Chamber and committees

The objectives for my visit were to raise the profile of Scotland’s energy offer in Germany, with a view to future trade and investment possibilities; to position Scotland as a leading player in the energy transition, with valuable learning to share with Germany and internationally; and to engage strategically with major German energy companies to gain insights on their growth plans and promote Scotland as a destination for further business opportunities.

I addressed the Handelsblatt Energy Conference, where around 1000 senior energy stakeholders were in attendance, and secured widespread coverage in German media of Scotland’s energy offer and the attractiveness of our industrial sites and workforce. The high profile of the Handelsblatt platform and subsequent media coverage further promoted innovation and investment opportunities in the Scottish supply chain.

My visit enabled me to meet with a number of German businesses to promote investment in the Scottish sector, including RWE Generation, EnBW and Siemens Energy. These meetings helped progress and deepen important relationships with German stakeholders who will be important to Scotland’s developing green hydrogen and CCUS propositions, as well as helping to develop the energy sector to facilitate Scotland achieving its climate targets. I also met with Germany’s former hydrogen commissioner, the CEO of Germany’s largest transmissions system operator, and senior officials from the German Foreign Office. Officials will now take forward actions from those discussions, in Scotland and Germany, to progress companies’ commercial interests in Scotland.

All the decisions made by the Energy Consents Unit and determinations made by Scottish Ministers are publicly available on our Energy Consents website: https://www.energyconsents.scot/ApplicationSearch.aspx

Ministers whose responsibilities included making determinations in the last year are: Dr Alasdair Allan MSP as Minister for Climate Action, myself as Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, Miri McAllan MSP as Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, and Neil Gray MSP as Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy. Decisions made by Scottish Ministers are done so on the basis of collective responsibility. All decisions reached by the Scottish Ministers, individually or collectively, are binding on all members of the Government.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. This would need to be requested from the NHS Boards directly.

It is for NHS Boards to ensure best use of available resources to support service delivery whilst prioritising patient safety and care.

Abuse towards NHS staff is unacceptable, and Health Boards must take appropriate action against anyone who assaults a staff member. It is an employer's duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely in partnership with Health Boards to identify ways to protect staff and deter perpetrators at a national level.

Health Boards have reporting systems in place to capture data on violence and aggression. At present, Health Boards collect this data locally.

We are exploring how we can improve incident reporting systems and investigating proposals for developing standardised approaches to reporting and handling incidents nationally.

We are working to ensure that all staff are aware of currently available reporting mechanisms and ensure they have the psychological safety to report incidents when they occur.

This is a matter for NHS boards and Police Scotland. The information requested is not held centrally.

As discussed in answer to PQ S6W-34114 on 12 February 2025, the standard definitions of delayed discharge in use across NHS Scotland since 2016 do not identify patients as surgically fit for discharge, and the reasons for delayed discharge (when patients remain in hospital after being declared clinically ready for discharge) do not allow a direct count of patients who have refused to leave hospital.

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

Guidance for staff in relation to usage of IT is provided in the IT Code of Conduct, which sets out acceptable usage for Scottish Government devices and networks. It covers:

• personal use of SCOTS and the internet
• misuse of IT misconduct examples
• accidental access to restricted sites
• sharing sensitive data by email
• monitoring

The code aligns with the wide range of legislation to tackle the potential criminal and civil liability issues that may arise from colleagues’ misuse of communication facilities while at work.

Scottish Government staff sign an agreement to adhere to the IT Code of Conduct. The IT Code of Conduct sets out guidance on the acceptable use of the official platform (SCOTS), in particular email and use of the intranet. The Code also outlines our policy on the personal use of Scottish Government IT facilities.

Health Boards have reporting systems in place to capture data on violence and aggression. At present, Health Boards collect this data locally.

We are exploring how we can improve incident reporting systems and investigating proposals for developing standardised approaches to reporting and handling incidents nationally.

We are working to ensure that all staff are aware of currently available reporting mechanisms and ensure they have the psychological safety to report incidents when they occur.