Chamber and committees

a) The Bioenergy Policy Working Group consists Scottish Government officials from a number of policy areas.

• Agriculture Transformation for Environment and Climate Change
• Bioenergy
• Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS)
• Critical Energy Infrastructure & Commercial Projects
• Domestic Climate Change
• Environmental Protection - Air Quality
• Environmental Quality and Circular Economy
• Heat Strategy
• Hydrogen
• Industrial Decarbonisation
• Industrial Strategy and Technologies
• Just Transition
• Land Use Strategy
• Land Use Transformation
• Natural Capital and Land Management
• Office of the Chief Economic Adviser (OCEA)
• Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services (RESAS)
• Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA)
• Scottish Forestry
• Sustainable Aviation
• Transport -Supply Chains and Alternative Fuels
• Whole Energy System

Minutes from the meetings will be published as soon as practical. However the group are still in the process of developing policy and considering options.

b) The Bioenergy Expert panel has still to be assembled.

We have been engaging closely with the UK Government to establish that Scottish stakeholders can provide feedback and ensure that the Turing Scheme better reflects their needs.

In Turing Scheme’s first round of application results, each nation within the UK received less funding than previously secured under Erasmus plus. This highlights the need for the Scottish Government to consider how best to offer staff and learners further opportunities for mobility exchange.

The Scottish Government intends to lay a copy of the report before the Scottish Parliament, as soon as it is practicable, as set out in accordance with Section 11F(5) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The Scottish Government will also publish a copy of the report on its website.

To access the scheme, all those aged 5-21 must be carrying a new card. A valid card must be presented to obtain free travel. Until a valid card is received applicants are required to pay the fare of any journeys required. Transport Scotland will not provide refunds for journeys made without a valid card.

We know some people may not have access to the technology required to make an online application for a new or updated card. For this reason, other routes are available to help ensure no eligible young person is excluded. Applications to update cards can be made in-person via local councils and through some schools. Many local councils have dedicated staff on hand to help applicants who might have difficulty accessing the online card management system.

The Scottish Government is wholly committed to a just transition to net zero and using the energy transition to build a better and more equal society.

Our ten-year £500m Just Transition Fund will accelerate the energy transition of the North East and Moray regions, and will also support the role of Aberdeen and the wider north east as one of Scotland’s centres of excellence for the transition to a net zero economy as we grow Scotland’s offshore wind sector and supply chain – which Scottish Ministers have called on the UK Government multiple times to match.

We have invested £26.3m to support the creation of the Energy Transition Zone (ETZ) in Aberdeen. The ETZ will be a place to attract and develop green energy related R&D, innovation, manufacturing, testing, and demonstration, and will help to position Aberdeen as a global hub for offshore wind and other innovative renewables technologies such as the development of green hydrogen projects.

On Monday 28 th February 2022, the First Minister announced that ETZ Ltd have the National Floating Wind Innovation Centre as their anchor tenant. The £9 million centre will be located within the Altens Industrial Estate of the Energy Transition Zone and is being developed to ensure that the North East of Scotland and wider UK capitalise on the massive opportunity created by the Scottish seabed leasing round, Scotwind, which will drive the development and demand for floating offshore wind. ETZ Ltd is providing £4m for the capital costs of the innovation centre and ORE Catapult are contributing £5m to operationally run it. Through the Energy Transition Fund we are providing the full £4m that ETZ are investing. It is due to go out in Financial Year 2022-23.

In addition, the Scottish Government’s £75m Energy Just Transition Fund (ETF) will not only support our energy sector and the North East but will also benefit the wider Scottish energy sector and offshore wind supply chain, working with local businesses to maximise the economic benefits, create and support sustainable jobs and contribute to inclusive economic growth across the country.

Furthermore the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) has been identified by both industry and the Scottish Government as a key vehicle for taking forward the strategic supply chain opportunities that emerge from ScotWind. A key role for SOWEC is the implementation of the recommendations in the Strategic Investment Assessment (SIA), which was commissioned by SOWEC and led by Professor Sir Jim McDonald of Strathclyde University. The primary recommendation focusses on bringing the manufacturing of floating offshore wind platforms to Scotland through creation of a Scottish Floating Offshore Wind Port Cluster, with ports acting in partnership to provide the required infrastructure area and capability needed to attract manufacturers to use Scottish ports and invest in Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s 2021/22 Programme for Government commits to work to ensure that a legitimate and constitutional referendum can be held within this Parliamentary term, if the Covid crisis is over, and that a detailed prospectus for an independent Scotland will be prepared to allow the people of Scotland to make an informed choice over their future.

The work to prepare an independence prospectus is being co-ordinated by the Constitutional Futures Division within the Constitution and Cabinet Directorate. This division is currently comprised of one Senior Civil Servant and thirteen other officials (12.9 FTE).

The work to take forward referendum legislation will be co-ordinated by a team in the Elections and FOI Division, also in the Constitution and Cabinet Directorate. The team is currently comprised of three officials.

The staff numbers may change as the work programme evolves. Both streams of work will also draw on other civil servants who will contribute to varying extents as part of their wider responsibilities in supporting the Scottish Government.

As civil servants are not required to record the time spent on individual tasks we cannot provide a figure for total staff hours spent on taking forward these commitments.

The data on vandalism that the Scottish Government receives from Police Scotland does not include any information on the type of location in which they were committed. As such we are unable to separately identify whether any individual crime of vandalism recorded by the police or proceeded against in court, occurred in a public toilet facility.

The Scottish Government does not hold information which provides a breakdown of spending on initiatives to promote the re-use of electrical waste.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS is currently in the process of selecting a contractor to initially develop a design for HMP Glasgow and thereafter award a contract for the construction of the new prison.

It is anticipated that a contractor will be appointed later this year to develop the design stage of the project.