-  Asked by:     Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2025
                                        
- 
                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Gillian Martin on 7 October 2025
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government what additional public funding, beyond the initial £3.7 million announced in its news release of 22 January 2025, Energy Skills Passport, it has committed to the Energy Skills Passport pilot scheme, and what representations it has made to the UK Government regarding the scheme getting support from Great British Energy.
                                Answer
                                    The Scottish Government has supported the initial phases of industry led development of an Energy Skills Passport by providing £3.7 million through the Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray over the financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24. There are no plans at this time for further funding from the Scottish Government.
We nonetheless remain a close project partner and Scottish Government officials engage regularly on the Passport with the lead industry bodies, Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) and RenewableUK (RUK), as well as with UK Government officials.
Following the launch of an initial version by the industry lead bodies in January, the Scottish Government is looking forward to now seeing the Passport develop further and provide more options and pathways for workers to transition between sectors. Success during “phase 2” of the Passport will require it to be fully supported from a range of bodies, including UK Government.
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2025
                                        
- 
                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Gillian Martin on 7 October 2025
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government how many Energy Skills Passport pilot scheme users have (a) found work and (b) commenced funded training where use of the platform was recorded as part of the process in renewable or low-carbon roles since the scheme was launched on 22 January 2025.
                                Answer
                                    I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40612 on 7 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2025
                                        
- 
                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Gillian Martin on 7 October 2025
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government whether an independent evaluation of the Energy Skills Passport pilot scheme will be commissioned and, if so, when the evaluation report will be published.
                                Answer
                                    The Scottish Government’s Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray, which was the source of the £3.7 million funding awarded over 2022-23 and 2023-24 to the industry-led development of the Energy Skills Passport, has been independently evaluated. The report from that evaluation was published in July 2025 and is available here : Final report of the evaluation of the impact of the Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray.
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2025
                                        
- 
                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Gillian Martin on 7 October 2025
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government what the uptake of the Energy Skills Passport has been among offshore workers since the pilot scheme was launched on 22 January 2025.
                                Answer
                                    I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40615 on 7 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2025
                                        
- 
                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Gillian Martin on 7 October 2025
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government what key performance indicators it is using to measure the success of the Energy Skills Passport pilot scheme, and what the current performance is against each indicator.
                                Answer
                                    I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40633 on 7 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2025
                                        
- 
                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Gillian Martin on 7 October 2025
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government what subjects were discussed at the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy's meeting with the Chief Financial Officer of SSEN Transmission on 17 March 2025, including whether any live or prospective electricity transmission consent applications were referenced, and which projects these were.
                                Answer
                                    I was invited to attend the event at the Had Fab factory to celebrate the awarding of a non-government contract by SSEN to partner companies to manufacture pylons. This represented significant investment in Scotland’s manufacturing and supply chain.
There was no agenda item to discuss live or prospective electricity transmission consent applications.
The Ministerial Code clearly states that “the Planning Minister or any other Minister involved in the planning decision, must do nothing which might be seen as prejudicial to that process, particularly in advance of the decision being taken. Action that might be viewed as being prejudicial includes expressing an opinion publicly on a particular case which is before, or may subsequently be referred to, the Minister(s) for decision”.
It also states that a Minister cannot comment on decisions once they have been issued, other than in terms of what has appeared in the decision letter.
Any meetings that Ministers have with network companies are part of ongoing engagement with industry and follow the same principle.
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2025
                                        
- 
                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Gillian Martin on 7 October 2025
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 22 January 2025, Energy Skills Passport, how the £3.7 million allocated to the pilot scheme has been apportioned, broken down by (a) software development, (b) project management, (c) consultancy, (d) hosting, (e) marketing, (f) evaluation and (g) other costs.
                                Answer
                                    The Energy Skills Passport received Scottish Government funding via the Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray over the financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24. In total, £3,703,610 was drawn down. A breakdown of spend in the relevant financial years is provided in the following table:
| Financial Year | Spend | 
| 2022-2023 | £1,871,968 | 
| 2023-2024 | £1,831,642 | 
| TOTAL | £3,703,610 | 
Funding allocated by the Scottish Government to the Energy Skills Passport was not apportioned by the categories outlined in the question. All grant payments are based on the conditions set out in the relevant Grant Award Letter and the terms of the Scottish Public Finance Manual.
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2025
                                        
- 
                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Gillian Martin on 7 October 2025
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to achieve employer recognition and use of the Energy Skills Passport pilot scheme among offshore operators, wind developers and tier-one contractors.
                                Answer
                                    I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40625 on 7 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2025
                                        
- 
                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Gillian Martin on 7 October 2025
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government what contingency plans are in place should the Energy Skills Passport pilot scheme not achieve its expected (a) uptake and (b) outcomes, and what anonymised, regular datasets on this it plans to publish to support scrutiny of progress towards meeting these.
                                Answer
                                    I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40638 on 7 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2025
                                        
- 
                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Gillian Martin on 7 October 2025
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on (a) communications and (b) marketing for the Energy Skills Passport pilot scheme since it was launched on 22 January 2025, and what the planned spend is for 2025-26.
                                Answer
                                    I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40612 on 7 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.