The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S7W-02661

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 21 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its latest estimate is of the current and forecast workforce shortfall in the offshore wind sector in North East Scotland, broken down by occupation.

Industry-led analysis provides estimates of the current UK offshore wind workforce and workforce shortfall. The Offshore Wind Industry Council and RenewableUK’s Wind Industry Skills Intelligence Report 2025 estimates that 39,898 people currently support the UK offshore wind sector. Under its baseline scenario, the report estimated a UK offshore workforce shortfall of 12,584 in 2025, with the largest UK-wide occupational deficits including: Wind Turbine Technicians; Export Cable Engineers; Fabrication Engineers; Electrical Managers; and, Commissioning Engineers.

For North-East Scotland, the report estimates that annual workforce demand in “Aberdeen & North-East” could reach a peak of 27,702 between 2026 and 2030 under its baseline scenario of 39 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030. The report is available here.

The Scottish Government is working closely with industry and public sector partners to identify and respond to offshore wind workforce demand. This builds on the work of the Offshore Wind Skills Short-Life Working Group, which brought partners together to agree the skills shortages requiring urgent action and to develop a joint Offshore Wind Skills Priorities and Action Plan.

Through the £3.85m Offshore Wind Skills Programme, the Scottish Government is supporting industry and delivery partners to increase the supply of skilled workers into priority occupations, including through expanded training for new entrants and career changers and targeted college provision in the North-East.

Question reference: S7W-03027

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what passenger and aviation data it relied on when it concluded that the proposed Air Departure Tax exemption for domestic flights from Highlands and Islands airports, including Inverness Airport, is necessary to support connectivity, including (a) the source, (b) year of the most recent data considered and (c) any equivalent evidence relating to Aberdeen International Airport.

The Scottish Government considered a range of evidence in reaching its conclusion that an exemption from Air Departure Tax (ADT)is necessary to protect Highlands and Islands aviation connectivity.

This included evidence gathered through the ‘Delivering Scotland's Air Departure Tax’ consultation, which ran from 29 January to 26 March 2026 ,as well as wider stakeholder engagement.

The evidence gathered via our consultation highlighted the particular connectivity challenges faced by communities and businesses in the Highlands and Islands region, which necessitates a continued tax exemption for the carriage of passengers to UK airports.

The Scottish Government has also analysed official data published by the UK’s aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA),as well as private sector passenger and route-level data provided by RDC Aviation. These datasets disaggregate data by individual Scottish airports, including Inverness Airport and Aberdeen Airport.

Data on aircraft movements, including for commercial scheduled flights and business aviation, are published monthly by the CAA. Multiple respondents to the ‘Delivering Scotland's Air Departure Tax’ consultation cited CAA data in their responses, with the most recent data sourced from 2025.

During the policy development process, the Scottish Government utilised passenger and route-level data from the previous full financial year (2024-25), obtained via RDC Aviation’s Apex platform.

The Scottish Government additionally considered various sources of evidence in our subsidy control assessment, including:

‘Scottish Islands Survey’, Scottish Government(2023)
‘Scotland National Strategy for Economic Transformation: Evidence from Regional Economic Partnerships’, Scottish Government (2022)
‘Cost of Living: impact on rural communities in Scotland’, Scottish Affairs Committee (2024)
‘Strategic Approach – Islands Connectivity Plan’, Transport Scotland (2025)
‘Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the Highlands and Islands’, Scottish Human Rights Commission (2024)
Western Isles Transport and Health Working Group, HITRANS (2025)
‘Remote and Rural Healthcare Inquiry’, Scottish Parliament Health, Social Care and Sport Committee (2024)
‘Regional Economic Strategy’, Highlands and Islands Regional Economic Partnership (2025)
‘Rural and Regional Disadvantage in the Highlands and Islands’, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) (2022)

Question reference: S7W-02662

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 21 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many participants in the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund have subsequently entered employment, and, of these, how many entered employment in the renewable energy or wider low-carbon energy sector.

The Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund (TTF) – which is supported by £3 million each from the Scottish Government and UK Government - was specifically designed to target support towards current and former oil and gas workers.

The TTF provides careers advice and funding for training to support oil and gas workers to access roles in alternative sectors.

Following the 2025/26 Pilot in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, this year the TTF has been expanded to oil and gas workers resident anywhere in Scotland. As of the end of August, a total of 521 applications had already been received.

Evaluation of the TTF is ongoing, with a further survey recently issued to TTF Pilot applicants to establish their outcomes after completion of training.

Question reference: S7W-03026

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7O-00157 by Stephen Flynn on 2 September 2026, what assessment it has made of the risk of distortion of competition between Aberdeen International Airport and Inverness Airport arising from the proposed Highlands and Islands exemption from Air Departure Tax, including any impact on competing domestic air routes.

