Chamber and committees

Supply Chain Development Statements (SCDS) are a required component of the ScotWind Leasing process and are therefore administered by Crown Estate Scotland. Crown Estate Scotland will publish the SCDS Outlook documents once Option Agreements are signed by successful applicants. In addition, Crown Estate Scotland will confidentially share the commercially sensitive SCDS Narrative Documents of successful applicants with the Scottish Government and enterprise agencies. The Scottish Government and enterprise agencies would not expect to publish documentation of a commercially sensitive nature.

The Scottish Government will, over the next five years, continue to create a supportive policy environment which, alongside private investment, will enable the creation of a network of renewable and low-carbon regional hydrogen production hubs near demand centres across Scotland.

The development of regional hydrogen energy hubs will be strategically supported through the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund (EETF) – a £180m package of funding over five years that will provide capital support to accelerate low-carbon infrastructure projects that will be essential to deliver net zero. The EETF will make £100 million available to support renewable hydrogen projects.

Policy officials are finalising the eligibility and project assessment criteria for the EETF, and have invited views on this from stakeholders by the 19 January 2022.

Views can be provided at https://consult.gov.scot/energy-and-climate-change-directorate/hydrogen-action-plan/ .

Further details on the Fund and its eligibility criteria will be provided in early 2022 alongside a call for projects.

No meeting took place between the First Minister or Scottish Government officials and former Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney during COP26.

There is already a process in place for doing this across the Common Travel Area, and work continues to add additional countries to this service. Full details are available on NHS Inform – see https://www.nhsinform.scot/covid-19-vaccine/after-your-vaccine/get-a-record-of-your-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-status/ .

We are continuing to make progress within this age cohort. With 582,135
people aged 18-29 (70%) having their second dose of the COVID -19
vaccination, and 659,241 people aged 18-29 ( 79%) having their first dose
of the vaccine, as at 30 November.

The latest figures on vaccinations are published and can be viewed at: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/phs.covid.19#!/vizhome/COVID-19
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We have encouraged uptake by utilising a range of communication channels,
including TV, radio, digital and social, to encourage younger people to get
vaccinated and we have also shared messaging and resources with
organisations, such as Young Scot and the Scottish Professional Football
League (SPFL).

We published an updated evidence paper on the Covid 19 status certification scheme on Friday 19 November 2021.

Public Heath Scotland also publish a weekly COVID-19 statistical report which includes the number of times the NHS Scotland COVID Status App has been downloaded. As at 15 November 2021 this is 1.5 million times. The statistical information for the app is provided by Apple and Google and we do not receive a breakdown by age or demographic.

The Scottish Government does not publish information on the costs of rural crime. However, I am aware of the most recent NFU Mutual Rural Crime Report, published in August, which suggested that rural theft cost the UK an estimated £43.3 million in 2020.

The report noted that this was a fall of 20.3% on the previous year, making it the lowest annual cost recorded in five years. While this can be seen as encouraging, we are well aware of the impact of criminal activity in rural areas and are not complacent on this issue. We are therefore committed to supporting Police Scotland and all its partners in tackling all forms of crime and disorder which affect our rural communities.

In particular, the Scottish Government participates fully in the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC), which is chaired by Police Scotland.

SPARC draws together key stakeholders from across the justice and rural sectors to provide a robust, multi-agency approach to rural crime and to support activity at local level. This includes preventative action such as the development of Rural Watch Scotland, which has been delivered by Neighbourhood Watch Scotland working with other partners through SPARC.

Furthermore, the link between rural crime such as machinery theft and serious organised crime is well recognised. The work of SPARC makes a valuable contribution to securing some of the outcomes set out in Scotland's Serious Organised Crime Strategy by helping rural communities become more aware of serious organised crime and how to mitigate its risks.

Information regarding the number of Bulb customers in Scotland is not held by the Scottish Government. Scottish Government officials are in regular contact with a number of energy suppliers to discuss the ongoing challenges in the energy supply market.

Regulation of the gas and electricity markets is a reserved issue. Within this context Bulb Energy is being managed under Ofgem's special administration process - this process is designed to ensure consumers do not experience disruption to their supply and maintain their credit balances

We are concerned for all Scottish consumers facing rising energy costs particularly those who are in or at risk of fuel poverty. That is why we are making £10 million of funding available to help people struggling with their heating costs this winter. This money is in addition to the £25 million funding we are providing to local authorities to tackle financial insecurity and the further £6 million.

To date, the Scottish Government has spent £722,580.08 on media promotions relating to COP26 within domestic and international campaigns. The purpose of the domestic campaign is to encourage individual behaviour change to reduce carbon emissions and to increase awareness of the urgency to do so in tandem with hosting the COP26 summit. Internationally the aim is to promote Scotland as a global leader on climate change to maximise opportunities from being the host nation of COP26 and promote Scotland as an ideal place to live, work, invest, visit and study. The campaigns are still in progress and were planned in relation to the summit and feature messaging about COP26. Final costs will be published at the end of the financial year, when full billing and financial reconciliation has taken place.

We continue to engage with businesses including the hospitality sector about the Covid-19 status certification scheme. We have published the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment which considered the potential impacts on businesses.