Chamber and committees

Data on outcomes is currently published at national level. From our latest publication ( May 2022 ), 5,224 (31%) of the 16,859 people that started receiving support under No One Left Behind between April 2019 and December 2021 entered employment. Of those entering employment, 2,722 (52%) were supported by a subsidy to do so (this includes ERIs) and 832 (16%) started a Modern Apprenticeship.

Data on people receiving employability support delivered under the No One Left Behind strategic approach are currently published as experimental statistics which means they are still going through a process of development. Scottish Government analysts are working closely with Local Government partners to further develop these data, ensuring alignment with the Shared Measurement Framework, and will continue to review the content of what data and breakdowns are released in the future as part of the process to move towards official statistics status.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with COSLA to find a way forward on the introduction of a Scottish Recommended Allowance for foster and kinship carers.

The Scottish Government fully supports the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) in its efforts to meet the needs of children and young people with additional support needs. Every child’s individual needs are considered by SCRA, based on information provided by other agencies and professionals. SCRA has, for a number of years, worked on support and assistance for neurodiverse children and families. They are creating sensory spaces in their hearings centres, the first of which opened in March this year, and have updated information material and internal guidance to staff in conjunction with the charity Reach for Autism. They are currently working on plans to develop a network of local neurodiversity champions to further promote and address the specific needs of children and families in Children’s Hearings.

The new SCRA digital case management system, now in its second full year of operation, is capable of recording specific data relating to protected characteristics and SCRA are considering how this can be used to the greatest effect.

The Complex Pelvic Mesh Removal Service in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde receives referrals from Health Boards across Scotland and a number of patients are seen on a weekly basis.

Public Health Scotland confirm that between July 2020 (when the Service was established) and December of that year, seven removal procedures were undertaken, whilst 24 procedures were carried out in 2021. In order to protect patient confidentiality a precise figure cannot yet be provided for 2022, as fewer than five procedures have been performed so far this year. For similar reasons, precise numbers of full and partial removals cannot be quoted here, though the majority of surgeries undertaken have been full removals.

The Covid 19 pandemic has undoubtedly had a significant impact on both waiting times and the numbers of procedures carried out, as indeed is the case in many speciality areas across the NHS as a whole. However, the Scottish Government expects the Health Board to improve this situation, and will work with it in the coming months to that end.

All occurrences of mesh complications are treated individually depending on the circumstances of the patient in question, and decisions on the most appropriate treatment are a private matter between the patient and her clinicians. Many patients will undergo full removal of their mesh implant whilst, in other cases, partial removal may be more appropriate and therefore be the preferred option. There may also be circumstances where other, more conservative treatments are considered. What is fundamental in all cases, however, is that patients are aware of and understand the benefits of the treatments open to them, the risks, the alternative treatments, and the potential consequences of doing nothing. Therefore, in each individual case, and in consistence with GMC guidance on consent, it is expected all appropriate and available treatments are discussed with the patient in question, allowing them to make a fully informed decision on their care.

The Scottish Government is providing support to encourage investment in renewables in the north east through a number of funds and programmes. These include, but are not limited to:

The £75m Energy Transition Fund is investing in projects that aim to accelerate and support the move to renewable energy, protecting existing jobs and create new jobs in the North East, and across Scotland by opening up opportunities through energy transition and harnessing private sector funding. It is currently in delivery with an intended end date of 2025.

The £125m City Region Deal investment runs until 2026 and includes £90m for the Net Zero Technology Centre. The City Region Deal is delivering a number of projects aimed at utilising the resources of the North East to lead the world on the shift to a net zero future in areas such as:

• offshore renewable (wind) energy generation,
• energy storage,
• electricity interconnection,
• hydrogen production and fuel cell deployment,
• gas and hydrogen distribution, and
• carbon capture, utilisation and storage.

The £500 million Just Transition Fund for North East and Moray will deliver over the next 10 years. The fund opened for applications on 31 May 2022. Bids to the first year’s allocation of £20 million are currently being assessed. The Just Transition Fund complements other Scottish Government commitments to the sector in the North East and was announced in recognition of the particular need to diversify the regional economy away from carbon-intensive industries and to capitalise on the opportunities, including jobs and prosperity, that the transition to net zero will bring.

The draft Hydrogen Action Plan committed £100 million hydrogen funding for 2022-2026 through the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund (EETF). This is a Scotland-wide fund to support Hydrogen, CCUS and the development of negative emissions technologies. In June 2022, we launched the first tranche of the EETF via the £10 million Hydrogen Innovation Scheme. The remaining £90 million hydrogen investment programme is expected to launch in Autumn 2022 and will focus on supporting rapid renewable hydrogen production from Scotland’s abundant renewable energy resources.

Our Emerging Energy Technologies Fund allocates £80m over the next five years to support the development of CCUS and negative-emissions technologies. We have offered this funding to help the Scottish Cluster carbon capture project accelerate its effort to help Scotland’s just transition to net zero.

All NHS Scotland Boards are providing assessment and support for people with long COVID. This is being delivered across the full range of services delivered by our NHS and includes local primary care teams, community based rehabilitation services and referrals for further investigation delivered in secondary care settings where clinically appropriate.

It is for each NHS Board to develop and deliver the best models of care for assessment, diagnostic tests, and support for the treatment or management of symptoms, tailored to the needs of their local population. This will involve strengthening the co-ordination of existing services, or establishing dedicated services where appropriate.

