- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 July 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Stephen Flynn on 20 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings the minister with responsibility for energy has had with representatives of Highlands and Islands Enterprise since 2024, on what dates, and what was discussed.
Answer
Information regarding ministerial engagements is available on the Scottish Government website and I would refer the member to the following pages:
https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/.
The minister with responsibility for energy met with Highlands and Islands Enterprise on the following occasions:
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met the Chair and Chief Executive of Highlands and Islands Enterprise on 12 July 2024 to discuss economic development.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met the Chief Executive of Highlands and Islands Enterprise on 23 July 2024 to discuss the space sector.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work delivered a virtual speech to the Highlands and Islands Enterprise All-Staff Conference on 29 August 2024.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Maree Todd MSP on 14 August 2024 to discuss early learning and childcare.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met Natalie Don MSP and the Chair of Highlands and Islands Enterprise on 14 August 2024 to discuss rural childcare provision.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work recorded a video for the Highlands and Islands Enterprise all-staff conference on 11 September 2024.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met the Chair and Chief Executive of Highlands and Islands Enterprise on 26 September 2024 to discuss the agency’s work.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met Highlands and Islands Enterprise on 10 October 2024 to discuss transport.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 July 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Stephen Flynn on 20 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings the minister with responsibility for energy has had with representatives of the Scottish National Investment Bank since 2024, on what dates, and what was discussed.
Answer
There have been two meetings between the minister with responsibility for energy and representatives of the Scottish National Investment Bank since 2024.
11 January 2024: Meeting between Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy and the Bank to discuss strategic priorities.
12 March 2024: Meeting between Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy and the Bank. Introductory meeting with Chair and Chief Executive of the Bank to discuss the Bank’s progress to date and ambitions for the future.
You can find information about Ministerial engagements on the Scottish Government website at the following link:
Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 July 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Stephen Flynn on 20 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings the minister with responsibility for energy has had with representatives of South of Scotland Enterprise since 2024, on what dates, and what was discussed.
Answer
Information regarding ministerial engagements is available on the Scottish Government website and I would refer the member to the following pages:
https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/.
The minister with responsibility for energy met with South of Scotland Enterprise on the following occasions:
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met the Chair and Chief Executive of South of Scotland Enterprise on 26 June 2024 to discuss South of Scotland Enterprise’s activity and relevant portfolio issues.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met the Chair of South of Scotland Enterprise on 8 July 2024 to discuss rural housing.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met the Chair and Chief Executive of South of Scotland Enterprise on 26 September 2024 to discuss South of Scotland Enterprise’s activity and relevant portfolio issues.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met the Chair of South of Scotland Enterprise on 19 September 2024 to discuss Public Service Reform.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met the Chair of South of Scotland Enterprise and a Director of Kight PowerHub BESS (Scotland) on 29 October 2024 to discuss Kight Powerhub’s work.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met the Business Response Team Leader and Digital Transformation Specialists team of Scottish Enterprise, and the Head of Enterprise and Business of South of Scotland Enterprise, on 31 October 2024 to discuss business resilience.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work attended the South of Scotland Enterprise Natural Capital Roundtable on 4 December 2024 to discuss natural capital investment.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 July 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Stephen Flynn on 20 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings the minister with responsibility for energy has had with representatives of Scottish Enterprise since 2024, on what dates, and what was discussed.
Answer
Information regarding ministerial engagements is available on the Scottish Government website and I would refer the member to the following pages:
https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/.
The minister with responsibility for energy met with Scottish Enterprise on the following occasions:
- The Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy met Scottish Enterprise on 28 February 2024 to discuss the wellbeing economy.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work visited the Scottish Enterprise Clean Heat Supply Chain and Investment Conference on 27 March 2024 to discuss heat in buildings.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met the Interim Chair and Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise on 22 May 2024 to discuss economic development.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met Scottish Enterprise on 10 July 2024 to discuss energy and the Just Transition.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met the Chief Executive and Interim Chair of Scottish Enterprise on 23 July 2024 to discuss health and the economy.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work held a phone call with the Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise on 12 August 2024 to discuss the economy.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met the Interim Chair and Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise on 28 August 2024 to discuss the economy.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met the President and CEO of NFI Group, the President and Managing Director, Group Finance Director and Group Marketing Director of Alexander Dennis Limited, and the Chief Executive and Account Manager of Scottish Enterprise on 5 September 2024 to discuss the economy and net zero.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met the Interim Chair and Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise on 5 September 2024 to discuss the agency’s work.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work met the Business Response Team Leader and Digital Transformation Specialists Team of Scottish Enterprise, and the Head of Enterprise and Business of South of Scotland Enterprise, on 31 October 2024 to discuss business resilience.
