Passengers rely on good connectivity through our train network, whether it be for work or leisure (writes Lothians Labour MSP FOYSOL CHOUDHURY).
What’s more, many passengers rely on ticket offices in stations to guide them through a journey and help them with buying tickets for a stress-free experience. This is especially true of older people or those without digital connectivity, who might not have the ability to book tickets on their phone.
They are also a massive resource for tourists, such as the thousands who visit Scotland, to help them enjoy trips in what might be an unfamiliar environment.
That’s why the plans to remove, or reduce the opening hours of, ticket offices for many train operators would be so catastrophic. Not only will this affect passengers on train services leaving Scotland – for example, the Avanti West Coast services leaving Glasgow – but it will also affect the huge numbers of passengers who wish to buy tickets in England to travel up to Scotland.
Just the other week, I was travelling back home to Scotland from England and had difficulties buying tickets on my phone in the station due to connection issues, so much so that I missed the train I wanted to get on.
If this was difficult for me, I can only imagine how difficult it would be for somebody who was less able to use a smartphone or navigate the complex booking and payment process online.
Without ticket offices, passenger service could be drastically worsened due to poor accessibility, restricted access to best value tickets and a devastating lack of support for ease of journeys. This will also lead to a de-staffing of stations, which could worsen passenger safety, security and experience.
This is why we must save our ticket offices. You can have your say by responding to the Transport Focus consultation by 1st September 2023.
In June 2023, there were 116,244 attendances at major (Type 1) Emergency Departments across Scotland.
69% of patients were seen within four-hours at major Emergency Departments.
This is an increase of 1.8 percentage points from the previous month.
36,015 patients waited over four-hours in major Emergency Departments, this is a decrease of 7.7% from the previous month and an 3.8% decrease from June 2022.
It is encouraging to see performance improving but it is still well below the target to see 95% of patients in four-hours or less. This is the second worst June on record. The number waiting more than four hours was an increase of 296% compared with June 2021.
9,489 (8.2%) patients waited eight-hours or more in an Emergency Department
This is a decrease of 16.5% from the previous month, and a 0.9% decrease compared with June 2022.
2,991 (2.6%) patients waited more than 12-hours before being seen, admitted, discharged, or transferred
This figure has decreased by 24.2% from the previous month, and an increase of 30.6% compared with June 2022.
Responding, RCEM Scotland Vice President Dr John-Paul Loughrey, said:“A&E performance in Scotland is slowly trending in the right direction. Our members continue to work hard to reduce delays, mitigate dangerous overcrowding and improve patient care and these figures are in no small part thanks to them.
“To capitalise on these improvements, we hope to have continued engagement with the Health Secretary and support from Scottish Government. Now is the time to plan and prepare for winter and provide adequate resources and beds as well as measures to retain staff.
“Our #ResuscitateEmergencyCare campaign lays out the necessary steps we need to take to ensure the health service is equipped to deliver effective, high-quality care and prevent another catastrophic winter.”
UK Government will continue to top-up the Scottish Government’s tax revenues, worth £1.4 billion last year, as a benefit of strength and scale of the UK.
Boost to borrowing powers and backing of Barnett formula will build a better future for Scotland and help to grow the economy.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury John Glen hails a fair and responsible deal in line with the Prime Minister’s economic priorities.
The UK and Scottish Governments have today reached an agreement on an updated Fiscal Framework.
Holyrood’s capital borrowing powers will rise in line with inflation, enabling the Scottish Government to invest further in schools, hospitals, roads and other key infrastructure that will help to create better paid jobs and opportunity in Scotland.
The new deal maintains the Barnett formula, through which the Scottish Government receives over £8 billion more funding each year than if it received the levels of UK Government spending per person elsewhere in the UK. It also updates funding arrangements in relation to court revenues and the Crown Estate.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen, said:“This is a fair and responsible deal that has been arrived at following a serious and proactive offer from the UK Government.
“We have kept what works and listened to the Scottish Government’s calls for greater certainty and flexibility to deliver for Scotland.
“The Scottish Government can now use this for greater investment in public services to help the people of Scotland prosper. These are the clear benefits of a United Kingdom that is stronger as a union.”
The funding arrangements for tax will be continued, with the Scottish Government continuing to keep every penny of devolved Scottish taxes while also receiving an additional contribution from the rest of the UK.
Under the previous Fiscal Framework, the Scottish Government could borrow £450 million per year within a £3 billion cap, as well as receiving a Barnett-based share of UK Government borrowing. Going forward these amounts will instead rise in line with inflation, which supports additional investment across Scotland and lays the foundations for economic growth.
The UK Government has listened to calls from the Scottish Government for greater certainty and flexibility to help them manage their Budget and agreed a permanent doubling of the resource borrowing annual limit from £300 million to £600 million.
