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The Scottish Government is clear in our support for a just transition for Scotland’s valued oil and gas sector, which recognises the maturity of the North Sea basin and is in line with our climate change commitments and energy security.

Decisions on licensing, consenting and the associated fiscal regime for offshore oil and gas are all matters currently reserved to the UK Government.

The UK Government consultation ‘Building the North Sea’s Energy Future’ closed on 30 April and we are now awaiting the Government’s response.

Scottish Government Ministers and officials engage with UK Government counterparts and a wide range of stakeholders when considering all of these issues and will continue to do so.

The Scottish Government recognises the distinct challenges faced by the deafblind community and we want to ensure that those living with deafblindness in Scotland are able to access the best possible care and support.

We intend to take forward work to adopt the Nordic definition of deafblindness as a functional model in Scotland to help ensure individuals receive the recognition and support they need.

We appreciate the hard work undertaken by Deafblind Scotland, the CPG on Deafness and the CPG on Visual Impairment to raise awareness of the definition and progress towards its adoption in Scotland. We will work closely with them on the next steps to implement this definition.

Four out of six key measures provided for within the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022, have been implemented and two have been paused, as outlined to the Criminal Justice Committee. The decisions to pause the implementation of a licensing system for those wishing to use fireworks and restricting the days on which fireworks can be supplied and used, are being kept under review. The Scottish Government is keeping abreast of developments being made by the UK Government including the consideration of the Private Members’ Fireworks Bill seeking to restrict and limit the use and sale of fireworks.

Protecting children from harm is a key priority for the Scottish Government. I welcome the findings of Baroness Casey’s Audit. We are working at pace with partners including Police Scotland to assess its findings and recommendations to understand how they might apply in Scotland.

Police Scotland has advised that there are no current investigations in Scotland involving offences against children which would mirror the investigations described in Baroness Casey’s audit as being perpetrated by “grooming gangs”. However, there is absolutely no place for complacency. That is why Police Scotland are carrying out their deep dive into previous investigations of the type referred to in the Baroness Casey audit. This is expected to be completed in a matter of weeks.

It should also be noted, that as a single force, with one vulnerability database feeding local and national child protection procedures, and a National Intelligence database, Police Scotland is well placed to address the information and intelligence sharing challenges highlighted in Baroness Casey’s Audit. Police Scotland will work closely with the UK National Police Chiefs’ Council leads in Child Protection to ensure mutual sharing of best practice and learning on this issue.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry currently taking place is one of the widest ranging ever undertaken in Scotland, and includes an extensive review of child protection policy and practice in Scotland. Baroness Casey’s report specifically highlights the vulnerability of children in care to sexual exploitation and is likely to be a further source of evidence for the Scottish Inquiry to draw on.

Baroness Casey’s audit will also be considered by the National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Strategic Group, members of which include Police Scotland and Professor Alexis Jay, as it considers opportunities to improve our response to child sexual abuse and exploitation in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has regular discussions with UK Government counterparts to identify opportunities for improved collaboration. We are committed to working in partnership with UK Ministers to tackle child abuse and exploitation.

The Scottish Government is committed to helping the Scottish hydrogen sector develop and grow to realise an ambition of generating 5GW of green and low-carbon hydrogen by 2030 and 25GW by 2045. Working with our Enterprise Agencies, we are actively engaging with developers to support and encourage hydrogen production projects across Scotland. Given the nascent nature of the sector, and the pace of the developing global hydrogen economy, future production capacity levels are subject to many factors and are challenging to forecast.

The Green Jobs Fund has provided £38.7 million in grant funding.

Hydrogen is not considered the primary approach to decarbonising domestic heat; however, it does still have a role to play where electrification is not the optimal solution.

Our Heat in Buildings Strategy set out the potential for hydrogen to replace natural gas in some parts of the gas grid. Any such role continues to depend on strategic decisions by the UK Government in the coming years.

Hydrogen use for domestic heating is new and needs to be demonstrated before the UK Government makes its decision. The Scottish Government has provided £6.9m grant funding to SGN’s H100 Fife hydrogen for home heating demonstration project, which will contribute to the evidence base on the role hydrogen can play in decarbonising heat using the gas network. This project is expected to come online in Autumn 2025 and will fit up to 300 hydrogen boilers supplied with 100% green hydrogen produced from offshore wind renewable electricity.

The Scottish Government is clear in our support for a just transition for Scotland’s valued oil and gas sector, which recognises the maturity of the North Sea basin and is in line with our climate change commitments and energy security.

Decisions on licensing, consenting and the associated fiscal regime for offshore oil and gas are all matters currently reserved to the UK Government. Policy approaches on these matters will inform the future of the North Sea Transition Deal.

The UK Government consultation ‘Building the North Sea’s Energy Future’ closed on 30 April and we are now awaiting the Government’s response.

Scottish Government Ministers and officials engage with UK Government counterparts, industry bodies, trade unions and a range of other stakeholders when considering all of these issues and will continue to do so.

I most recently met with Minister Madders, Minister for Employment Rights, Competition and Markets alongside the Deputy First Minister of Wales, on 26 February 2025 to discuss what more can be done on firework regulations as part of our on-going discussions to address the dangerous misuse of fireworks.

Since 2020-21, 50 grants worth a total of £44.57m have been allocated to projects to support and develop green hydrogen production, as detailed in the following table.