Chamber and committees

Marine Scotland if contacted would advise an enquirer to stop all works, do not disturb the item, leave the location and notify the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Health and Safety Executive and/or Police Scotland depending on the nature and location of the find. If the unexploded ordnance (UXO) is detected during marine works which fall within the jurisdiction of the Scottish Ministers then Marine Scotland would expect the persons who found the UXO to seek advice on the best way to handle the potential threat. If the decision is taken to remove and/or detonate the UXO then a marine licence may be required from Marine Scotland.

The operation and maintenance of infrastructure at Scotland’s airports is the responsibility of the relevant airport operator. The unscheduled closure of a runway can cause significant inconvenience for affected passengers and airlines. However, the top priority of any airport is the safety of all those using their facilities and this must always be the case.

There has been no appointment of an Oil and Gas Ambassador which was previously publicly committed to by the UK Government. This failure to deliver on a pre- 2016 election commitment by the former Prime Minister, David Cameron, in yet another failure to follow through on commitments to the oil and gas sector and wider energy sector. While it is not possible to assess the impact of the failure by UK Ministers to create the post, it was anticipated that this would be helpful to boost efforts to secure overseas contracts for the sector, and, this oversight, suggests that it was a policy to grab headlines rather than deliver firm gains for the industry – this is especially disappointing at a time when the industry has faced difficult trading conditions, however, it should also be seen as less than helpful in the context that the industry has set itself an ambitious target to generate additional revenue of over £290 billion, by extending the life of the North Sea and maximising supply chain sales to international export markets

However, it is important to note that Scottish Development International (SDI), on behalf of Scottish Ministers, has and will continue to work closely with Scottish companies to offer significant financial incentives, and other assistance, to help businesses access international markets, including: the identification of market opportunities; market intelligence and strategy support; identification of business partners and finance options and the facilitation of connections and business relationships.

Examples of support that Scottish Government, through SDI, provides for growing international trade includes:

•In 2016-17 SDI supported 75 companies projecting significant turnover growth from exports, 170 companies entering new markets, 84 new products taken to international markets by supported companies, 33 successful inward investment projects and this was anticipated to support an additional 1029 total jobs associated with the 33 investment projects.

•The publication of the top 50 Oil and Gas International Guides was designed to provide Scottish supply chain companies with an appreciation of the key market opportunities in each of these markets as well as a view on future trends.

•Facilitating access to business opportunities through a program of overseas missions and exhibitions. These provide a platform for a company to access higher level opportunities than they would be able to access themselves. Examples of these events are:

?ADIPEC (Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference) – Scottish stand and Pavilion with 60 Scottish companies attending in 2016;

?OTC (Offshore Technology Conference in Houston) - Scottish stand and Pavilion with 56 Scottish companies attending in May 2017; and

?Offshore Europe in Aberdeen –Scottish stand and Pavilion with 51 Scottish companies supported in September 2017. This also included the facilitation of numerous meetings, including over 50 meetings between companies and Global Scot members.

The First Minister is today announcing that Nora Senior has been appointed Chair of the Enterprise and Skills Strategic Board.

Ms Senior is Chair, UK Regions & Ireland of global PR firm Weber Shandwick and has more than 25 years’ experience working with clients across a wide range of sectors, including infrastructure, transport, energy, property, finance, healthcare, technology and FMCG.

In May 2017 she stepped down as Chair of Scottish Chambers of Commerce after serving a four-year term, is a former President of the British Chambers of Commerce and is a Council Member of the International Chambers of Commerce.

She will lead the Strategic Board as it seeks to maximise the impact of the collective investment that’s made in enterprise and skills development in Scotland, helping create the conditions needed to deliver inclusive growth.

Other members of the Strategic Board will be announced ahead of the Board meeting for the first time in October.

The Scottish Government seeks to maintain regular and effective communications with the UK Government regarding future energy priorities. However, this approach may not be reciprocated.