Limits on how much can be withdrawn from the Scotland Reserve to spend in future years will also be removed. This will boost spending through borrowing by £90 million in 2024/25. All future limits will increase in line with inflation.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said:“The renewed Fiscal Framework shows what can be achieved when there is a collaborative focus on delivering economic opportunity and why we are stronger and more prosperous as one United Kingdom.
“The deal – worth billions of pounds to Scotland over the coming years – builds upon work to support economic growth and provide more high skill jobs, investment and future opportunities for local people, such as the establishment of Investment Zones and Freeports in Scotland.
“The UK Government knows that high prices are still a huge worry for families. That’s why we’re sticking to our plan to halve inflation, reduce debt and grow the economy. As well as providing targeted cost of living support, we are directly investing more than £2.4 billion in hundreds of projects across Scotland as we help level up the country.”
As both governments continue to work together to tackle challenges like the cost of living, an updated Fiscal Framework equips the Scottish Government with the instruments for growth while protecting the wider public finances.
Scotland’s Deputy First Minister Shona Robison said: “This is a finely balanced agreement that gives us some extra flexibility to deal with unexpected shocks, against a background of continuing widespread concern about the sustainability of UK public finances and while it is a narrower review than we would have liked, I am grateful to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury for reaching this deal.
“As I set out in the Medium-Term Financial Strategy, we are committed to tackling poverty, building a fair, green and growing economy, and improving our public services to make them fit for the needs of future generations.
“We still face a profoundly challenging situation and will need to make tough choices in the context of a poorly performing UK economy and the constraints of devolution, to ensure finances remain sustainable.”
This morning the UK and Scottish governments have published the long-awaited update to the Fiscal Framework, following the review that has been going on for the last couple of years (writes MAIRI SPOWAGE of the Fraser of Allander Institute).
Since this was due to happen in 2021, we have been waiting for the outcome of this review. For more background, see our blog from late 2021.
For those new to it, the Fiscal Framework sets out the rules for how devolution of tax and social security powers following the Scotland Act 2016 is supposed to work in terms of finances. It sets out the mechanisms by which the Scottish block grant is adjusted to reflect the fact that large amounts of tax and social security powers are now the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament.
It also sets out fiscal flexibilities that the Scottish Government can choose to use in managing these new powers, as new tax and social security powers also come with risks that require to be managed.
In this blog, we set out the main headlines and our initial reaction to the updates.
The mechanism for adjusting the Block Grant will remain permanently as the Index Per Capita (IPC) method.
This is one of the most complex areas of the fiscal framework but definitely one of the most significant.
For tax, it sets out the mechanism for working out how much the UK Government has “given up” by devolving a tax to Scotland, given that it is a significant loss in revenue. As, following devolution, there are different policies pursued in rest of UK and Scotland, this is not straightforward. Essentially though, the mechanism agreed in 2016 was to grow the tax at the point of devolution at the rate, per person, that it grows in the rest of the UK. This is known as the Index Per Capita (IPC) method.
So, the idea is that if taxes per head grow quicker in Scotland, the Scottish Budget will be better off – conversely, if taxes per head grow more slowly, the Scottish Budget will be worse off.
In 2016, when the fiscal framework was first agreed, the IPC method was the SG’s preference, whereas the UKG preferred the “Comparable Method” (which would generally be worse than the IPC method for the Scottish Budget). SO they agreed to use IPC for the first 5 years and review it in this review published today.
They have now agreed that the IPC method will remain on a permanent basis.
Interestingly, this means that on a permanent basis, the mechanisms for adjusting the block grants for Wales and Scotland will be different, given Wales’s Fiscal Framework uses the Comparable Method, albeit with additional provisions to keep a funding floor in place.
Borrowing Powers for managing forecast error have been increased significantly
Resource borrowing powers to manage forecast error associated with tax and social security powers have been increased from £300m to £600m. This is required because when budgets are set, the tax, social security and block grant adjustment estimates are set on the basis of forecasts from both the Scottish Fiscal Commission and the Office for Budget Responsibility. When the outturn data is available, if there is a discrepancy (which is very likely) then the Scottish Budget has to reconcile these differences.
This will be good news for the Deputy First Minister looking ahead to delivering her first budget in December, given that it was confirmed recently that there will be a large negative reconciliation to reflect income tax receipts in 2021-22 of £390m. As these changes are coming into effect for the 2024-25 budget year, this means she will have more flexibility to borrow to cover this.
All limits, such as resource and capital borrowing powers, will be uprated in line with inflation
When the Fiscal Framework was first agreed, the limits on borrowing for both resource and capital, and the limits for what could be put into the Scotland reserve, were set in cash terms and have been fixed ever since.
This agreement today sets out that the ones that remain will be uprated by inflation (although the exact inflation measure and timing is still to be confirmed), and that the limits on the additions and drawdowns on the Scotland Reserve will also be abolished.
The VAT Assignment can gets kicked down the road again
One thing that is a little disappointing is that there was no final decision on VAT Assignment. See our blog from 2019 to get the background in this.