- The Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work recorded a video for Scottish Enterprise Backing Ambition 2024 and St Andrew's Day on 28 November 2024.
- The Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy met Scottish Enterprise and Crown Estate Scotland on 13 March 2025 to discuss offshore wind.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 July 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Simita Kumar on 20 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the £12.5 million International Development Inclusive Education Programme announced in 2024, (a) how much funding has been paid to date, broken down by (i) financial year, (ii) project, (iii) recipient organisation and (iv) partner country, and (b) what payments remain to be made, broken down by financial year to 2028-29.
Answer
Part a) From the announced £12.5m, approximately £5.1m has been paid to date across the financial years of 2024-25, 2025-26 and in the first quarter of 2026-27.
Table 1 below breaks down the payments made to date, broken down by i) financial year ii) per project iii) per partner country. Note that the partner country allocations may not sum to total of grant in that year due to routine over- or underspend in the previous year.
TABLE 1
Financial Year | Project | Recipient Organisation (Grant-holder**) | Partner Country | Country allocation (£) |
2024-25 | Project 1: RISE | Link Education International (£900,000 paid in FY2024-25) | Malawi | 273,185 |
Rwanda | 273,185 |
Zambia | 273,185 |
2024-25 | Project 2: GIRLS | OXFAM GB
(£729,573 paid in FY2024-25) | Malawi | 210,534 |
Rwanda | 224,127 |
Zambia | 138,138 |
2025-26 | Project 1: RISE | Link Education International (£1,432,957 paid in FY2025-26) | Malawi | 411,349 |
Rwanda | 456,538 |
Zambia | 480,134 |
2025-26 | Project 2: GIRLS | OXFAM GB
(£975,000 paid in FY2025-26[JM1] ) | Malawi | 373,185 |
Rwanda | 413,213 |
Zambia | 361,735 |
2026-27 (to date) | Project 1: RISE | Link Education International (£753,616 paid for Q1 2026-27) | Malawi | 253,367 |
Rwanda | 220,152 |
Zambia | 233,593 |
2026-27 (to date) | Project 2: GIRLS | OXFAM GB (£348,289) paid for Q1 2026-27) | Malawi | 104,487 |
Rwanda | 104,487 |
Zambia | 104,487 |
Total paid to date | | Total paid to grant holders Link and Oxfam = £5,139,435 Oxfam: £2,052,862
Link Education International: £3,086,573 | | £4,909,081 allocated to spend in partner countries |
** Link Education International and OXFAM GB are the grant-holders for the RISE and GIRLS project respectively. Both organisations have local delivery agreements with partner organisations in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia, who receive funding from the grant-holders. Detail on this is provided in response to PQ S7W-01967, which asks 'which organisations have received funding through the programme?'. |
Part (b)
Approximately £7.2 million is currently scheduled to be paid from the announced allocation of £12.5m, comprising of approximately £4.2 million for the RISE project and £3m for the GIRLS project. Note that annual grant variation letters can reduce or increase the amount of grant payable in each financial year, depending on Parliamentary approval of Scottish Government budgets, and on routine in-year overspend or underspend.
Table 2 breaks down the payments scheduled to be made in remainder of FY 2026-27, and in the financial years 2027-28 and 2028-29. For ease, this is broken down per project, grant-holding organisation and partner country. Note that specific country allocations are estimates, and do not include management costs incurred by Oxfam and Link Education International with respect to their roles as lead organisations for each project.
