Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01172 on 10 July 2026. 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 is committed to accelerating the growth of Scotland’s offshore wind sector, and to maximising the economic opportunity from the transition to net zero, including through delivery of the Sectoral Marine Plan (SMP) and establishment of a Scottish Marine Recovery Fund (MRF).

The Scottish Government engages regularly with the UK Government and the National Energy System Operator on development of the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) through formal governance groups and bilateral meetings. Through that engagement the Scottish Government is continuing to press for Scotland’s offshore wind potential being fully reflected in the future SSEP.

The Scottish Government, together with the UK Government and Welsh Government, has commissioned the National Energy System Operator (NESO) to produce a Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP). The SSEP is a whole system spatial plan for Great Britain’s future energy infrastructure and is due to be published for consultation next year.

As I set out in my previous response, the UK Government did not provide a detailed policy design or a full assessment of the potential impacts of zonal pricing on consumers, communities and businesses in Scotland.

We engaged with a broad range of stakeholders and noted that the available evidence on the impact of introducing zonal pricing was mixed. Some organisations highlighted the potential for zonal pricing to reduce electricity costs in parts of Scotland – but this would not materialise for another 10 years. Renewable energy developers and wider industry stakeholders raised significant concerns about the potential impact on investor confidence and associated risk premium which could erode any benefit.

Given these competing considerations, and the absence of a clear, evidence-based policy framework from the UK Government, the Scottish Government has not adopted a formal position either in support of or against the introduction of zonal pricing. Rather the Scottish Government calls on the UK Government to take immediate action to reduce the high cost of energy bills today – for example through introducing a social tariff.

The responses provided to previous questions reflect this position and are in line with the commitment in the Scottish Ministerial Code to be as open as possible with Parliament, setting out both the limits of the available evidence and the basis on which the Scottish Government has engaged on this issue.

The Just Transition Fund does not have a single set of programme-wide KPIs. Instead, each funded project has its own agreed targets and milestones, which are monitored through quarterly, annual and final reporting.

The Fund's overarching outcomes are:

• Jobs, skills and economic opportunities;
• Communities and places;
• People and equity; and
• Environment, biodiversity and adaptation.

The Scottish Government expects the Fund to continue contributing to all four outcomes during the remainder of the current parliamentary session. £83.5 million has been allocated to 28 projects since 2022, with a further £17 million due to be allocated this year. A fresh evaluation of the impact of the Fund will be undertaken this year to get a more comprehensive picture of impact.

Just one project supported by the Just Transition Fund, the ETZ Supply Chain Challenge Fund, has generated 267 jobs and leveraged £17 million in private investment in four years, with further benefits expected as projects continue to be delivered.

The Marine Directorate’s Licensing Operations Team (MD-LOT) and NatureScot have worked hard to plan for an increase in offshore wind applications for some time. Scottish Government resource requirements continue to be monitored, with staff deployed flexibly to help process applications as expeditiously as possible. Best efforts are made to meet a determination timeline of 12 months from initial application, noting that more complex applications may take longer. However, where additional information is required this will impact determination timelines.

In April 2026 Nature Scot implemented a new charging model to enable full cost recovery associated with providing advice to MD-LOT and developers. These approaches have helped ensure timescales do not present unnecessary barriers to projects seeking to participate in Contract for Difference Allocation Rounds.

The Scottish Government commissioned an independent evaluation of the first two years (2022-2024) of the Just Transition Fund (JTF), which was published in 2025. This assessed the economic, social and environmental impacts of the JTF through a combination of interviews with project leads, an online survey and a review of project reports. We intend to undertake a fresh evaluation of the project impacts over the course of the last Parliament, which covers the first four years of the Fund, and this will include evidence-based figures on the number of jobs created and safeguarded as a direct result of the Fund.

Approximately £9.7 million from the first round of the Just Transition Fund was allocated to skills interventions aimed at supporting workforce transferability and the transition, including the Energy Skills Passport and Energy Transition Skills Hub.

The Passport is an industry led project and for the most recent data on uptake we recommend contacting Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) and Renewable UK (RUK) directly. The latest information available to Scottish Government regarding uptake, which covers the period from launch in January 2025 to March 2026, is that over 650 user profiles have been set up on the Passport’s digital system. The Hub represents a major investment in Scotland’s green energy workforce, aiming to support 1,000 people into energy transition roles over its first five years.

The Just Transition Fund is complemented by the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund (TTF). The Scottish and UK Governments have each committed £3 million to the TTF for 2026/27, which aims to support over 1,000 oil and gas workers with careers advice and funding for training to access opportunities in sustainable energy and other growth sectors.

The Scottish Government has set out clear objectives for the Just Transition Fund – to support the North East and Moray in transitioning to a net zero economy and mitigate the economic and social challenges associated with reducing dependence on carbon-intensive industries. These objectives are reflected in the criteria for the Fund this year which are; jobs, skills and economic opportunities; communities and place; people and equity; environment, biodiversity and adaptation.