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We are progressing work to develop a medium term resilient route through Glen Croe. We will bring forward proposals for this by late 2022.

The Scottish Government remains committed to medium and long term solutions to address landslip risks at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful.

I can confirm that design and assessment work for both medium and long term solutions at the Rest and be Thankful is being taken forward from the Capital Land and Works allocation as part of the Scottish Budget: 2022-23.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with BEIS and Ofgem and National Grid ESO to discuss the arrangements under which all generators, both existing and new, access and use the GB electricity system.

National Grid ESO regularly assess the need for investment in our electricity system. The latest assessment has identified over £21bn of transmission network investment needed in GB. This vital investment will minimise constraints on the system while supporting new connection of generation to meet 2030 targets and maintain system security.

This is a reserved issue and Scottish Government has no powers to change the regulations in respect to electricity network access. It is vital that industry, government, and the regulator work together to enable timely delivery of these investments while ensuring that UK regulatory levers drive down costs and increase benefits for customers and communities.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with the energy sector and continues to provide support in a number of ways. For example:

• £5 million provided through the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund to support tidal energy innovation and deployment.
• £18.25 million funding to support the current Wave Energy Scotland technology programme, the biggest wave energy technology development programme in the world.
• £10 million hydrogen innovation scheme under the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund, which will focus on innovation in hydrogen production, storage and distribution technology.
• £75 million Just Transition fund to support the energy sector, including testing and promoting emerging technologies such as EV battery recycling technology, offshore green hydrogen and commissioning.

The Scottish Government has provided consistent support for Scotland’s marine energy sector for over a decade. As a result, Scotland is the most advanced hub in Europe for the testing and demonstration of marine energy technologies and is ideally placed to both shape and benefit from the potential global marine energy market. We will continue to support the sector as it grows, and Marine Scotland will continue to address evidence gaps through the Scottish Marine Energy Research Programme.

I met with Orkney Islands Council Harbour Authority on 11 April 2022, during my visit to Orkney. The purpose of that meeting was to provide an update, following previous meetings, on the progress of the Orkney Harbours Masterplan. During the discussion, we specifically focussed on the work underway to develop and enhance the Scapa Deep Water Quay and Halston Pier, both of which will provide new opportunities for use by the Offshore Wind sector.

The Scottish Government has provided consistent support for Scotland’s marine energy sector for more than a decade. As a result, Scotland is the most advanced hub in Europe for the testing and demonstration of marine energy technologies and is ideally placed to both shape and benefit from the potential global market for marine energy while helping deliver a net-zero economy.

This support has included the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund, which provided £3.4 million to Orbital Marine Power to build and deploy the O2 tidal stream turbine and £1.545 million to Simec Atlantis Energy to design, fabricate and install a subsea hub for the MeyGen project in the Pentland Firth. This support enabled both Orbital Marine Power and Simec Atlantis Energy to benefit from the recent introduction of ring-fenced support for tidal stream energy projects in the UK Government’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme. In addition, the Scottish Government has, since 2014, invested almost £50 million in Wave Energy Scotland and continues to support this internationally renowned programme, which has made significant progress in driving the development of wave energy technology towards readiness for commercialisation.

The Scottish Government will continue to engage with the marine energy industry in Scotland and is committed to supporting the further development of the sector.

The Scottish Government works with the UK Government, and with local government and the wider public sector, to maximise investment in Scotland’s renewables sector. Notably, through the £75m Energy Transition Fund, the Scottish Government is match funding UK Government funding in two key energy transition projects:

(1) £26.3m to the Energy Transition Zone. The zone will transform North East Scotland into a globally integrated energy cluster focussed on accelerating net zero. It aims to generate 2,500 new jobs in Aberdeen and realise as much as £400m GVA.

(2) £6.5m to the Global Underwater Hub (GUH). The GUH will support the globally competitive underwater sector in the UK to accelerate the transition to net zero, drive innovation and growth and make a step change in the development and internationalisation of technology and services.

The Energy Transition Fund will protect existing jobs and create new jobs in the North East, and across Scotland by opening up opportunities through energy transition and harnessing private sector funding.

The investment will also benefit the wider Scottish energy sector and broader 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.

The Scottish Government continues to advocate for full association and participation in Horizon Europe.

The Scottish Government has represented this position by emphasising the significance of the Horizon Europe association to Scotland through ministerial correspondence and meetings with UK counterparts, including the correspondence I sent to the UK Minister for Science, Research and Innovation on 8 June 2022 on this matter.

Scottish Government officials are engaging closely with the UK Government on the Horizon Europe negotiations and are working with the Scottish research and innovation sector to support their access to the programme.

Scottish Ministers’ continue to emphasise the importance of collaboration through this programme with EU stakeholders at every opportunity. Officials in Scotland House Brussels are relaying Scotland’s position to the European Commission and member state counterparts.

As set out in our Programme for Government we are facing the most severe cost crisis in our lifetime and it is focused on the policy and legislative commitments that will make the biggest difference to households and businesses. The Scottish Government is already committed to measures, worth almost £3 billion this year, that will help with rising costs. Farmers and crofters will benefit from some of the general measures that we have set out, both as individuals and as a sector. The powers needed to tackle the cost crisis lie with the UK Government and we are pressing them to take urgent action.

We recognise that there are specific issues for the farming and crofting sector so we have, through a change to legislation, brought forward annual farm payment dates so that payments will begin at their earliest ever point.

The £300,000 allocated to the Islands Bond this financial year will now be used to shape a range of tests to help inform policy in an islands context, based on the feedback gathered through our engagement on the Islands Bond since October 2021, (including meeting over 100 island residents across 12 island communities in spring 2022).

These Practical Policy Tests (PPTs) will help to inform the development of our action plan to address depopulation as set out in our 2019 National Islands Plan, and also help to inform our future funding requirements so that we can tackle the depopulation challenges across our islands.

This work complements the £8.3 million provided to implement the National Islands Plan in the current financial year. This continues our record of delivering significant investment in key island-based projects, such as our £1.3 million contribution towards the rebuild of the Fair Isle Bird Observatory, and the £550K transformational Kerrera Road project.

Annual budgets will continue to be set through the annual parliamentary budget Bill process and the annual budget will be based on the latest fiscal information.