Chamber and committees

The Scottish Capital Investment Manual is not being replaced and will continue to be utilised.

The Scottish Government recognises the pressure on household budgets which is why we have allocated almost £3bn to support policies which tackle poverty and to protect people as far as possible during the ongoing cost of living crisis. Ministers have committed to publishing an Immediate Priorities Plan to combat the effects the crisis continues to have on disabled people’s lives. A short life working group has been established to ascertain and agree the contents of the Immediate Priorities Plan with a view of publication this summer. The Scottish Government also supports the calls for a social tariff mechanism that would provide a much needed safety net for vulnerable consumers.

I have met with a range of stakeholders in the energy industry since taking on this ministerial role. As the Scottish Ministerial Code states, information on Ministerial engagements is routinely published online three months in arrears from the end of that month. Therefore, at the time of writing the current list, which provides details of engagements up to the end of February 2023, is up to date. It is anticipated that a list of engagements undertaken in March 2023 will be published shortly, with engagements held in April and May subsequently issued in line with the Ministerial commitment as described above. Once published the information can be found at: Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The statistics are disappointing, and we are working with NatureScot to identify the contributing factors. Key to progress will be tackling negative pressures in areas surrounding protected sites including the proliferation of invasive non-native species and overgrazing. Only through collaborative working at a landscape scale will negative pressures on protected areas be effectively tackled and biodiversity restored.

Later this year we will publish Scotland’s new Biodiversity Strategy. This will set out our vision to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2030 and restore and regenerate biodiversity by 2045. The delivery plan will include a range of actions in support of this vision including actions to drive landscape change and actions to expand, connect and improve our protected areas.

Since 2011, the Scottish Government has invested over £65m to develop the ChargePlace Scotland network of publicly available charge points, which is now the fifth largest network in the UK with over 2500 charge points.

A total of 299 charge points were commissioned on to the ChargePlace Scotland network between June 2022 and May 2023.

Scottish Government has developed guidance on Protective Security at Publicly Accessible Locations. The aim and purpose of the document is to increase knowledge of what counter terrorism products are available, and it includes first aid provisions and the hyperlinks to access them. This guidance was issued to key stakeholders in June 2023.

The UK Government in partnership with the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) developed a website “Protect UK”, which is available to members of the public and organisations. This website includes guidance on First Aid preparedness for organisations. This was in response to the Manchester Arena Inquiry recommendations to create a central library for guidance and advice that organisations and members of the public could access.

Scottish Government has promoted the use of the guidance and advice available through this platform to all relevant Scottish stakeholders.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) also provides dedicated guidance on first aid and on events, which is available on the HSE web site.

Scottish Ministers have agreed to HSE refusing the 2023 emergency authorisation application for the use of Asulox, to control bracken, because of the risks it poses to the environment and human health.

This follows existing precedent for decisions over pesticide approvals being exercised on behalf of Scottish Ministers by HSE. Independent advice from the Chief Scientific Adviser for Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture and the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides supported the Health and Safety Executive’s recommendation to not give Asulox an emergency authorisation.

The Scottish Government is acutely aware of the risks associated with uncontrolled bracken and did not take this decision lightly. The Scottish Government is committed to science based decision making, and follows well established and evidence based process in relation to the authorisation of chemicals.

As highlighted by the Scottish Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser for Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, Asulox has been used on 2,000-3,000 ha of land in Scotland each year, around 2% of the total bracken area. Thus Asulox is not currently, nor can likely ever be, a tool for a national bracken control programme.

The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with stakeholders and NatureScot to consider options for sustainable bracken management.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on how many Maritime and Coastguard Agency approved medical assessors there are in Scotland, who are able to assess seafarers for an ML5 certificate, broken down by NHS board. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is a UK Government agency.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of the Fracture Liaison Service audit and, have provided Public Health Scotland with funding to undertake a provisional organisational audit and scoping exercise.

Following completion of this scoping exercise the Scottish Government has advised the Royal Osteoporosis Society that the funding will be made available for a national fracture liaison service audit. The reporting timescale is expected to be finalised soon.

The Scottish Government is working with the energy sector to plan for a multi-skilled workforce, one that can benefit from opportunities across the energy system. Our oil and gas workers, and their vital skills, will be essential to the transition. Workers, and trade unions, will be at heart of everything we do.

Scotland’s green jobs revolution is underway and a recent report from the Universities of Strathclyde and Warwick provided an initial estimate that up to 100,000 roles are ‘new and emerging’ green jobs in Scotland. Although the researchers regard this as an upper estimate, it is encouraging to see a strong indication of green jobs in Scotland.

While we do not hold data on job flows from the oil and gas sector to the renewables sector at present, the Office for National Statistics undertakes an annual Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Economy survey. This provides estimates of renewable FTE employment statistics in Scotland.

As the table below shows, there were 28,300 full time equivalent jobs in Scotland in the low carbon and renewable energy sectors in 2021.