Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government supports the fishing industry to transition to low-impact or sustainable fishing methods through the £14m Marine Fund Scotland (MFS).

Details of support awarded to date is available at www.gov.scot/publications/marine-fund-scotland-grants-awarded/

An example of support for training is £51,000 awarded to Fishing into the Future in 2024-25. This enabled them to hold an event bringing together the fishing industry, scientists and fisheries management to encourage innovation and sustainable practices.

The Scottish Government supports the fishing industry to transition to low-impact or sustainable fishing methods through the £14m Marine Fund Scotland (MFS).

Details of support awarded to date is available at www.gov.scot/publications/marine-fund-scotland-grants-awarded/

Examples include £126,000 to Fisheries Innovation & Sustainability in 2024-25 for the Smarttrawl project to improve selectivity, and £299,000 to KIMO to help fishers responsibly dispose of and recycle waste, including nets.

Two housing developers have received debt finance from the Scottish National Investment Bank since inception as follows:

DITT construction: £730,000 investment to support the construction of six high-quality, one-bedroom homes in Lerwick. These homes are designed for key workers who struggle to find affordable accommodation.

Strathcarron Homes: £3.9 million loan facility will support the construction of 25 high quality family homes built to be sold to local social housing tenants and first-time buyers. The builders are about to start construction at Nitshill Road in Glasgow.

The Bank has also made equity investments in to the following funds:

Thriving Investments: (Bank is a Limited Partner) £60 million committed to their mid-market rental housing fund which has delivered 742 new homes to date.

Social & Sustainable Capital (SASC): (Bank is a Limited Partner) £10 million committed to their SASH II fund. This will allow charities and community interest companies to buy properties which they would otherwise not be able to attain, building their financial strength, capacity and resilience to enable them to provide high quality services to their tenants.

The peer review has now concluded and the feedback shared by the reviewers is currently under consideration by the research paper author, Mr Malcom McMillan. Once that process, and any further action needed has concluded, including consideration of the consultation, we will publish the paper and it remains that we expect to be able to do that no later than the end of this year.

The Scottish Government engages with the GFG Alliance at group level and local level on a regular basis to remain informed on the progress of their ongoing refinancing.

It is well known that GFG Alliance continues to progress its global refinancing despite challenging market conditions.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38617 on 17 June 2025. 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.

There are commitments with the Guarantee and Reimbursement Agreement that require a personal undertaking from Sanjeev Gupta.

The independent evaluation of the Just Transition Fund (JTF) found that, in its first two years of operation, the Fund created and safeguarded 230 jobs, alongside the provision of more than 750 training places, and leveraged over £34 million in additional investment.

The Scottish Government does not have a central record of details of engagement with non-government organisations or of how every Parliamentary Question is handled.