To support this, we are investing an initial £3 million from our long COVID Support Fund over this financial year to provide NHS Boards and partners with additional resource to respond to the needs of people with long COVID in their areas. While none of the services being delivered by NHS Scotland Boards are termed ‘long COVID clinics’, initiatives being supported by the funding include key elements of care that is also offered by post COVID assessment clinics elsewhere in the UK; such as the introduction of care co-ordinator roles to provide a single point of contact for people with long COVID and their families and the introduction of a multi-disciplinary assessment service to provide a person-centred assessment of people’s needs.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09934 on 23 August 2022. 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 providing support to encourage investment in renewables in the north east through a number of funds and programmes. These include, but are not limited to, the £500 million Just Transition Fund for North East and Moray which opened on 31 May. Bids to the first year’s allocation of £20 million are currently being assessed. The Just Transition Fund complements other Scottish Government commitments to the sector in the North East – such as our £125m City Region Deal investment, including £90m for the Net Zero Technology Centre and the £75m Energy Transition Fund (ETF).The ETF will protect existing jobs and create new jobs in the North East, and across Scotland by opening up opportunities through energy transition and harnessing private sector funding. As an example, our investment of £26.3m in the Energy Transition Zone is helping to unlock a further £64m in private investment for the first phase. The Net Zero Technology Transition Programme delivered by the Net Zero Technology Centre has also leveraged match funding of £17m from industry for phases 1&2 as a direct result of our £17m investment in the programme.

The draft Hydrogen Action Plan committed £100 million hydrogen funding for 2022-2026 through the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund (EETF). This is a Scotland-wide fund to support Hydrogen, CCUS and the development of negative emissions technologies. In June 2022, we launched the first tranche of the EETF via the £10 million Hydrogen Innovation Scheme. The remaining £90 million hydrogen investment programme is expected to launch in Autumn 2022 and will focus on supporting rapid renewable hydrogen production from Scotland’s abundant renewable energy resources.

Scotland’s natural resources, which include strong and consistent wind resource, along with our established expertise in offshore oil and gas, skilled offshore workforce, excellent port structure and strong innovation hub, make Scotland one of the best places in the world to develop offshore wind and reap the supply chain benefits from private sector investment. The recent ScotWind leasing round demonstrates this, by delivering around £700 million in option fee revenues to the public purse, plus the ScotWind projects committed to investment of up to £25 billion across the Scottish supply chain across the 17 Scotwind offshore wind projects as set out in their Supply Chain Development Statements

Scotland’s energy sector is at the forefront of our transformation to becoming a net zero nation. It is a major employer and source of economic output, and our oil and gas infrastructure and highly skilled workforce have long been at the forefront of energy innovation - which is why it is well-placed to embrace the transformation that lies ahead.

We are already investing in the oil and gas sector’s net zero transformation. Our expanded £75 million Energy Transition Fund which is supporting the energy sector to grow and diversify, whilst helping to attract further private investment; and our £500 million Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray will support the North East and Moray to become one of Scotland’s centres of excellence for the transition to a net zero economy . The opportunities of offshore wind are also considerable. Applicants to the recent ScotWind leasing round were required to submit a Supply Chain Development Statement, outlining the supply chain activity they commit to undertaking within Scotland, the UK and overseas. The full Supply Chain Development Statement Outlooks for all successful applicants were published by Crown Estate Scotland in April 2022, and the initial projections show an average spend of £1.5bn in Scotland across each of the 17 ScotWind projects. This week Crown Estate Scotland’s ScotWind clearing process offered seabed agreements to a further three projects off the east coast of Shetland bringing the total number of ScotWind projects to 20 totaling 27.8GW.

Our £75 million Energy Transition Fund is focused on acceleration the energy sector’s transition to net zero-emissions whilst helping to attract further private investment, £26 million of which has been allocated to develop the Energy Transition Zone (ETZ) in Aberdeen. ETZ is expected to directly support 2,500 green jobs by 2030, alongside a further 10,000 transition-related jobs. Our £500 million Just Transition Fund - which we have called on the UK Government multiple times to match - will also support the north east and Moray become one of Scotland's centres of excellence for the transition to a net economy, with our investment supporting transformation across the region.

We are committed to supporting Scotland’s just transition to net zero by 2045, a target that was agreed by parliament. It is vital that, as we transition our society and economy towards a low-carbon future, no individual, community or region is left behind.

We are also clear that oil and gas are part of our energy mix right now - and will continue to be so during the transition. With the North Sea continuing to play an important role now and in Scotland’s future. However the way to accelerate the transition to net zero - which is not just for environmental imperatives but to increase energy security and reduce energy costs - is to that we must end our dependence on oil and gas. We need to move away from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy. This has been recognised by oil and gas companies who are now investing in renewable energy.

We are already investing in the oil and gas sector’s transformation. In addition to our expanded, £75 million Energy Transition Fund and £100 million Green Jobs Fund, our £500 million Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray – which we have called on the UK Government multiple times to match - will support the North East and Moray become one of Scotland’s centres of excellence for the transition to a net zero economy, with our investment supporting transformation across the region.

We are meanwhile undertaking in-depth analysis work to better understand Scotland’s energy requirements as we transition to net zero, ensuring an approach that supports and protects our energy security and our highly skilled workforce whilst meeting our climate obligations. The Programme of Work's evidence base and some of its initial outputs will feature in the Scottish Government's draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP) which will be published in Autumn 2022. The ESJTP will consider the whole energy system as part of the strategy and indicate the change required in electricity generation, heat, transport and all energy demand across Scotland.