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The HIV Transmission Elimination Implementation Group will be responsible for assessing and prioritising the recommendations contained within the HIV Transmission Elimination Proposal.

The group is currently being formed and will be co-chaired by Professor Nicola Steedman, the Scottish Government’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Dr Dan Clutterbuck, Lead Clinician for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Lothian Sexual and Reproductive Health Services and Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer, University of Edinburgh.

The formal governance and reporting structures are still to be agreed upon and will form part of the discussion at the first meeting, which is scheduled for the end of March.

Reducing health inequalities continues to be a top priority for the Scottish Government, and we recognise that particular efforts are needed for vulnerable populations, such as people who inject drugs. We know that stigma can stop people accessing the support they need and that stigma can manifest in many ways and in many settings. That is why Scottish Government recently facilitated a campaign to challenge the stigma which too often negatively impacts upon those who use drugs. In addition to this campaign, on World Aids Day 2022, the Public Health Minister announced the development of a national awareness raising campaign focused on reducing historical stereotypes associated with a positive HIV diagnosis.

Further to these campaigns, the HIV Transmission Elimination Proposal highlighted that equitable access and uptake of key prevention measures is required to avoid amplifying existing inequalities. Reducing health inequalities will be a key consideration for the HIV transmission elimination implementation group as they assess and prioritise the recommendations contained within the proposal.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information as the recruitment and deployment of all staff in local authority schools is a matter for individual Councils.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information as the recruitment and deployment of all staff in local authority schools is a matter for individual Councils.

The analysis was published on 3 March and can be found here - https://www.gov.scot/publications/energy-system-transition-independent-analysis/ . This publication is an independent report, reviewed by an independent panel, which provides a significant volume of evidence and analysis and will contribute to our understanding of the opportunities and challenges in energy transition. To allow stakeholders to fully consider this material before responding, the consultation period for the draft ESJTP has been extended by 5 weeks, and will now close on 9 May.

The Scottish Government has provided funding to support job retention during energy transition in Aberdeen through a number of projects. Some are focussed on the North East, while others are nationwide. Many Scottish Government schemes and policies support ‘job retention’ directly or indirectly, therefore this is not an exhaustive list.

The £12 million Oil & Gas Transition Training Fund announced in 2016 was a three-year fund to support workers from the oil & gas sector at risk of redundancy. It supported over 4,000 people, surpassing the 1,000 participants planned for each of the three years the fund was in operation.

Starting in 2017, we are investing £125 million over 10 years in the Aberdeen City Region Deal to support Aberdeen’s ambition to become an energy transition capital, providing significant investment to diversify its economy and support job retention.

Our 2021-22 budget also included an allocation of £14.3 million through the North East Economic Recovery and Skills Fund (NEERSF) to tackle the dual impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the downturn in oil and gas. Courses delivered via the Fund covered entrepreneurship and broader provision linked to the local labour market, including the transition to net zero. A report on the Fund is due to be published in March 2023.

£3.5 million of this allocation from NEERSF was spent in the two financial years 2021-23 on projects linked to jobs supporting the transition delivered by partners including the Energy Transition Zone, Robert Gordon University, Opportunity North East and the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce. The Energy Transition Zone skills funding from the Energy Transition Fund for 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 was £519,000.

Our £500 million Just Transition Fund is also supporting the North East and Moray and we have committed £50m of the Fund in financial year 2022-23 to help businesses, communities and individuals to transition to net zero, creating jobs in low carbon industries and contributing to the region’s future prosperity.

Engagement events in summer 2022 were part of a series of engagement sprints that have informed the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP). The draft ESJTP is currently open for public consultation and we welcome views from as broad a spectrum of respondents as possible. A series of open engagement events are currently in preparation to which Aberdeen City Council will be invited.

On 9 February 2023, the Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work met representatives of Aberdeen City Council to discuss the Just Transition Fund.

I met with the oil and gas industry to discuss the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan at the following engagements:

• Cabinet Secretary NZET briefed Melfort Campbell, co-chair Strategic Leadership Group on the draft ESJTP on 10 January
• Cabinet Secretary NZET briefed Sir Ian Wood on the draft ESJTP on 10 January
• Officials briefed Equinor on the draft ESJTP on 10 January
• Cabinet Secretary NZET briefed David Whitehouse, oeuk, on the draft ESJTP on 10 January
• Cabinet Secretary NZET briefed SEAB on the draft ESJTP on 31 January
• Cabinet Secretary NZET due to engage with David Whitehouse, oeuk, on 8 March

In addition to the above engagements, officials are due to speak to oeuk on 6 March and further official and ministerial engagements with the industry are being planned throughout the consultation phase of the ESJTP.

The Scottish Government does not collect or hold this information. You may wish to contact individual Local Authorities who collect a range of information from applicants for social housing.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Licensing schemes are administered by licensing authorities. The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 came into force on 1 March 2022, and required licensing authorities to establish schemes in their areas by 1 October 2022.

The Temporary Accommodation Task and Finish Group has shared interim recommendations with members of the group, which include Scottish Government officials, but a response to these has not been requested, nor would this be appropriate.

The Scottish Government look forward to receipt of the group’s final recommendations when these are published in March and will respond formally at that time.