- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of ScotWind leasing revenue is designated for investment in the energy skills passport, skills training, and other education and training.
Answer
As published as part of the 2025-26 Budget, the NZE portfolio received Scotwind CDEL of £179.9 million in addition to £603.7 million CDEL allocation this financial year, which is targeted towards our investment in net zero priorities.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of ScotWind leasing revenue is designated for (a) manufacturing, (b) assembly and (c) ports infrastructure in the offshore wind supply chain.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-37126 on 7 May 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 2 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to (a) partial and (b) total public ownership of offshore wind energy generation to support the offshore wind supply chain.
Answer
A national public energy company that is involved in large-scale energy generation would only be possible in an independent Scotland where we had full powers over the energy market and full access to borrowing. The Green Industrial Strategy sets out how the people of Scotland will see maximum benefits from Scotland’s energy transition, including identifying Scotland’s wind economy as one of the five opportunity areas.
We are investing up to £500m over five years to anchor our offshore wind supply chain in Scotland and are almost tripling our capital funding to £150 million in 2025-26.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 2 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to leveraging (a) private and (b) public
investment to support the offshore wind supply chain.
Answer
Our strategic investment of up to £500 million over five years is expected to leverage additional private investment of up to £1.5 billion in the infrastructure and manufacturing facilities critical to growing the offshore wind sector.
We are almost tripling our capital funding in offshore wind to £150 million in 2025-26. This strategic investment is being delivered through the Scottish National Investment Bank and our enterprise agencies, with public funds leveraging additional investment.
We welcome the commitment of developers to invest an average projection of £1.5 billion in Scotland per project across the 20 ScotWind offshore wind projects through the Supply Chain Development Statement (SCDS) process. We expect developers to honour their SCDS commitments, which were a condition of their being awarded Option Agreements.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 2 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with (a) the UK Government, (b) trade unions and (c) the offshore energy sector to ensure coherent just transition planning for the North Sea, in light of the UK Government's recent consultation document, Building the North Sea’s energy future.
Answer
Offshore oil and gas licensing, consenting and the associated fiscal regime are all matters that are currently reserved to the UK Government.
The Scottish Government is taking the appropriate time to carefully consider the UK Government’s consultation on Building the North Sea’s Energy Future and its potential outcomes.
Alongside this consideration, Scottish Government Ministers and officials continue to engage with UK Government counterparts as well as trade unions, industry bodies and other stakeholders on a range of issues relevant to the energy transition.
We are clear in our own support for a just transition for Scotland’s oil and gas sector, that recognises the maturity of the North Sea basin and is in line with our climate change commitments. At the heart of our approach is ensuring a just transition for Scotland’s valued and highly skilled oil and gas workforces to a net-zero future.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 30 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its policy not to provide support for the manufacture of munitions through its enterprise agencies, how it defines "munitions".
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-18505 on 28 September 2018. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 30 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what monitoring it and its enterprise agencies undertake to evaluate whether grants that are awarded are impactful in achieving diversification away from arms manufacturing.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-18383 on 14 September 2018. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 30 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Israeli parliament’s reported decision to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) from operating inside Israel coming into effect on 30 January 2025, what plans it has to provide funding for UNRWA in 2025-26.
Answer
The Scottish Government provided £750,000 to the UNRWA Flash Appeal for Gaza in November 2023. This funding was used to provide lifesaving food, medical aid and shelter to displaced people across the Gaza strip. Although we do not regularly fund UNRWA and currently have no plans for further contributions in 2025-2026, we remain steadfast in our support for the agency's continued operation.
UNRWA has a direct mandate from the UN to provide humanitarian aid and essential services across Gaza and the West Bank and there currently is no alternative for providing the scale of humanitarian aid which is so desperately required. Even since the Israeli Parliament's ban on UNRWA came into force on January 2025, at immense personal risk, UNRWA staff have continued to provide food and other essential humanitarian supplies to 2 million people in Gaza.
I am deeply concerned by Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA from operating in the occupied Palestinian Territories and urge them to reverse this decision. Israel must abide by its international obligations, end its siege and allow vital humanitarian aid to reach Gaza.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 29 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the human rights checks that are carried out by Scottish Enterprise when determining whether to issue a grant, including the guidance that is issued to the agency's staff when completing these.
Answer
This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise, I have asked Adrian Gillespie, the Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, to respond to you directly.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 29 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what the timeline is for establishing the review of Scottish Enterprise’s human rights checks; what the scope of the review will be, and how the terms of reference will be agreed.
Answer
Following the debate in Parliament on 26 February on Scottish Enterprise Funding to Arms Companies, a Parliamentary motion was passed calling on Scottish Enterprise to “review its human rights due diligence checks to ensure that they take account of where products’ end use is, and that they fully comply with legal obligations under the Export Control Act 2002 and international law”.
In line with the motion, Scottish Enterprise immediately began work on its review. The Scottish Government continues to stay in close contact with Scottish Enterprise on this work, and I will update Parliament and wider stakeholders once the review has concluded.