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Regulations for hydrogen transport through pipelines and storage are reserved to the UK Government and so Scottish Government officials are in regular and close communication with UK Government counterparts on these matters.

In December 2023, the UK Government published its Hydrogen Transport and Storage Networks Pathway. This set out next steps for the strategic development of hydrogen transport and storage in the UK, and the role of the National Energy System Operator.

The Scottish Government continues to urge the UK Government to consider and cater for geographical variations across the UK, particularly for Scotland, and develop a fit for purpose regulatory regime that will enable us to achieve our shared hydrogen ambitions.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken analysis to ascertain whether there is any presence of natural occurring hydrogen (sometimes called 'gold hydrogen') present in Scotland geology.

The EY Regional Economic Forecast for 2024 suggests that Scotland will have a similar annualised employment growth rate to several regions and nations of the UK between 2024-2027, including Wales, Northern Ireland, the North East of England and the West Midlands. EY also indicate that Scotland had lower economic inactivity than Northern Ireland, the North East of England, Wales, the North West of England and East Midlands in 2023.

Employment growth is influenced by many factors including job creation and labour supply, with the latter reflecting demographics, migration, and participation in the labour market. Of those factors, Scotland has near record levels of payrolled employees at 2.46 million in February 2024.

The EY report identifies the importance of reducing economic inactivity and supporting people into employment. The Scottish Government is undertaking a range of action to address Scotland’s labour market challenges. For example, the Scottish Government will invest up to £90 million in devolved employability services No One Left Behind in 2024/25, to support those facing structural barriers to entering employment, alongside investment in childcare and support for those experiencing ill-health to remain in the labour market. The Scottish Government will also launch Scotland’s Migration Service during the course of 2024 to support inward investors and Scottish employers to use the immigration system to meet their skills and labour needs.

A letter was issued by the Chief Planner regarding consents and variations to planning permission for energy generating ancillary uses on 27 August 2020. This letter confirmed that the Scottish Government considers a battery installation to generate electricity and should therefore be treated as a generating station.

No specific assessment on potential impacts to land value in rural areas has been undertaken.

The Energy Consents Unit consented 14 applications for Battery Energy Storage Systems between 2013 and 2023.

The Scottish Government is clear that the views of local authorities are an important consideration in the decision-making process for determining energy consents applications.

The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 provides a legal framework for the operation and governance of local authorities in Scotland. While it doesn't specifically address conflicts of interest, it establishes the broader legal context within which local authorities operate and are required to conduct their affairs in accordance with the law.

Local authorities in Scotland are also subject to public procurement regulations, which include requirements to ensure transparency, fairness, and competition in the awarding of contracts. These regulations often include provisions aimed at preventing conflicts of interest in procurement processes.

Details of the external costs associated with the production and publication of all the Building a New Scotland papers published to date can be found on the Scottish Government’s website:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/building-a-new-scotland-papers-costs/

Women’s Aid groups that are not affiliated with Scottish Women’s Aid are funded in the same ways and with the same criteria as affiliated groups.

The main source of funding between 2021 and 2025 is the Delivering Equally Safe (DES) fund, the objectives for which are:

• Women and children affected by violence are identified (early)
• Women and children’s safety needs are met
• Women and children’s wider wellbeing needs are met
• Fewer people adhere to gender stereotypes
• People have increased understanding of all forms of VAWG (causes, consequences, and appropriate responses)
• Power, decision-making and material resources are distributed more equally between men and women.
• Tolerance of VAWG is reduced and people are more likely to recognise and challenge it
• Perpetrators are identified early
• Perpetrators are supported to change their behaviour
• Perpetrators are sanctioned / held to account
• Violence against women and girls is reduced / eradicated
• Negative impacts on women and children who have been affected by violence are reduced / eradicated.

In July 2021 all Women’s Aid groups received funding through the 100 Days (COVID emergency) funding. The objectives of the 100 days (COVID emergency) funding were:

• To fund additional staff to respond to an increase in demand from victims of abuse for support services;
• To fund improvements to organisations’ IT and digital resource; and
• To fund additional training to allow services to be augmented so that people could quickly and easily access help.

An additional grant is being provided from April 2024 to all Women’s Aid groups.

A non-affiliated Women’s Aid group (in Fife) is included in the £500,000 Fund to Leave pilot which was launched in October 2023. This will help to reduce the financial burden of leaving an abusive partner by providing up to £1,000 to help to pay for the essentials women and children need, including rent and clothing. Fife, along with Glasgow, South Lanarkshire, Edinburgh, North Lanarkshire were chosen for the pilot as the local authority areas where there are highest number of presentations to local authorities for homelessness assistance by women due to domestic abuse. The fund is being administered by Scottish Women’s Aid for the 4 affiliated groups with the grant being paid direct to Fife Women’s Aid.

Our consultation on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill, which closed on 8 March, asked how we can help our public sector buildings to lead the way on heat decarbonisation, by requiring all public sector buildings to be using clean heating systems by 2038. We will now analyse the responses to determine the best course of action.

Any energy efficiency standard for non-domestic buildings, including public buildings, would need to carefully consider how to take account of the wide variety in size, construction and functionality.

Beat has reported that 249 non-GP healthcare professionals have completed “Beyond the Symptoms” training since 2022. A full breakdown by profession is not available, but the training has been completed by professionals including Community Mental Health Teams, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and school nurses.