³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

On 30 October I chaired the Road Safety Strategic Partnership Board. This meeting involved a range of operational partners, including Police Scotland and local authorities, to discuss measures aimed at enhancing road safety and progressing towards achieving our vision for Scotland, including the north east, to have the best road safety performance in the world by 2030.

The Scottish Government regularly meets with the Scottish Funding Council to discuss a wide range of matters, including sectoral skills initiatives.

For example, skills officials recently met with SFC to discuss the co-led Tertiary Pathfinder Programme which, among others, includes the NESA Energy Transition Skills Pathway pilot project.

The Scottish Government engages frequently with the Energy Skills Partnership (ESP) to discuss their work supporting Scotland’s college sector. Skills officials last met with ESP directly in August 2024.

The Scottish Funding Council funds ESP to act as the college sector lead for the transition to net zero, supporting institutions in developing their capability, capacity and curriculum pathways. SFC are represented on the ESP Advisory Board and maintain regular contact with ESP.

The Scottish Government regularly meets with Scottish Renewables to discuss a wide range of matters related to the energy transition. The First Minister met Claire Mack, the Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, in August, and this meeting included discussion of skills, workforce and training in the renewables sector.

Following this, the Minister for Higher and Further Education and the Minister for Climate Action met Claire Mack, along with other partners, in September to discuss the needs of the energy sector.

The most recent discussion on workplace planning for renewable energy projects took place at The Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) on 18 September 2024, where members discussed barriers and opportunities in relation to skills and the workforce for the offshore wind industry.

We will continue to engage with industry stakeholders to plan for a multi-skilled energy workforce that can benefit from opportunities across the energy system.

The Scottish Government has not yet met with the Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group to discuss employment and training initiatives for the renewable energy sector.

The Scottish Government engages with industry regularly via a number of mechanisms including the Scottish Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) and the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC).

The Just Transition Fund has allocated £75 million to date, supporting a cross-sector portfolio of projects ranging across sectors like energy, agriculture, digital innovation and construction while also supporting communities across the North East and Moray to create jobs, support innovation, and secure the highly skilled workforce of the future.

The Scottish Government does not currently hold overall figures relating to employment outcomes or job creation as a result of our funded programmes. We are currently commissioning an independent evaluation which will help to determine this and the impact of the Fund to date, in due course.

Scottish Government Ministers and officials regularly meet with industry stakeholders, including OEUK to discuss their ongoing employment and training initiatives. The First Minister and I met with David Whitehouse, CEO of OEUK on 30 September 2024. The Scottish Government is working with the energy sector to plan for a multi-skilled workforce to ensure a fair and just transition for Scotland’s highly skilled offshore workers.

The Scottish Government is aware that passengers, ScotRail staff and other stakeholders hold a wide range of views about alcohol on trains.

Ministers continue to consider this wide range of diverging views in line with the broad range of recommendations made in our report on women and girls’ safety on public transport and in the context of ongoing initiatives to tackle antisocial behaviour on public transport.