We have noted the latest Energy Transition survey report published by Aberdeen and Grampian Chambers of Commerce. Offshore oil and gas licensing and consenting, as well as the associated fiscal regime, are currently reserved to the UK Government. We continue to call on UK Government to listen carefully to the concerns being expressed by businesses around risks to jobs and investment in the transition.

The Scottish Government is committed to working in partnership with business and industry to deliver a just transition for Scotland’s valued oil and gas sector, which recognises the declining nature of the North Sea basin and is in line with our climate change commitments.

Our Energy Transition Fund is supporting four major projects in Aberdeen and the north east which promote collaboration across offshore energy sectors. These include the Energy Transition Zone, transforming the region into a globally integrated energy cluster, and the Global Underwater Hub, using underwater expertise, technologies and skills to drive innovation and accelerate the transition.

We are also working with the energy sector to plan for a multi-skilled workforce, one that can benefit from opportunities across the energy system. This includes supporting industry-led initiatives to enable skilled offshore workers to carry their experience and expertise into different roles as the transition progresses, and providing funding through the Just Transition Fund to skills initiatives and capacity building within businesses.

The National Supply of Electricity Framework does not prohibit customers from using locally produced renewable energy.

If a client wishes to use locally produced renewable energy then they can advise the Scottish Procurement Team and the Supplier. The volumes generated by the locally produced renewable energy provider would no longer be included in the overall framework volumes and the reduced demand will be taken into consideration and future demand will be reshaped accordingly. Any withdrawal of buildings/sites from the framework are subject to the terms and conditions set out in the framework agreement.

We have noted the latest Energy Transition survey report published by Aberdeen and Grampian Chambers of Commerce and the launch of a North Sea Transition Taskforce. We acknowledge the concerns that businesses are raising through the survey, however we also note the difficulty of measuring change at a regional level over short periods of time.

The energy transition presents an opportunity as well as a challenge to our existing energy sector and Scottish Government is committed to realising that opportunity, especially by securing a just transition for the north east. We have already committed significant funding to the region through our Just Transition Fund and our Energy Transition Fund. We will continue to support growth of our world-leading renewables sector and to enable our existing oil and gas sector to transition.

In September, we published our Green Industrial Strategy, which aims to ensure that Scotland gets the maximum possible economic benefit from the opportunities created by the net zero transition. We are taking steps to support businesses to capitalise on these opportunities.

For example, we have committed up to £500 million strategic investment over five years to support market certainty and facilitate the development of the offshore wind sector in Scotland. The Offshore Wind Supply Chain Development Statements process, carefully designed and managed by Crown Estate Scotland, ensures focus is maintained on supply chain capacity and capability to develop and deliver offshore wind projects in Scotland.

Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) presents a particular opportunity for the north east region. The UK Government recently announced £23 billion funding to support Track 1 CCUS clusters over 25 years. We urgently need a similar announcement for Track 2, including the Acorn project; continued UK Government delays are impacting investor, developer and supply chain confidence, and we continue to call for a meaningful update on this.

The Scottish Government has long recognised the need for our communities to benefit from our just energy transition to net zero. This is why we continue to engage with the UK Government to encourage them to explore mandating community benefits for all onshore energy developments, along with plans for transmission infrastructure.

Despite the powers to mandate community benefits being reserved to the UK Government, Scotland has made significant progress with a voluntary approach to community benefits. Supported by our Good Practice Principles, our Community Benefits Register shows that in the past year, over £26m of community benefits have been offered to Scottish communities.

As part of the framework process, in the run up to the start of every financial year, the supplier works with each individual customer to determine their estimated consumption for the next financial year. If the volume is going to decrease or increase the supplier will work with the Scottish Procurement team to reshape the future demand to take into account any planned increases or decreases.

The Scottish Government has noted the launch by the British Chambers of Commerce of a new North Sea Transition Taskforce. Based on the information made available so far, we understand that the Taskforce will hold its first meetings before the end of the year and then intends to publish recommendations for both the UK and Scottish Governments next Spring.

In support of the Scottish Government’s draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, we commissioned and published a set of independent analysis on the North Sea energy transition. This can be found here: Publication of the outputs from a programme of work to better understand our energy requirements as we transition to net zero - Energy system and Just Transition: independent analysis - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

Yes, Scottish Government is compliant with all procurement regulations.

The electricity framework was advertised openly and fairly in Public Contracts Scotland and therefore the competition was open to all suppliers. It is up to each individual bidder to determine if they meet the requirements of the framework, and if they wish to put forward a bid. At the last procurement opportunity no bids were received from community energy providers.

As set out in our Green Industrial Strategy, the Scottish Government is working with partners across the energy sector to plan for a multi-skilled workforce.

This approach includes enabling skilled offshore oil and gas workers to carry their experience and expertise into different roles, including renewables, as the energy transition progresses. We are also committed to the development of Scotland’s CCUS and Hydrogen sectors, which will protect jobs and utilise existing skills within the workforce as well as developing new opportunities.

Funding from the Just Transition Fund has already been allocated to support industry-led development of an Offshore Energy Skills Passport; to create an advanced manufacturing skills hub in Aberdeen and a pilot scheme with the National Energy Skills Accelerator to determine the skills required for an energy transition.

In addition, the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council is currently taking forward crucial work to map the future skills need for offshore wind development, which will help both industry and the public sector to identify and address future skills and workforce gaps.