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Following agreement with the Improvement Service, the National Entitlement Card Programme Office and Young Scot, who are responsible for handling applications for and issuing the National Entitlement Cards on which the national concessionary travel schemes depend, we plan that young people should be able to travel under the new Young Persons Free Bus Scheme from 31 January 2022.

We have previously announced our intention to extend the scope of the scheme to include 19-21 year olds and committed to making as much progress on this as possible this financial year. Subject to Parliamentary approval of the legislation required to amend the age eligibility for the scheme, when the new scheme goes live it will do so for young people up to and including the age of 21.

The Scottish Government is planning to provide an update on the leasing and planning process and associated timescales for the sectoral marine plan for innovation and decarbonisation in summer 2021. This planning exercise will be in addition to the sectoral marine plan for offshore wind energy published last October but will be based upon the findings therein.

Following agreement with the Improvement Service, the National Entitlement Card Programme Office and Young Scot, who are responsible for handling applications for and issuing the National Entitlement Cards on which the national concessionary travel schemes depend, we plan that young people should be able to travel under the new Young Persons Free Bus Scheme from 31 January 2022.

We have previously announced our intention to extend the scope of the scheme to include 19-21 year olds and committed to making as much progress on this as possible this financial year. Subject to Parliamentary approval of the legislation required to amend the age eligibility for the scheme, when the new scheme goes live it will do so for young people up to and including the age of 21.

We are committed to expanding the maximum total support package available to students over the next three years to reach the equivalent of the living wage.

The recruitment of members for the new Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel will be underway imminently. The Panel will comprise a Chair and five Members, at least one of whom must have lived experience of fuel poverty. Assuming there are sufficient applicants who meet the criteria and can be recommended for appointment, we expect the Panel to be in place by early November.

In line with our Programme for Government commitment, the Fuel Poverty Strategy will be published by the end of this year. We will consult with a wide range of relevant stakeholders. The timescale for this consultation will be confirmed in due course.

The Scottish Government is guided by the best available scientific evidence in our response to the global climate emergency. That evidence is absolutely clear, climate change is one of the greatest threats facing the world’s population.

The latest independent expert assessment of the impacts of climate change, published by the UK Climate Change Committee on 16 June 2021, identifies key areas of both risk and opportunity for Scotland. The inclusion of potential opportunities in this assessment reflects the fact that the impacts of climate change are inherently complex and vary across both space and time. Also, if we consider the mitigation - as well as adaptation - aspects of the response to the climate emergency then there will be significant economic opportunities for those, like Scotland, who are leading the transition to a global net-zero economy.

Nonetheless, the balance of the impacts set out in the Committee’s independent assessment is clear – with 53 of the 61 identified areas being classified as risks (entirely or partly). The Committee’s overall advice is that the overall landscape is one of a “worsening reality of climate risk” and all of its recommended areas for priority action relate to managing specific risks, rather than exploring potential opportunities.

‎The Scottish Government is committed to building resilience to the impacts of climate change as part of Scotland's just transition to a net-zero economy and society. We will be responding to the Committee’s updated risk assessment through the development of a new statutory adaptation programme, which is due for publication in 2024.

We have provided funding to Energy Action Scotland for a number of years to undertake a programme of work that supports Scottish Government fuel poverty policy development and delivery, as well as increasing stakeholder awareness of fuel poverty issues in Scotland . In 2020-21 this amounted to £130,000.

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we also made funding available to a number of organisations to assist households struggling with their energy costs. The Fuel Bank Foundation was provided with £877,000 in total, which it used primarily to provide same-day top ups to households with prepayment meters who were at risk of self-disconnecting. Later their services were extended to include households reliant upon unregulated fuels such as heating oil. Advice Direct Scotland delivered the Home Heating Support Fund on our behalf, making available £1,050,000 to households referred by specialist energy and debt advice services, who were at serious risk of self rationing their energy use, regardless of fuel type or meter type. A further £2,100,000 was provided to the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations to deliver the Social Housing Fuel Support Fund, which supported member RSLs to deliver schemes designed to support tenants experiencing fuel insecurity.

Further funding is planned for 2021-22, as part of the Social Renewal Advisory Board Response Fund, which will build on the projects undertaken over the last year. Details are expected to be confirmed soon.

The Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy (SMP), published in 2020, set the upper limit for pre-commercial scale projects at 100 MW. The ScotWind leasing process has allowed for all scales of projects, from 100 MW upwards, to progress in Scottish waters. Scottish Ministers are committed to building a strong Scottish supply chain which deliver economic benefit to Scotland. As a result, all of these projects must commit to Supply Chain Development Statements which set out the anticipated level and location of supply chain impact that their project will have. This provides visibility of a pipeline of contracts for the Scottish supply chain and encourages developers to engage locally, earlier in the development process of their projects.

The SMP 2020 also identified that there may be further opportunities for projects looking to specifically decarbonise oil and gas infrastructure or deliver innovative test and demonstration projects, in locations not identified in the 2020 plan. The Scottish Government is now developing a planning process to allow these types of project to proceed, including opportunities for small scale (100 MW) specifically targeting oil and gas decarbonisation through electrification of offshore oil and gas platforms.

We envisage beginning public engagement on this planning process shortly.

We are currently working with Public Health Scotland and Health Boards to plan for the 2021-22 Seasonal Flu Vaccination Programme for the autumn. We welcome the interim advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation who have indicated that where possible, a COVID-19 vaccination booster programme could run in parallel with the flu vaccination programme. We are working closely with partners to plan for the coming season, and will align both programmes with these recommendations, and any future JCVI advice.