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The Scottish Government is committed to working in partnership with business and industry to deliver a just transition for Scotland’s valued oil and gas sector, which recognises the declining nature of the North Sea basin and is in line with our climate change commitments.

Our Energy Transition Fund is supporting four major projects in Aberdeen and the north east which promote collaboration across offshore energy sectors. These include the Energy Transition Zone, transforming the region into a globally integrated energy cluster, and the Global Underwater Hub, using underwater expertise, technologies and skills to drive innovation and accelerate the transition.

We are also working with the energy sector to plan for a multi-skilled workforce, one that can benefit from opportunities across the energy system. This includes supporting industry-led initiatives to enable skilled offshore workers to carry their experience and expertise into different roles as the transition progresses, and providing funding through the Just Transition Fund to skills initiatives and capacity building within businesses.

The National Supply of Electricity Framework does not prohibit customers from using locally produced renewable energy.

If a client wishes to use locally produced renewable energy then they can advise the Scottish Procurement Team and the Supplier. The volumes generated by the locally produced renewable energy provider would no longer be included in the overall framework volumes and the reduced demand will be taken into consideration and future demand will be reshaped accordingly. Any withdrawal of buildings/sites from the framework are subject to the terms and conditions set out in the framework agreement.

As part of the framework process, in the run up to the start of every financial year, the supplier works with each individual customer to determine their estimated consumption for the next financial year. If the volume is going to decrease or increase the supplier will work with the Scottish Procurement team to reshape the future demand to take into account any planned increases or decreases.

In support of the Scottish Government’s draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, we commissioned and published a set of independent analysis on the North Sea energy transition. This can be found here: Publication of the outputs from a programme of work to better understand our energy requirements as we transition to net zero - Energy system and Just Transition: independent analysis - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

As set out in our Green Industrial Strategy, the Scottish Government is working with partners across the energy sector to plan for a multi-skilled workforce.

This approach includes enabling skilled offshore oil and gas workers to carry their experience and expertise into different roles, including renewables, as the energy transition progresses. We are also committed to the development of Scotland’s CCUS and Hydrogen sectors, which will protect jobs and utilise existing skills within the workforce as well as developing new opportunities.

Funding from the Just Transition Fund has already been allocated to support industry-led development of an Offshore Energy Skills Passport; to create an advanced manufacturing skills hub in Aberdeen and a pilot scheme with the National Energy Skills Accelerator to determine the skills required for an energy transition.

In addition, the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council is currently taking forward crucial work to map the future skills need for offshore wind development, which will help both industry and the public sector to identify and address future skills and workforce gaps.

Our Enterprise Agencies deliver a comprehensive programme of activities to engage with companies and raise awareness of opportunities arising from the energy transition, and of the funding and other support available.

Since April, Scottish Enterprise has delivered two marketing campaigns, with over 500 companies directly targeted and a focus on the north east of Scotland. Two more campaigns will be delivered before the end of this financial year.

This includes raising awareness of the range of financial support mechanisms, such as Research and Development grants, Capital grants, and Regional Selective Assistance grants.

A decision on exercising the first extension is still to be made, once this decision has been reached then the supplier will be informed.

Yes, Scottish Government is compliant with all procurement regulations.

The electricity framework was advertised openly and fairly in Public Contracts Scotland and therefore the competition was open to all suppliers. It is up to each individual bidder to determine if they meet the requirements of the framework, and if they wish to put forward a bid. At the last procurement opportunity no bids were received from community energy providers.

There are a range of criminal laws available to deal with individuals who attack emergency workers.

Anyone who is guilty of assaulting an emergency worker can receive up to life imprisonment under the common law of assault. Anyone who is guilty of threatening or abusive behaviour towards emergency workers can receive up to five years imprisonment under the general offence of threatening or abusive behaviour. In addition, there is specific legal protection for emergency workers contained in the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 which can be used to prosecute cases.

Following a conviction, decisions on the sentence in any given case is a matter for the independent courts within the overall legal framework.

The Scottish Government supports the independent courts having these powers available to use in relevant cases.

The national electricity framework covers circa 300 organisations across Scotland, covering all sectors – Local Government, Central Government, NHS, Universities and colleges. Any energy supplier needs to have the capacity to supply and service all organisations by providing the ability to pre-purchase electricity and also provide a billing service.

The mix of energy used is the suppliers decision, the energy mix cannot be decided by Scottish Procurement.

The community energy element was not raised as a requirement in the scoping of the procurement strategy which is developed by the framework users, who are representatives from across the public sector.