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As outlined in the National Transition Training Fund Year 1 report published in February 2022, 60 individuals were supported through the Energy Efficiency Transition Support and Heat Pump Training Fund in the 2021-22 academic year.

In Year 2, the project aims to support 455 individuals. The Energy Skills Partnership (ESP) commenced the project in December 2021 offering colleges the opportunity to participate in the project. Delivery of courses began in January 2022 and will run until the end of the current academic year. We will report on final outcomes upon completion of the Fund in August 2022.

Another training opportunity related to heat pumps is the Sustainable Energy Supply Chain Programme at Energy Saving Trust, which manages and administers the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) fund on behalf of the Scottish Government. This fund provides grants to assist Scottish SMEs installing heat pumps in achieving MCS certification for the first time. This funding is for installers who are not currently MCS certified for heat pumps and who want to become MCS certified for any heat pump technology (air, water, or ground source). The fund pays for 75% of the initial fees required, up to a maximum of £1,000, for both the certification and consumer codes of conduct which installers are required to join in order to become MCS certified. The fund started in September 2021 and will continue to run until March 2023 or until funds fully invested.

Applications for development and capital funding are open. More information can be found on the Local Energy Scotland website here . Loan and grant capital funding is currently available to communities developing renewable energy, heat decarbonisation, and local energy system projects through the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES).

Funding is dependent on project needs and type. The CARES team work with projects from inception to completion and continue to offer a flexible package of support to a wide range of renewable energy projects and will also soon offer support through a framework of specialised technical consultants to make it quicker and easier for communities to explore options. More information on this will be published shortly on the Local Energy Scotland website.

From April 2022 CARES will also give greater focus to the decarbonisation of heat in buildings in line with the ambitions set out in our Heat in Buildings Strategy.

These assessments will be undertaken as part of work on the Scottish Government's Islands Connectivity Plan (ICP). Community needs assessments establish the level of transport connectivity required by each island and remote mainland community within scope of ICP and will update assessments undertaken for the Ferries Plan 2013-2022. Market assessments consider whether the required level of transport connectivity can be provided without government intervention.

The exact timescales for these assessments is still to be determined. We aim to make significant progress with these assessments during 2022 and conclude any outstanding work during 2023. Priority is currently being given to assessments required to support the business cases for live vessel and port investment projects.

Transport Scotland has not yet invited tenders for work on any of these assessments. It is expected that the work will be undertaken utilising both internal staff resource and external consultancy.

The Scottish Government does not hold or maintain any data on the number of registered gas engineers in Scotland who are also certified as installers under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).

The Gas Safe register is the official registration body for gas businesses and installers in the United Kingdom and is operated independently on behalf of the UK Government and the UK Health and Safety Executive. We do not hold or maintain information on the number of Scottish based operatives registered with Gas Safe.

Unlike Gas Safe, MCS operates at a corporate level, rather than individual operatives. We do not routinely maintain data on the number of companies registered with MCS, however, in 2020 there were 134 companies based in Scotland accredited to carry out heat pump installations under the Scheme.

We know that the number of heating engineers trained in zero emissions heating systems will need to grow in line with the ambitions set out in our Heat in Buildings Strategy and we are working with Scottish Renewables and Skills Development Scotland in a project to quantify the likely demand for new skills.

The evidence from this project will help inform our Heat in Buildings Supply Chains Delivery Plan which we will publish later in 2022.

For individuals who undertake the Engineering and Engineering Construction frameworks, there is the opportunity to complete a Scottish Vocational Qualification in the units set out below:

Engineering:

• Fabrication and Welding Engineering (SCQF Level 6)
• Fabrication and Welding Engineering Sheet Metalwork 3mm, less (SCQF Level 6)
• Fabrication and Welding Engineering (Manual Welding) (SCQF Level 6)

Engineering Construction:

• Diploma in Welding Engineering Construction Plate (SCQF Level 7)

There are also qualifications available for those who wish to train in welding through the Employability Fund (EF), which was developed as a response to concerns that the existing landscape of provision for pre-employment support in Scotland was too fragmented and not flexible enough to meet the needs of individuals and local labour markets.

