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The £10m Scottish Hydrogen Innovation Fund is part of the Scottish Government’s Emerging Energy Technologies Fund. It aims to support Scottish researchers and innovators to drive technological progress and advance innovation to improve the cost-competitiveness of renewable hydrogen produced in Scotland. It will support Scottish companies to benefit from and contribute to the global research and innovation network through international collaboration.

Hydrogen policy officials are currently finalising the development of the Scottish Hydrogen Innovation Fund and have invited views from stakeholders on the scope of this Fund.

Views can be provided at https://consult.gov.scot/energy-and-climate-change-directorate/hydrogen-action-plan/ .

Further details will be provided in early 2022 as part of the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund.

No meeting took place between the First Minister or Scottish Government officials and former Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney during COP26.

Although final figures are not yet confirmed, we know up to 9,000 people have benefited from NTTF skills support in year one. Many year one courses were delivered by colleges and universities over the academic year from September 2020 to July 2021 so it is not possible to disaggregate figures to the end of March. Final figures for year one training will be published early in 2022 following verification of data.

Training opportunities were managed and delivered by a wide range of partners, including the Scottish Tourism Alliance, Creative Scotland and the National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland, alongside Scotland’s colleges and universities. Courses and placements were of varying length and cost but no direct award of funds to meet the cost of training courses were made to individuals.

Information regarding the number of Bulb customers in Scotland is not held by the Scottish Government. Scottish Government officials are in regular contact with a number of energy suppliers to discuss the ongoing challenges in the energy supply market.

Regulation of the gas and electricity markets is a reserved issue. Within this context Bulb Energy is being managed under Ofgem's special administration process - this process is designed to ensure consumers do not experience disruption to their supply and maintain their credit balances

We are concerned for all Scottish consumers facing rising energy costs particularly those who are in or at risk of fuel poverty. That is why we are making £10 million of funding available to help people struggling with their heating costs this winter. This money is in addition to the £25 million funding we are providing to local authorities to tackle financial insecurity and the further £6 million.

The Scottish Government does not publish information on the costs of rural crime. However, I am aware of the most recent NFU Mutual Rural Crime Report, published in August, which suggested that rural theft cost the UK an estimated £43.3 million in 2020.

The report noted that this was a fall of 20.3% on the previous year, making it the lowest annual cost recorded in five years. While this can be seen as encouraging, we are well aware of the impact of criminal activity in rural areas and are not complacent on this issue. We are therefore committed to supporting Police Scotland and all its partners in tackling all forms of crime and disorder which affect our rural communities.

In particular, the Scottish Government participates fully in the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC), which is chaired by Police Scotland.

SPARC draws together key stakeholders from across the justice and rural sectors to provide a robust, multi-agency approach to rural crime and to support activity at local level. This includes preventative action such as the development of Rural Watch Scotland, which has been delivered by Neighbourhood Watch Scotland working with other partners through SPARC.

Furthermore, the link between rural crime such as machinery theft and serious organised crime is well recognised. The work of SPARC makes a valuable contribution to securing some of the outcomes set out in Scotland's Serious Organised Crime Strategy by helping rural communities become more aware of serious organised crime and how to mitigate its risks.

Our enterprise and skills agencies provide funding and specialist advice and support for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) to help them better transition to a low carbon economy, with the majority of services advertised through the Find Business Support website. Tailored support includes advice on the low carbon opportunities available to SMEs in the net zero supply chain.

The Scottish Government has committed over £2 billion of capital funding over the next parliament to deliver low carbon and natural infrastructure. This includes our Green Jobs Fund, which is a five year, £100 million fund offering capital investment to businesses to help them create green employment through investment in improved green products and services and related research and development.

Crown Estate Scotland administer the ScotWind seabed leasing process. Crown Estate Scotland have stated an intended announcement date of mid-January 2022

The Scottish Government will, over the next five years, continue to create a supportive policy environment which, alongside private investment, will enable the creation of a network of renewable and low-carbon regional hydrogen production hubs near demand centres across Scotland.

The development of regional hydrogen energy hubs will be strategically supported through the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund (EETF) – a £180m package of funding over five years that will provide capital support to accelerate low-carbon infrastructure projects that will be essential to deliver net zero. The EETF will make £100 million available to support renewable hydrogen projects.

Policy officials are finalising the eligibility and project assessment criteria for the EETF, and have invited views on this from stakeholders by the 19 January 2022.

Views can be provided at https://consult.gov.scot/energy-and-climate-change-directorate/hydrogen-action-plan/ .

Further details on the Fund and its eligibility criteria will be provided in early 2022 alongside a call for projects.

The Hydrogen Economy Cluster will raise awareness of the opportunities in the hydrogen economy, support a Team Scotland approach and provide practical steps to help companies realise opportunities in hydrogen and associated low-carbon markets. The cluster will be pan-Scotland and will play a key role in helping the energy and oil and gas supply chain move into hydrogen production, distribution and/or key areas of hydrogen demand such as transport and low-carbon heat.

Hydrogen policy officials are currently working with the Enterprise Agencies on the development of the Hydrogen Economy Cluster and further details will be available in 2022.

We continue to engage on a four nations basis for example to agree the clinical standards that underpin the certification scheme including the types of vaccination that are considered valid, type of testing, period of validity of the results and to reach agreements on international travel certification.