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The Scottish Government supports the development of carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) as a common whole-system decarbonisation infrastructure with the flexibility to adapt over time to play a central role across the decarbonisation strategies of key sectors such as heat, industry and power. A proven technology, there are more than 50 CCUS facilities worldwide, with an estimated combined capture capacity of 96 million tonnes of CO2 per annum.

The Committee on Climate Change describes CCUS as a “necessity, not an option” to achieve net-zero emissions; indeed, the swift development of CCUS as a cornerstone of our energy transition is vital to achieving Scotland’s net zero emissions reduction targets.

Scotland is the most cost-effective place to begin CCUS in the UK, with existing oil and gas infrastructure available to repurpose for CO2 transport and storage. The development of CCUS could offer a range of transition opportunities for Scottish oil and gas firms and domestic supply chain companies.

We are already supporting efforts to deploy CCUS in Scotland, including through our Emerging Energy Technologies Fund, which will provide £80m over the next five years to support the development of CCUS and negative-emissions technologies. We have also provided funding and policy support to the Acorn CCS project in Aberdeenshire, considered the most advanced CCS project in the UK.

We are focused on supporting town centre businesses affected by change of working patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic, both in the shorter term and for longer term adaption.

We have extended 100% non-domestic rates relief for all retail, leisure, aviation and hospitality premises for all of 2021-22. Additional funding announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy on 2 June will support businesses remaining in level 2 and we are launching a £10 million Scotland Loves Local programme. This follows support of £3.6 billion since the start of the pandemic directly benefitting businesses including town centre businesses.

We will deliver a response to the Town Centre Review which will help us work collaboratively to revitalise our town centres, aiming to increase footfall which will benefit town centre businesses. The Review recognises that there is an opportunity to lock in renewed interest in independent and local businesses, often in local towns and neighbourhoods, encouraged in part by home working and reduced commuting.

We are working with the retail sector to develop a strategy to support recovery from a year of limited trading through to the next five years and beyond, including considerations of how the sector may have to change and adapt to meet the challenges of the impact of Covid-19.

To support longer-term place based renewal and community-led regeneration, including for town centres, and 20 minute neighbourhoods, we have established a Place Based Investment Programme, backed with £325 million capital investment over five years.

The National Public Bodies Directory provides information on all Scottish Government public bodies, including those bodies constituted as limited companies. The directory was last updated on 26 January 2021.

The Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts also include a complete list of all nationalised companies where Scottish Ministers are the sole shareholder as well as providing information on other organisations and companies where the Scottish Ministers have an interest. The accounts are published on an annual basis with the most recent accounts published on 17 December 2020.

We are doing everything we can with the limited powers available to us to support the tourism sector.

We have extended 100% NDR relief, which is more generous than the equivalent rates reliefs available in other UK nations, for all retail, leisure and hospitality premises for all of 2021-22. In addition, Tourism businesses on Non Domestic Rates have been supported by the Strategic Framework Business Fund.

We also launched a £129 million package of business support measures over December and January as part of our short term response to the Scottish Tourism Recovery Taskforce recommendations and followed engagement with industry to target support where it was needed the most.

We also invested £14 million in the Hotel Support Programme to secure up to 3,000 jobs in the hotel sector, and through the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund we awarded over £8.9 million to hotels and other accommodation last year – there was no equivalent fund in England.

Over the past year we have worked closely with sectoral organisations like the Scottish Tourism Alliance on support for the tourism and hospitality sectors and we will continue to do so. This includes £25 million, which we announced in March, to implement the Phase 1 recommendations of the Scottish Tourism Recovery Taskforce.

This fund will support domestic and international marketing to rebuild visitor demand, leadership and skills training, development of a net zero pathway for tourism, and social tourism and days out vouchers.

Development of phase 2 recommendations (years 2 through 5) is underway by the Scottish Tourism Emergency Response Group and proposals will be considered by the Scottish Government very shortly.

Since the start of the pandemic, businesses have directly benefitted from £3.6 billion in support. The Scottish Government publishes statistics and management information relating to its Covid-19 business grants on its website at Coronavirus (COVID-19): business support funding statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . The next update is scheduled to be published on 11 June 2021.

The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is a priority for the Scottish Government and schools play a key role in supporting positive mental health and recognising when children and young people may need additional support.

Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we established a mental health in schools working group made up of expertise within the sector. The working group has developed a new mental health professional learning resource for all school staff to support the wellbeing of children and young people within their schools. The resource covers topics such as body image, self-esteem, and talking to children and young people about mental health and wellbeing. This free online professional learning resource will be available in June 2021 and will be open to anyone who wishes to enhance their knowledge and skills. It is primarily aimed at school staff, but anyone who wishes to upskill their knowledge and understanding will be able to access the learning resource.

In addition to this, the National Review of Eating Disorder Services published their recommendations in March 2021, which included recommendations on ensuring that key stakeholders, such as school staff, could identify the signs and symptoms of all eating disorders. We are currently developing our approach to implementing these recommendations.

The Scottish Government has already paid £32.7 million to more than 21,800 taxi drivers through the Taxi and Private Hire Driver Support Fund. We committed to paying those taxi drivers who previously received a grant, a further grant of £1,500, taking support to a total of £3,000 and the Finance Secretary announced on Wednesday we have allocated a further £62 million for taxi drivers and operators, bringing the total support for the taxi sector during the pandemic to more than £90 million. Local authorities will begin to process the second driver payment during week beginning 7 June.

For taxi operators, local authorities will contact all eligible vehicle licence holders this month to brief them on their potential entitlement and will aim to make payments promptly within a maximum four week period. Amounts payable will be based on the number of vehicle licences each owner/operator holds with operators receiving grants between £4,000 and £15,000.

The Scottish Government carried out a public consultation in late 2019 to gather views on the future use of Scottish Ministers' powers under section 5 of FOISA to extend coverage of the Act. We published our analysis of consultation responses in March 2020 and undertook to further develop and set out the Scottish Government's proposed approach to the future use of these powers. That work was suspended following the coronavirus outbreak but is now resuming, and we hope to set out proposals on the use of the section 5 powers later this year. Our work on extension of FOISA will consider the areas highlighted in the consultation analysis, which include health and social care services provided under contract to Scottish public authorities.

As Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise I am seeking an urgent meeting with Lord Grimstone, UKG Minister of State for Investment with responsibility for the Office for Investment, to clarify the status of UKG engagement with Tesla. Scottish Enterprise officials are also engaging with the Office for Investment in addition to the planned Ministerial engagement. I visited Tesla in California previously to discuss inward investment opportunities and SDI engages with them.

Domestic and international elite sporting events are permitted to take place in all strategic framework levels.

Any event organiser must comply with the protocols set out under the Resumption of Performance Sport guidance and run their event in a strict ‘bubble’. Events must have specific Covid secure plans in place and ensure that they have an appropriate testing regime; a clear statement on minimising or eliminating any unavoidable encroachment of physical distancing within the event environment; restrict movement of participants to designated accommodation, training and competition sites; and have contact only with other accredited event participants unless for other exceptional reasons such as medical need or legal requirements. Event participants must also adhere to the international travel regulations for Elite Sportspeople.

The Scottish Government and the sportscotland Institute of Sport (SIS) reviewed the comprehensive plans put forward by the World Curling Federation in advance of the event being approved.