978-1-80004-120-2

The response also sets out our broad intent and priorities for future policy development. The next step will be to publish a Future Fisheries Management Strategy later this year, informed by the views and information received during last year’s discussions.

Our vision for the Strategy is to establish world leading, sustainable fisheries management in Scotland, with inclusive economic growth at its heart which benefits coastal communities.

I want to thank all those who responded to the discussion paper and would like to encourage all those with an interest in Scotland’s fisheries to continue to engage with us in delivering our vision.