Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has ongoing engagement with the UK Government in relation to international hydrogen engagement and the development of the export opportunity.

Sextortion is sexual extortion and involves the threat of having sexual information, photos or videos shared with others. It is carried out to extort money or force a victim to do something against their will, control behaviour or obtain further images.

Where a reported sextortion-related crime involves the perpetrator making demands for money or other valuables, Police Scotland will record and investigate it under Threats and extortion. Table 1 shows the estimated volume of threats and extortion committed online, from 2019-20 to 2022-23. This is based on an annual review of crime records (commenced in 2019-20) which aims to estimate how many cyber-crimes are recorded in Scotland. It should be noted the figures below are based on a sample of police records (rather than all police records), so should be seen as providing a broad estimate of the volume of this type of crime, rather than an exact count.

Whilst not all online threats and extortion will necessarily have a ‘sextortion’ based element, it is very likely a high proportion (and certainly the majority) of the cases shown in Table 1 do. Figures for 2023-24 will be published in June 2024.

Where a reported sextortion-related crime involves a motive other than financial gain (for example a demand of a physical sexual nature or some other attempt to exert control over the victim), Police Scotland will record and investigate it under Threatening to disclose an intimate image. Table 2 below shows the number of these crimes recorded since the associated Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act was implemented on 3 July 2017. Again, figures for 2023-24 will be published in June 2024.

Table 1 - Estimated volume of threats and extortion committed online: 2019-20 to 2022-23

The criminal law in relation to drugs offending is reserved. Sentencing decisions, including the use of custodial and community-based options, in any case are for the independent court who consider the facts and circumstances of each case before reaching their sentencing decision.

The National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) announced a ‘.. review of how best to significantly increase the number of social enterprises, employee-owned businesses and co-operatives in Scotland, supporting regional regeneration and the wealth of local communities’.

The independent review is nearing completion and is anticipated to complete, with findings and recommendations published, prior to summer recess 2024.

We recognise the importance of having access to appropriate diagnostic tests for lung conditions and welcome the development of this service in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. As this is a new programme, we will work closely with all key stakeholders to determine if there are scale up options for the rest of Scotland.

Improving access to diagnostics is a key commitment in the Respiratory Care Action Plan and we will seek evidence from this programme and ensure it is shared with all appropriate stakeholders.

To date, £12,351,185 of capital investment has been awarded via the Scottish Government’s Islands Programme across 61 projects and 50 islands.

2021-22

The 2021-2022 Islands Programme was delivered through the Islands Infrastructure Fund and was allocated £5 million. The final amount awarded to capital projects was £3,901,192.

2022-23

The 2022-2023 Islands Programme was allocated £4.45 million. The allocation was awarded in full.

2023-24

The 2023-2024 Islands Programme was allocated £4 million. The final amount awarded to capital projects was £3,999,993.

The Scottish Government is working with many partners to develop Scotland’s skills base in hydrogen for transport.

The Scottish Government continues to work with the Scottish Regulatory Steering Group, comprised of key regulators, to assess regulatory requirements for the development of the hydrogen sector in Scotland. We are working with UK and Scottish regulators to ensure that action is taken to address identified issues and create a clear regulatory framework for hydrogen projects.

There are several Regional Hydrogen Hubs developing in Scotland. We have provided up to £15m to support the development of the Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub which is now developing as a joint venture between Aberdeen City Council and Bp.

Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub presents an important opportunity to deliver a commercially investable, green hydrogen production facility focussed initially on the decarbonisation of transport and phased to grow into other markets such as industrial heat.

We are building the evidence base to help support other hydrogen hubs to develop in Scotland, examining hydrogen production and potential demand across Scotland’s geography through a number of key reports, such as ‘Hydrogen demand in Scotland: a mapping of industrial and transport applications’ which can be found here and a detailed report focussing specifically on the distillery sector which can be found here .

Data from these reports is also included in Scotland’s Hydrogen Asset online map .

We also published a report last year on the potential capability and interest in Scotland in developing a SAF sector, which could become a major end-use of hydrogen. That report can be found here .

Further engagement in support of hydrogen hub development is ongoing.

Our forthcoming Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan will set out a series of measures the Scottish Government will take to support new and existing workers take advantage of the job opportunities of the net zero transition, and how we will work with industry, trade unions, educational providers and others going forward.

Hydrogen officials are engaging closely with Skills Development Scotland who are working with the energy sector to plan for a multi-skilled workforce, one that can benefit from opportunities across the energy system. This includes enabling skilled offshore workers in the oil and gas sector to carry their experience and expertise into different roles such as hydrogen and renewables as our energy sector evolves.

Various research has been carried out to map out the hydrogen skills landscape and understand the likely skills gaps. This includes ClimateXChange’s Mapping the current and forecasted hydrogen skills landscape for Scotland which was published last year, as well as Aberdeen City Council and BP’s Hydrogen in Scotland Skills and Qualifications Gap Analysis .