Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19481 on 18 July 2023. 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19474 on 18 July 2023. 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19474 on 18 July 2023. 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

Now that the Bank is fully established, and has a growing portfolio of investments, work is underway to create the advisory group. The advisory group will provide advice to Scottish Ministers on the Bank’s objects, conduct and performance.

The Scottish Government is considering options for remit and membership.

Since April 2019, a range of Scottish Government funding has been made available to Local Government partners as the scope of delivery under No One Left Behind expands over time. This includes funding for the initial phase of No One Left Behind (April 2019), the Parental Employability Support Fund (February 2020) and the Young Person's Guarantee (November 2020).

The Scottish Government publishes summary information on Scotland's devolved employability services covering both Fair Start Scotland and No One Left Behind on a quarterly basis. Data for No One Left Behind is presented in its totality and not broken down by funding type. The most recent statistics published on 22 February 2023 covering the reporting period April 2020 to September 2022 show that 5,944 parents have started receiving support through No One Left Behind, 1,006 (17%) of whom are under the age of 25.

More information can be found at: Scotland's Devolved Employment Services: statistical summary February 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

As the answer of 20 June set out, the Scottish Government is committed to promoting positive outcomes for workers and their rights. The Scottish Government engages regularly with the UK Government at a variety of levels in order to advocate for these outcomes, and to raise concerns where we see workers’ rights being threatened. For example, I wrote to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade recently to raise concerns that elements of the UK Government’s proposed approach to retained EU legislation could undermine workers’ rights. Scottish Government ministers have also repeatedly raised objections to the Strikes (Minimum Services Level) Bill.

While labour market enforcement is a reserved matter, the Scottish Government will not hesitate to raise concerns with the UK Government where necessary.

The Mossmorran industrial complex plays an important role in the local economy for Fife, and I am keen to see that role, and the many well-paid jobs and skills preserved through a just transition to net-zero.

Given the novel nature of industrial just transition planning, it is appropriate that it is tested, evaluated and improvements considered, before applying it to other areas. We will conduct an evaluation of the Grangemouth Industrial Cluster Just Transition Plan once complete, considering what learnings could be adopted in future work.

Just Transition is a key aspect of the Scottish Government’s approach to net-zero, and accordingly, focused work on key major industrial sites will put the participation of – and meaningful engagement with – operators, workers and community at its core.

Industry has a lot to gain from the process of Just Transition, as such, we welcome innovation and commitment, by industry, in this area.

Once again, I welcome Mr Ruskell’s work and the recently commissioned report exploring Just Transition options for Mossmorran.

Scotland remains at the forefront of the global journey to reach net zero emissions and a climate resilient future. We are committed to a just transition to net-zero by 2045 and within this, decarbonisation of industry is ‘mission critical’.

It is clear that we cannot maintain the status quo if we want to reap the benefits that the transition to net zero holds.

The next Climate Change Plan will extend Scotland’s emissions reduction planning pathway to 2040 and include estimates of the costs and benefits of the policies to achieve this.

However, many of the key levers to bring about large-scale industrial emissions reductions are reserved to UK Government. For example, we remain bitterly disappointed that there is still no timetabled solution for when UK Government will confirm Track-2 of the Cluster Sequencing Programme, which adds further delay and impacts progress against our climate change commitments.

Ensuring a Just Transition to net-zero is equally important. As you will be aware, the Scottish Government is in the process of developing a Just Transition Plan for the Grangemouth Industrial Cluster and following its completion, we remain committed to evaluating that approach to understand what ways Just Transition planning can be adopted for other sites.

The pharmaceuticals sector plays a crucial role in the growth and development of the life sciences sector and as a result is a key contributor to the growth and development of the Scottish economy.

The manufacturing of pharmaceuticals sector is an important source of entrepreneurial activity, supporting GVA and employment throughout Scotland. The pharmaceuticals sector is a key driver of innovation and productivity in the economy with a GVA per head of employment of £200,700 in 2020, more than 3 times the Scottish average.

Scotland’s National Innovation Strategy was published on 6 June 2023 and it identifies a number of key areas where Scotland has a competitive advantage and a strong research and business base. Health & Life Sciences is one of these areas and one of four broad innovation themes on which future activity will focus. The Scottish Government is fully committed to supporting the further growth and scaling of one of the biggest life sciences clusters in Europe and the pharmaceutical industry will play a crucial part in the sector’s development of world leading excellence, bringing in investment and creating jobs and opportunities across the country.

The Reaching 100% (R100) programme is ensuring that all homes and businesses can access superfast broadband. This commitment is being delivered through three strands of activity – the £600 million R100 contracts (North, Central and South), our R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) and commercial coverage.

The R100 Central contract, which includes Fife, is currently expected to complete build by the end of March 2024. The contract has so far delivered 407 Fibre To The Cabinet connections in Fife, with all remaining connections expected to be full fibre, capable of delivering gigabit download speeds.

For those properties beyond the reach of the R100 contracts or commercial coverage plans, the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme – offering vouchers worth up to £5,000 – remains available to help secure a superfast broadband connection.

However, as the R100 SBVS is a demand-led scheme, it is not possible to provide dates by which people might be connected.

Likewise, for properties within the plans of commercial broadband suppliers, we do not hold data on when those connections will be delivered.