For example, the Scottish Government has repeatedly called on the UK Government to introduce urgent measures to support the oil and gas industry. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 3 March 2017 outlining priority measures which could have been introduced in the spring Budget.

Despite the Scottish Government’s correspondence, there has been no response to our calls for the urgent introduction of support for exploration activity and moves to safeguard critical infrastructure. However, Scottish Ministers were successful in securing a UK Government commitment to address decommissioning tax relief.

Scottish Government communications are at both official and ministerial level and are primarily with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

At a Ministerial level, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work held a meeting in February with the BEIS select committee and the Minister for Business, Energy and Innovation attended the Joint Ministerial Council (Europe) on 21 June, where he stressed the Scottish Government’s preference for ambitious, strong and binding renewable and energy efficiency targets under the European Union’s Clean Energy Package.

Officials from BEIS and the Scottish Government recently met to discuss a range of issues including energy efficiency, local energy, EU exit planning and energy, flexibility and energy networks, remote island wind, industrial decarbonisation, onshore wind deployment, carbon capture and storage, onshore oil and gas licensing, consumer energy issues and renewable Heat.

I regularly meet with senior representatives from the oil and gas industry. I most recently met with GE on the 1st June 2017 where a broad range of energy issues including GE’s interests in offshore oil and gas activity, renewables, and the Scottish Government’s draft Energy Strategy were discussed.

The Scottish Government will monitor any implications for Scottish employment from the merger of GE and Baker Hughes. It is estimated that GE employs around 22,000 individuals across the UK and Ireland, while Baker Hughes employed 1,775 individuals in the UK at the end of 2016. The merger has the potential to unlock advantages in terms of consistency in service provision, increased R&D, and the sharing of best practise, but of course we will be particularly keen to understand employment and investment implications for Scotland.

There has been a strong increase in corporate activity across the North Sea oil and gas sector since the turn of the year, acting as a vote of confidence in the basin following a number of challenging years. In order to Maximising Economic Recovery from the North Sea it is important that assets are in the right hands, supporting increased investment and activity across the basin.

Statoil have stated that the next phase of the Mariner oil field will support up to 1,500 jobs, and that, once in production, 700 permanent jobs will be supported by the field which has an estimated 250 million barrels of oil and an expected peak production of 55,000 barrels a day. The Mariner hook-up and commissioning campaign is expected to last through until the second half of 2018 when first oil is expected.

It is estimated that up to 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent remains under the North Sea and in the wider basin. This announcement further demonstrates that Scotland's oil and gas industry remains open for business and adds to the increasing body of evidence pointing to an upturn in industry sentiment. Our draft Energy Strategy clearly outlines that the Scottish Government remains committed to maintaining domestic oil and gas exploration and production, and maximising economic recovery.

The Scottish Government and its agencies have been engaging regularly with Statoil on a broad range of oil and gas, and renewable opportunities. I regularly meet with senior representatives from the oil and gas industry, during these meetings a wide range of energy issues are discussed, I most recently met with Statoil in January to understand the development of their offshore renewables portfolio, and look forward to attending the official opening of their pioneering Hywind floating offshore wind pilot off the coast of Peterhead in the Autumn.

The Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2008 places a duty on schools to provide oily fish (fresh, canned or frozen) at least once every three weeks. The 2008 guidance document which supports the implementation of the Regulations also recommends that other fish should be provided at least once a week.

The 2014 guidance document 'Better Eating, Better Learning - a new context for school food' is designed to support schools as they drive further improvements to the school food service. It includes a section dedicated to 'sustainability through food' and advocates the use of fresh, seasonal and sustainable food (including fish).

The Scottish Government has provided £5.6m over five years for food education projects. Fisheries interests such as Seafood in Schools formed part of this work which is designed to complement Curriculum for Excellence in teaching children and young people about the role food choices play in their health and wellbeing, the economy and the environment.