Aberdeen Airport will benefit from the Scottish Government’s decision to extend the Air Departure Tax (ADT)Highlands and Islands exemption to the carriage of passengers on routes from all Scottish airports to airports in the Highlands and Islands. This includes routes such as those from Aberdeen Airport to Sumburgh and Kirkwall.

The ADT Highlands and Islands exemption is not expected to bring about any negative impacts on competition relative to current circumstances, as it is replacing the existing Air Passenger Duty(APD) exemption. The APD exemption has applied to the carriage of passengers departing from airports in the Highlands and Islands to any destination worldwide (including via connecting flights)since 1 April 2001.

The Scottish Government has decided not to include the carriage of passengers from airports in the Highlands and Islands to international destinations in the ADT exemption to minimise competition distortion where possible. Including the carriage of passengers from airports in the Highlands and Islands region to UK airports is considered the appropriate and necessary level of subsidy required to achieve the exemption’s core objective of protecting crucial connectivity for communities in the region.

The ADT Highlands and Islands exemption was confirmed following public consultation and consideration of the requirements of the Subsidy Control Act 2022. These processes provided interested parties with an opportunity to share views on the proposal and its potential impacts. The effectiveness and impact(s) of the ADT Highlands and Islands exemption will be monitored as part of future ADT policy considerations and subsidy control reporting requirements.

Question reference: S7W-02989

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 18 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has received the four aerial firefighting assets requested from the Ministry of Defence on 25 July 2026 and, if so, on what date.

Question reference: S7O-00255

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria it uses when assessing proposals for new railway stations.

Question reference: S7W-02592

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 15 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work with NHS Grampian to bring the board's financial position into line with its financial targets.

Since NHS Grampian moved to Stage 4 of the NHS Scotland Support and Intervention Framework for finance, leadership and governance in May 2025, a range of support measures have been put in place commensurate with the Board’s financial challenges. This includes a Scottish Government-led Assurance Board, which provides enhanced oversight and support to NHS Grampian, monitoring progress against key financial and operational challenges while strengthening financial governance. It continues to work closely with the Board's leadership team to support recovery planning and help return the Board to a sustainable financial footing.

NHS Grampian remain on track to meet key financial targets in 2026-27.

Question reference: S7W-02664

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 15 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has reviewed or revised the National Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) formula or parity calculations in light of financial challenges experienced by territorial NHS boards, including NHS Grampian.

The NRAC formula is an objective measure of the need for health care services in Scotland, providing a target share for Territorial Boards. The formula is refreshed by Public Health Scotland on an annual basis to ensure it reflects the most up-to-date data available.

The Scottish Government has committed to review the NRAC formula through the Technical Advisory Group for Resource Allocation (TAGRA). The review is ongoing and is being considered alongside the Programme for Government commitment to simplify NHS Board structures, which may affect its scope and timing.

The Scottish Government continues to ensure that all Boards remain within 0.6% of NRAC parity. Since 2012-13, over £4 billion of additional funding has been committed to those NHS Boards below their NRAC parity levels, including additional funding for NHS Grampian.

Question reference: S7W-02665

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 15 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether any recent financial transactions affecting NHS Grampian alter the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) estimate that the board has been below National Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) parity by approximately £277 million since 2009.

The NRAC formula is an objective measure of the need for health care services in Scotland, providing a target share for Territorial Boards.

The Scottish Government continues to ensure that all Boards remain within 0.6% of NRAC parity. Since 2012-13, over £4 billion of additional funding has been committed to those NHS Boards below their NRAC parity levels, including additional funding for NHS Grampian.

Between 2014-15 and 2026-27, NHS Grampian received £87.2 million in parity funding, including £11.4 million in 2026-27 from a total national allocation of £32.8 million, maintaining the Board within the agreed 0.6% tolerance of its NRAC target allocation.

Question reference: S7W-02660

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 7 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many actions contained in its Offshore Wind Skills Programme (a) have been completed, (b) remain outstanding and (c) have had their delivery date revised.

The Offshore Wind Skills Priorities & Action Plan was developed with industry and key public sector partners and sets out 12 initial actions over the next two years. The plan is jointly owned by partners - public bodies, education providers and sector skills organisations - who have committed to taking these actions forward.

Five actions in the Offshore Wind Skills Priorities & Action Plan have been completed, and seven actions are underway. Six of these actions are on track to be completed by, or ahead of, their respective delivery dates. The Offshore Wind Skills Programme Board approved revisions to the delivery dates of three actions, two of which have been completed, with the third on track for delivery.

The Scottish Government and delivery partners remain committed to implementing the Offshore Wind Skills Priorities & Action Plan in full.

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