Chamber and committees

Following the publication of the UK Report in December 2024, the Scottish Government has continued to make progress in implementing the Inquiry’s recommendations through the work of the Oversight and Assurance Group, which involves patient representatives and representatives from the NHS in Scotland.

A second UK Government report provides a further update on implementation of the Inquiry’s recommendations. The report can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/full-government-response-to-the-infected-blood-inquirys-may-2024-report).

The report includes updates on the approach being taken in Scotland, along with information on progress being made on recommendations being taken forward at UK level, such as on the provision of compensation to infected blood victims. This is in line with the Inquiry’s recommendation 12, that a detailed response to each of the Inquiry’s recommendations should be provided within one year of the publication of the Inquiry’s report of May 2024.

In Scotland, further progress has been made in a number of areas since the December report, with the overall aim of protecting patient safety and working to ensure a similar tragedy can never happen again. In particular:

• The Scottish Government and Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme have continued to ensure additional interim compensation is paid to infected hepatitis C and HIV victims in Scotland and that estates of many of those who sadly died have been able to claim interim payments of £100,000. They have also worked closely with the UK Government and the new UK-wide Infected Blood Compensation Authority to ensure progress has been made on delivering final compensation awards.
• The Scottish Government has now agreed funding specifically for patient advocacy for 2025-26 with Haemophilia Scotland and the Scottish Infected Blood Forum.
• The Scottish Government has provided funding to the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service to update and expand the capabilities of its existing Account for Blood system, which will allow for improved surveillance of blood usage and outcomes across Scotland.
• The Scottish Government is working with the City of Edinburgh Council and campaigners to ensure a Scottish memorial to infected blood victims is in place as soon as is feasible.

The Scottish Government published its first national assessment of genetic introgression in wild salmon in 2021 using data collected under the National Electrofishing Programme for Scotland (NEPS) in 2018 and 2019, combined with targeted sampling in the vicinity of freshwater smolt rearing facilities: https://data.marine.gov.scot/dataset/national-assessment-influence-farmed-salmon-escapes-genetic-integrity-wild-scottish-atlantic

The research found evidence of introgression was concentrated in areas of marine aquaculture production on the west coast and areas with freshwater smolt rearing. Outside these areas, there was no strong evidence of introgression pressures. The results highlighted how important it is to reduce the risk of farmed fish escapes, to protect the integrity of wild salmon populations in areas of aquaculture production.

This was the first report of the National Introgression Programme for Scotland (NIPS) which is a nationwide project that is researching the link between fish farm escapes and introgression in wild salmon populations.

A larger number of sites were sampled in 2021 and 2023 as part of NEPS surveys (National Electrofishing Programme for Scotland). This should increase the spatial resolution of samples and confidence in the findings, while also allowing comparison across years. Analysis will be submitted shortly for peer review.

Following a large escape at one of its farms (Carradale) in 2020, Mowi funded a study to determine if introgression was occurring. No evidence of impact or introgression was found following the escape event. The report suggests that the effects of farm escapes can be complex depending on numbers of escapes, timing, status of wild stocks, and the maturation status of the escapees: https://www.gov.scot/publications/examination-levels-farm-wild-hybridisation-south-west-scotland-north-east-england-following-large-scale-farm-salmon-escape-event-2020/

We have had extensive engagement with stakeholders – including consumer organisations such as Consumer Scotland – to ensure we understand all perspectives in this debate and represent this in our engagement with the UK Government.

Following the cessation of oil refining at Grangemouth, the Scottish Government is backing a proposal by Unite the Union for an asset review at Grangemouth. Understanding what existing assets could be repurposed is critical to securing the transition, therefore I have written to the UK Government expressing support and calling on them to do the same. My officials have initiated work on this however we will need the consent and support of Petroineos and the UK Government to achieve this, and would urge Paul Sweeney MSP to help with those calls to his colleagues in the UK Government.

The Scottish Government’s priority is to ensure that those who are most impacted by the refinery closure receive support. We are providing support to the workforce, who are facing redundancy as a result of the refinery’s closure. We are providing a comprehensive retraining offer, which is delivered by Forth Valley College and is equipping workers right now with the skills to transition into in-demand industries. We are also focussed on supporting businesses to bring forward propositions that will help to secure a long term and sustainable future for the industrial cluster which will create the jobs and economic opportunities for years to come. The Project Willow study has identified nine projects that are viable alternatives to existing fossil-based operations. If brought to fruition, those projects could support 800 direct jobs at Grangemouth, along with others across the supply chain.

In the current parliamentary session to date the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund has spent a total of £15.3 million on grant awards:

• £6.8m to 31 projects, via the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme (details at: Emerging Energy Technologies Fund - Hydrogen Innovation Scheme: successful projects - gov.scot)
• £3.1m to the Storegga Speyside Hydrogen Project (details at: Green hydrogen production - gov.scot)
• £3.4m to 11 projects, following the 2024/25 green hydrogen funding call (details at: £3.4 million for Scotland’s hydrogen future - gov.scot)
• £2.0m to National Gas Transmission Plc. to support the pre-Front End Engineering and Design phase of the SCO2T Connect Project.

This data is commercially confidential and therefore Crown Estate Scotland is not in a position to share it.

Based on 2024 estimates, Crown Estate Scotland projects a revenue from ScotWind developments of £3.42m per gigwatt over the lifetime of the project. If leased through ScotWind then Inch Cape (1.08GW installed capacity) would return £3.7m annually.

The figures provided are estimates only – actual revenues achieved will be dependent on a range of issues, including those affecting deployment scale, and timing and windspeeds.

Following your topical question S6T-02471 on 22 April 2025 in relation to sex offender name change. I subsequently wrote to you about sex offender name change on 30 April 2025. In that response, I set out additional background, including that - as various names can be held in relation to the same individual: "instances of name change", is not necessarily the same as individuals who have changed their given name. I also highlighted to you that as the management of registration records of a Registered Sex Offender (RSO) is an operational matter for Police Scotland, they are therefore best placed to provide you with additional details on what their records do or do not show.

All answers to Topical Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at Official Report: search what was said in Parliament | Scottish Parliament Website

We are committed to working in partnership with our fisheries stakeholders and coastal communities to develop and deliver proportionate fisheries and marine conservation measures which align environmental protection with a flourishing and profitable fishing industry.

A range of measures are already in place to ensure that the marine environment is protected, including the use of quotas to support fishing within sustainable limits. We also support and encourage best practice within the fishing industry in relation to handling of sensitive marine species, including returning them to the sea unharmed where practical to do so. We will be taking further action through our Future Catching Policy to minimise and, where possible, eliminate bycatch of sensitive marine species as part of wider efforts to ensure the sustainability of our fisheries.

We are building on existing measures through a range of initiatives, including taking forward the outcomes of a consultation on requiring tracking and monitoring technology on all under 12 metre fishing vessels in Scottish waters. In addition, one of our top priorities is putting in place the remaining fisheries management measures for MPAs and the 11 priority marine features most at risk from bottom trawling. We consulted in October 2024 on the proposed fisheries management options for 20 protected areas in the offshore marine region. We remain committed to implementing measures for offshore MPAs in 2025 and we will also consult on measures for inshore MPAs once the statutory assessments are completed.

We know that some of our stakeholders would like to see the Scottish Government introduce a three-mile limit restricting mobile fishing gear. We have no plans to do so. Such blanket spatial restrictions are not consistent with an evidence-based approach, do not embrace the benefits of new technology and are inconsistent with the nuanced approach outlined in our 2020-2030 Fisheries Management Strategy.