Chamber and committees

I welcome the Just Transition Commission's annual report. It provides a robust assessment, whilst acknowledging the progress we have made on applying a just transition approach.

I appreciate the Commission's calls for urgency and reiterate our commitment to deliver a just transition as part of achieving a fairer, greener, Scotland.

This is particularly important for areas such as Grangemouth, which has a long industrial heritage. Regarding the recent announcement at the Petroineos refinery, I have outlined that the Scottish Government is looking at every possible opportunity and avenue that there might be for extending the life of the refinery which plays an important role in preserving Scotland's fuel security. This would provide time and space for the business to fully explore and bring forward new transition opportunities across Grangemouth, helping to ensure jobs are protected.

We continue to work closely with the operator, the UK Government and our Grangemouth Future Industry Board partners to ensure all options are fully explored.

Fairness is critical in achieving a net-zero transition in Scotland. We must work with industry, workers and communities to combine our economic, social and environmental objectives. That is why we have also committed to developing a specific Just Transition plan for the Grangemouth industrial cluster, with a first draft due to be published in Spring of this year.

I have been meeting with housing convenors across the country to discuss the challenges they face in responding to homelessness and reducing the number of households in temporary accommodation. We are investing at least £60 million in 2023-24 in the national acquisition programme to help local authorities and registered social landlords acquire properties for use as high quality, affordable, permanent homes. We are also asking social landlords to maximise the use of existing homes and increase allocations to homeless households.

The Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) undertakes structured conversations with social landlords, working alongside them to support compliance. The SHR has highlighted actions councils can take to respond to the current challenges in homelessness and will continue to monitor, assess and report on councils’ performance in discharging their duties to people who are homeless. All local authorities should make best efforts to meet their statutory obligations and the SHR will engage with councils to promote improvement where this is possible.

The Scottish Government is absolutely determined to address levels of homelessness and improve the supply of social and affordable housing.

Subject to parliamentary approval, we will invest £556 million in affordable homes across Scotland next year and continue to work with partners to increase the delivery of more affordable homes, the majority of which will be for social rent, including supporting acquisitions of existing properties. We will also invest £35 million in specific action to prevent and end homelessness, in addition to homelessness funding provided through the local government settlement. Alongside those efforts, we will work with the financial community – both across Scotland and beyond – to attract private sector investment into Scotland and help deliver more homes.

The Scottish Government is committed to a just transition to net-zero by 2045 in which no-one is left behind. Engagement with business to develop and implement policies is key to delivery of that commitment and is an extensive cross-government effort which is undertaken on both a case by case basis, and structurally across government. For example of the latter, the First Minister Co-Chairs the Investor Panel which covers just transition and net zero; the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands Co-Chairs the Agricultural Reform Implementation Oversight Board; the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy Co-Chairs the New Deal for Business Group.

We are also engaging widely on the development of our Just Transition Plans, including with businesses and their representative organisations. A dedicated series of engagement on Sectoral Just Transition Plans for the Built Environment and Construction, Transport, and Land Use and Agriculture was undertaken with SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) in summer 2023.

In 2024 we will be continue our engagement on development of our new Adaptation Programme and new Climate Change Plan and a new Green Industrial Strategy will help businesses realise the enormous economic opportunities of the global transition to net zero.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) provides a snapshot of the domestic housing stock in each survey year, including the construction age, built form and energy efficiency, as well as estimates of fuel poverty.

As the 2020 SHCS was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic and results from the 2021 External+ SHCS were published as experimental statistics the 2019 SHCS provides the most recent official statistics on fuel poverty.

Due to the increases in global energy prices in 2022 and 2023 and the lack of recent data on fuel poverty from the SHCS, we have produced scenario modelling of fuel poverty rates This is based on uprating modelled fuel bills from the 2019 SHCS in line with more recent energy prices and accounting for the other support available to households. We estimate that from January 2024, with the price cap for the typical dual-fuel household paying by direct debit at £1,928, and including the impact of the Cost of living payments [1] , that around 840,000 (34%) households in Scotland will be in fuel poverty. Of this around 570,000 (23%) will be in extreme fuel poverty.