TABLE 2
Financial Year | Project | Recipient Organisation (Grant-holder) | Partner Country | Country allocation (£) |
2026-27 remaining payment | Project 1: RISE | Link Education International (LEI)
(£946,384 to be paid) | Malawi | 265,928 |
Rwanda | 299,699 |
Zambia | 313,109 |
2026-27 remaining payment | Project 2: GIRLS | OXFAM GB
(£851,711 to be paid) | Malawi | 281,065 |
Rwanda | 323,650 |
Zambia | 246,996 |
2027-28 | Project 1: RISE | Link Education International (£1,700,000 to be paid) | Malawi | 508,422 |
Rwanda | 522,804 |
Zambia | 522,804 |
2027-28 | Project 2: GIRLS | OXFAM GB
(£1,062,500 to be paid) | Malawi | 350,625 |
Rwanda | 403,750 |
Zambia | 308,125 |
2028-29 | Project 1: RISE | Link Education International (£1,650,000 to be paid) | Malawi | 498,729 |
Rwanda | 513,543 |
Zambia | 513,543 |
2028-29 | Project 2: GIRLS | OXFAM GB
(£1,062,500 to be paid) | Malawi | 350,625 |
Rwanda | 403,750 |
Zambia | 308,125 |
Totals to be paid | Oxfam: £2,976,711
Link Education International: £4,246,384
| Malawi
Rwanda
Zambia | £6,935,292 allocated to partner countries |
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 August 2026
-
Current Status:
Answer expected on 17 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the UK Home Office estimating that AI triage of 101 calls could save police forces £8.5 million per year by redirecting non-police enquiries, whether it has had any discussions with Police Scotland on these possibilities, what assessment it has made of the potential impact of AI call-triage technology on Police Scotland’s 101 waiting times and call-handling capacity, and whether it has asked Police Scotland to assess any potential financial savings and any risks arising from introducing similar technology in Scotland.
Answer
Answer expected on 17 September 2026
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 July 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Stephen Gethins on 19 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings the minister with responsibility for energy has had with representatives of Crown Estate Scotland since 2024, on what dates, and what was discussed.
Answer
The Scottish minister with responsibility for energy has met Crown Estate Scotland twice since 2024.
- The Minister for Energy and the Environment met the Chair and Chief Executive of Crown Estate Scotland on 16 January 2024 to discuss Energy
- The Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy met the Chief Executive of Crown Estate Scotland on 20 November 2025 to discuss Offshore Wind
All ministerial engagements are published on The Scottish Government website at - www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 24 July 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the cumulative impact on environmental horticulture businesses in Scotland of rising costs of (a) energy, (b) labour, (c) transport and (d) inputs.
Answer
An assessment into the rising costs of horticulture businesses has not been undertaken by the Scottish Government, however, the Horticultural Trades Association has recently published a briefing outlining the ‘Cost of Doing Business’ for the environmental horticulture sector across the UK as a whole. This can be found here: https://hta.org.uk/public-affairs-policy/briefings-consultations-and-reports/stakeholder-section/stakeholder-briefings. The Scottish Government recognises the current challenges outlined in this assessment, which environmental horticulture businesses are facing, the majority of which are family-run SMEs. That is why the Scottish Government continues to offer the Small Business Bonus Scheme to help address the rising costs that businesses are facing. In addition, Scottish Government backed schemes have helped businesses reduce energy costs through grants for energy efficient equipment and renewable technologies.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 24 July 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the non-domestic rates regime in Scotland on environmental horticulture businesses in terms of their competitiveness relative to such businesses operating in England and Wales.
Answer
The Scottish Government has not made any specific assessment of the impact of the non-domestic rates regime in Scotland on environmental horticulture businesses, however the Scottish Budget 2026-27 delivered a competitive rates package including decreasing the Basic, Intermediate and Higher Property Rates in 2026-27, delivering the lowest Basic Property Rate since 2018. The Budget also continues to support businesses and communities with a strong relief package worth over £870 million, including the Small Business Bonus Scheme, which remains the most generous of its kind in the UK. We estimate that over 100,000 properties will remain eligible for the Small Business Bonus Scheme in 2026-27.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 24 July 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what financial support has been made available to environmental horticulture businesses, including garden centres, to support investment in (a) water resilience, (b) peat-free growing, (c) energy efficiency, (d) automation and (e) new technologies.
Answer
Our enterprise agencies provide support to businesses, including horticulture businesses, through a range of mechanisms aimed at supporting business development, investment and growth. For example, Highlands and Islands Enterprise has provided support to Inverness-based root vegetable supplier NessGro to invest in advanced grading technology, software and production improvements. It has also provided advice to Nortenergy, a social enterprise which makes storm proof polytunnels to enable fruit and vegetables to be grown undercover in extreme climates. South of Scotland Enterprise has provided funding to a garden centre in its region to support energy efficiency measures.
Businesses may be able to access a combination of grant funding, specialist advisory support and investment assistance from Scottish Enterprise where projects have the potential to deliver measurable economic and environmental impact for Scotland. Businesses can also access support provided by their local authority or Business Gateway.
The Find Business Support website at https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/ gives businesses an overview of all funding and services offered by public sector organisations across Scotland.