With a strong focus on work experience, the EF responds to the different needs of individuals, while also adapting to employer demands on a local basis. Employability Fund can be used to support people to develop the employability and vocational skills they need to make the transition into a Modern Apprenticeship or job.

As part of the EF, the following qualifications are available for individuals to undertake:

• Welding - Radiographic Interpretation of Welds
• Welding Inspector
• Welding Code Core Flux 6 GR EN ISO 96061
• Flux Core Welding 6G H-LO45 135/136 incl. Exam
• CSWIP Welding Inspection with E-Learning

In Scotland, Modern and Graduate Apprentices are employees and it is therefore employers who set apprentices pay, as with their other employees within the parameters of the National Minimum Wage (NMW).

The NMW, including the NMW for Apprentices, is a reserved matter for the UK Government. As such, the rates of NMW are set by the UK Government and the Scottish Government.

The , most recently published on 10 January 2020 by the UK Government Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), measures the pay rates of apprentices and may be the closest available measure.

Scotland’s results are based on 2,301 interviews with Scottish apprentices, the majority of interviews were conducted with apprentices at Levels 2 and 3, along with a smaller number of interviews with apprentices at Level 4+. The table below sets out a comparison of 2016 and 2018 survey data for Scotland:

Table 1: Median basic hourly pay for apprentices in Scotland by level, 2016 and 2018

We engage regularly with the UK Government, COSLA, local authorities and other partners to ensure that people are provided with the safety and security they need to rebuild their lives.

All 32 local authorities have confirmed their participation in Afghanistan Relocation and Resettlement Schemes and as of 4 March, 101 families (415 individuals) have been relocated to 20 Scottish Local Authorities.

Local authorities continue to experience lengthy delays in the matching process, resulting in significant costs due to properties set aside to support Afghans lying empty. We urge the UK Government to address these delays as quickly as possible.

The Scottish Government funded a feasibility study into a pilot of a Citizens’ Basic Income (CBI), which resulted in a report, published in June 2020, with some of the most detailed and comprehensive research in the UK. The report concludes that, whilst it is desirable to pilot a CBI in Scotland, it is currently not feasible in a devolved settlement. This is partly because UK Government co-operation is required to avoid unintended consequences to recipients' income from reserved benefits. The Scottish Government welcomes the pilot scheme for care leavers being carried out by the Welsh Government. However, we understand that they have not been able to resolve this interaction with the reserved benefits system.

The Scottish Government has now established an independent expert group to consider the delivery of a Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) within the powers we currently hold to ensure everyone, including care leavers and young people with experience of care, have enough money to live a decent, dignified, healthy and financially secure life.

We have committed to keeping The Promise, and this highlighted the need for robust “scaffolding” around care leavers and those with care experience. Many young people with care experience face significant barriers to achieving a successful transition to adulthood and more independent living. In recognition of this challenge, the Scottish Government has committed to delivering the Care Experience Grant. The Care Experience Grant will be a £200 annual grant that will benefit around 50,000 young people aged 16-25. This policy commitment would provide some additional financial security for young people with experience of care and help reduce some of the barriers that young people face in transitions to adulthood and more independent living.

Our clear preference would be for people to move into housing as soon as possible, however due to the speed and size of the evacuation we recognise that the use of temporary hotel accommodation was necessary. Refugee resettlement and relocation are UK Government schemes and the Home Office is responsible for the sourcing of hotels to accommodate people.

There are currently 6 hotels located in Scotland used for bridging accommodation (2 in Edinburgh, 1 in Fife and 3 in Aberdeen). In line with the key principle of the New Scots refugee integration strategy, local authorities are working to support integration from day one of arrival in Scotland, including those within hotels.

We continue to engage with the UK Government to ensure that property offers that local authorities have already made can be matched with Afghan families as soon as possible.