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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 information requested is not held centrally. We expect all NHS Boards to follow all relevant guidelines in order to avoid unnecessary wastage in medication.

The Scottish Government recognises that inappropriate inhaler technique can lead to medicine wastage and impaired control of a person’s asthma. Review of inhaler technique should form part of a medication review between the individual and their medical professional. This is an important recommendation in the current Scottish Government Quality Prescribing for Respiratory guide and the planned update to this guidance will continue to reinforce this message. As part of the medication review, the appropriateness of the inhalers should be reviewed, which has been shown to reduce wastage and improved treatment.

Details of the number of asthma annual review appointments is not collected centrally. However, the Scottish Government recognises that annual asthma reviews are an important element in enabling people with asthma to self-manage their condition. That is why asthma reviews form an important priority in our Respiratory Care Action Plan for Scotland and are already a key recommendation in national clinical guidelines.

Since the start of the pandemic, the NHS in Scotland has been dealing with the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 which meant that some procedures and appointments were postponed to ensure the safety of patients and staff. This has resulted in many appointments being delivered differently or being delayed due to the additional challenges in delivering services.

However, we fully expect that patients be treated in line with their clinical priority and in these circumstances, we expect GP Practices to schedule appointments or advise of alternative arrangements as soon as clinically appropriate.

We advise anyone who has any concerns regarding their asthma to contact their GP practice. They will be best placed to provide specific advice and support based on individual circumstances.

In year one, the Fund will be split evenly between Capital and Financial Transactions. Detail of what each can be used for is available in HMT’s consolidated budget guidance, the most recent version of which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/consolidated-budgeting-guidance-2021-to-2022

The information requested on vacancy rates for retail and hospitality units is not held centrally but is held by Local Authorities.

The Scottish Government recognises the difficulties facing Scotland’s cities and businesses as a result of the global pandemic as highlighted in the Centre for Cities report. The Scottish Government has provided more than £4.4 billion of business support since March 2020. This includes COVID-19 non-domestic rates reliefs which have saved businesses around £1.6bn in reduced rates bills since 1 April 2020. In addition last year, we awarded £2m directly to our cities through the City Centre Recovery Fund, to kick-start their recovery.

The Omicron variant in late 2021 further impacted on city centre recovery and has exacerbated the economic challenges faced by our city centres and their businesses. As such, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance announced an additional £3m of funding this financial year through the City Centre Recovery Fund on 10 February. These monies will support all seven cities build sustainable recovery for their centres and their businesses and will take forward the priorities of the City Centre Recovery Task Force.

The Scottish Government has an objective to determine Electricity Act section 36 applications within nine months, where possible. It is important to clarify that this timeline is dependent on the submission of a complete, fit for purpose application that fully addresses all issues raised by Scottish Ministers and consultees during the pre-application period including the scoping process. That is why we are encouraging applicants to engage early with both the regulator and relevant stakeholders.

Details of the consenting process for offshore wind developments can be found here:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/marine-scotland-consenting-licensing-manual-offshore-wind-wave-tidal-energy-applications/

The Scottish Government supports farmers during the ongoing UK-wide avian influenza outbreak through the provision of timely advice and guidance to poultry and other captive bird keepers on risks, legal requirements and biosecurity. This information is made available through social media, news releases and on gov.scot, as these continue to be vital tools in protecting birds.

The Scottish Government has reminded keepers that the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ), and associated robust biosecurity and housing measures, remain in place across Scotland. These measures include all bird keepers keeping their birds indoors or keeping them otherwise separate from wild birds.

The Scottish Government has also made an additional £1 million of funding available to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). This is to cover the agency’s additional expenses associated with tackling the current outbreak.

Compensation is paid for birds humanely euthanased as part of our disease response in line with valuation tables, which are updated regularly by the Animal and Plant Health Agency on behalf of the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government do not compensate for any dead or visibly ill birds, which is in line with the policy in England and Wales.

If a larger poultry or captive bird business is in a disease control zone, there may be trade issues associated with regionalisation. The Scottish Government work with the Defra Market Access and Veterinary Trade Facilitation teams, who liaise with poultry industry stakeholders and the APHA Centre for International Trade to understand and address issues and priorities for poultry exports. Defra Market Access also liaise with British Embassy colleagues globally to answers trade related queries from Central Competent Authorities, provide updates to third country trading partners and seek clarity on terms of trade where required. The Scottish Government will liaise with the National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS) and the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) to support affected businesses where required.

We announced on 14 February an agreement with the UK Government to deliver two Green Freeports in Scotland, working on an equal partnership basis. A package of reserved and devolved support will be available in the selected Green Freeports ensuring that Scotland can build globally competitive industrial clusters in the green industries of the future, deliver a just transition to net-zero, and create new high-quality, well-paid employment opportunities delivering Fair Work, including payment of the real living wage.

A competitive bidding process will be launched soon, with the winners to be announced later this year. As this will be a competitive, open and transparent process, I cannot prejudge this by commenting on possible locations.