Table 1: Estimated number of households in fuel poverty January 2024 to March 2024

The NUS report raises significant issues and no student should find themselves without somewhere to live. While the Scottish Government has no direct role in provision of student residential accommodation we are determined to work with partners to improve accessibility, affordability and standards in this area. Ministers have now considered the recommendations from the review of purpose built student accommodation and will make an announcement in the New Year.

In addition we are taking action to help students and have confirmed an uplift of £2,400 to the main undergraduate support package for the academic year 2024-25. This follows the £900 uplift applied to the package this academic year.

Students are also able to apply directly to their college or university for Discretionary Funding should they be experiencing financial hardship.

We want to put fair work principles at the heart of the retail sector. This is a key theme of the Retail Strategy, and the ongoing work of the Fair Work Working Group.

Were employment powers devolved, we could do more to protect and enhance workers’ rights, tackle poverty and increase fairness through legislation. In the absence of these powers we are committed to promoting a fair work strategy produced in collaboration with the retail sector and trade unions.

I would like to reiterate what my predecessor, Tom Arthur, stated on this matter and affirm that the Scottish Government is receptive to any suggestions for non-legislative routes that could be explored. We would be willing to consider any proposal from USDAW that could progress this endeavour.

The Scottish Government deeply values ongoing collaboration with USDAW and we view our continued engagement through the Retail Industrial Leadership Group and Fair Work Working Group as essential in ensuring we reach our ambition for fair work to drive success, wellbeing and prosperity for individuals, businesses, organisations and society.

The Scottish Government remains committed to being a responsible global citizen. As announced by the First Minister at COP28, the Scottish Government and Kids Operating Room have partnered to establish a reliable, safe and clean power supply to paediatric operating rooms in our partner countries of Malawi, Rwanda, and Zambia. This £324,900 investment will fund solar energy systems for 15 operating rooms across 13 hospitals, helping an estimated 27,000 children receive urgent surgery over the next three years.

Across their work, Kids Operating Room are working to strengthen sustainable surgical capacity and build stronger healthcare systems. To do this in a truly sustainable way the organisation seeks to work closely with partners, putting in place locally driven maintenance programmes. This works to ensure hospitals not only have the tools but also the right skills and knowledge to provide safe and quality care for children.

Each KidsOR Operating Room is equipped with over 3,300 pieces of specialist equipment. Much of this equipment is more complex than those typically found in low-resource settings. When this equipment is installed onsite KidsOR biomedical engineers train the surgical and hospital biomedical teams on how to use specific items of equipment. This user training is vitally important to providing safe, timely surgery.

Kids Operating Room also provide funding to the East and West African College of Surgeon's e-learning hub and provide sponsorship for individual scholarships - all with the aim of enhancing the skills of the workforce.

In parallel to this wider package of support, as part of the specific investment you reference, KidsOR biomedical engineers will visit each partner hospital and provide staff training on how to best utilise these new solar energy systems.

As part of the national strategy for 20 mph the Scottish Government is developing communication plans for pre and post implementation of 20 mph speed limits. Research is being carried out to identify the most effective approach to promote benefits and encourage behaviour change.

Evidence has shown that early communications aids a wider acceptance and smoother implementation.

Scotland now has the highest number of designated Bathing Water sites ever, with the vast majority classified as good or excellent and 98% overall achieving the bathing water quality standards.

Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS) published its Designation of Bathing Water Sites in Scotland Summary Report on 4 December. This the summary report and will be followed by the publication of a full report providing additional details on the background, information reviewed, ESS assessments, and the outcomes achieved.

ESS concluded in the report that that the Scottish Government’s approach to interpreting a large number of bathers in designating new bathing water sites had not affected Scotland’s performance, in comparison with other parts of the UK. They also made a small number of recommendations on minor improvements to the application form and guidance. Action to address these recommendations is underway.

Fair work means secure employment with fair pay and conditions, where workers are heard and represented, treated with respect and have opportunities to progress.

Our vision, shared with the Fair Work Convention, is for Scotland to be a leading Fair Work Nation by 2025, where fair work drives success, wellbeing and prosperity for individuals, businesses, organisations and society. We deeply value the ongoing collaboration with USDAW and their stakeholders, and we view our continued engagement through the Retail Industrial Leadership Group and Fair Work Working Group as essential in ensuring we reach our ambition for fair work.

While employment law remains reserved to the UK Government, we will use our Fair Work policy to promote fairer work practices across the labour market in Scotland.