VAT Assignment was included as part of the Smith Commission powers. The idea was that half of VAT raised in Scotland would be assigned to the Scottish Budget, which would mean, if the Scottish Economy was performing better than the UK as a whole, the budget would be better off, and conversely, if VAT was growing less quickly in Scotland, the budget would be worse off.
However, after almost 10 years, it has become clear that there is no way to estimate VAT in Scotland that is precise enough for this to have budgetary implications. It is a large amount of money (more than £5 billion) so even small fluctuations in how it is estimated can mean changes of hundreds of millions of pounds.
Today, the Governments have agreed to just keep discussing it. We think it is time that everyone admitted it is just not a sensible idea.
We’ll keep digging through the detail of everything published today and will provide more commentary through our weekly update on Friday.
Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps meets with industry leaders to discuss the Government’s energy security and business plans to invest over £100bn, including to accelerate renewables, to help grow our economy
Discussions include new powers to protect critical energy infrastructure from disruptive protest groups and maintain energy supply
Summit hosted at No10 Downing Street as part of Government push to strengthen energy security, support jobs and attract investment in the UK’s energy industry
Leaders of the UK’s energy industry will meet in Downing Street today to discuss their plans to collectively invest over £100bn and create jobs around the country, working with Government to boost energy security.
Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps will meet a wide range of energy companies – including EDF, SSE, Shell and BP, who collectively have multi-billion pound plans to invest in low and zero-carbon projects.
Each of these will support thousands of jobs across the country, which could help reduce household energy bills while delivering cleaner, more secure sources of energy, to deliver on the ambition to have the lowest wholesale electricity prices in Europe by 2035.
Mr Shapps will outline Government measures to protect UK energy supplies from disruption both at home and abroad. He will highlight decisions to invest in home-grown energy sources – including renewables, a revival in nuclear power, and backing North Sea oil and gas.
But he will also highlight measures to protect critical energy infrastructure from disruptive protests. This follows in the wake of protests such as those at the Kingsbury and Thurrock clusters of oil terminals and Grangemouth refinery.
The Public Order Act now includes a new criminal offence of interfering with key national infrastructure – including oil refineries – aimed at preventing protests from causing or threatening public safety or serious disruption.
It particularly addresses tactics that these protesters have used such as locking on and tunneling.
Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps said: “We need to send the message loud and clear to the likes of Putin that we will never again be held to ransom with energy supply. The companies I am meeting in Downing Street today will be at the heart of that.
“Energy industry leaders can see that this Government will back home-grown, secure energy – whether that’s renewables, our revival in nuclear, or our support for our vital oil and gas industry in the North Sea.
“But it is a sad reality that we also need to protect our critical national infrastructure from disruptive protests. Today I’ll be setting out what we are doing to achieve this and want to hear from the energy companies the vital work they are doing in this area.”
Energy firms have demonstrated their confidence to invest in the UK, and collectively the firms meeting at 10 Downing Street plan to invest tens of billions over the next decade in energy projects across the country.
Some of these investment commitments include:
Shell UK aims to invest £20-25 billion in the UK energy system over the next 10 years. More than 75% of this is intended for low and zero-carbon products and services.
BP intends to invest up to £18bn in the UK to the end of 2030.
SSE plc have announced plans to invest £18bn up to 2027 in low carbon infrastructure creating 1,000 new jobs every year to 2025. SSE’s plans could see it invest up to £40bn across the decade to 2031/32.
National Grid plc will be investing over £16bn in the five-year period to 2026.
EDF have outlined plans to invest £13bn to 2025.
RWE have an ambition to invest up to £15bn in clean energy infrastructure in the UK by 2030.
To provide greater reassurance and support to industry, the Energy Security Secretary will outline the range of measures the Government is taking to protect energy infrastructure from intentional disruption, as well as maintaining the network’s strong resilience.
This includes:
The Public Order Act, with specific powers coming into effect in July to protect critical infrastructure;
Working with the Police to ensure protestors cannot gain unauthorised access to sites;
The work of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, whose 1,300 officers and 300 support staff operate to protect nuclear sites across England, Scotland and Wales
The Energy Security Secretary will also discuss progress on major UK energy investment projects across renewable projects, oil and gas, new nuclear, and new technologies such as carbon capture.
They include:
Carbon capture – earlier this week, the Prime Minister announced two further projects in Humber and the North East of Scotland, which can move towards becoming clusters for this new technology – alongside eight already being considered, and two existing clusters in the North East, and in the North West and Wales.
Oil and gas – The Prime Minister has also confirmed future licensing rounds will continue for the extraction of oil and gas in the North Sea – while the North Sea Transition Authority reports they have received over 115 bids from 76 companies in the latest licensing round.
Nuclear – companies can now register their interest with the UK’s new organisation, Great British Nuclear, to secure funding support to develop new technologies including Small Modular Reactors.
Offshore wind – the UK has the world’s largest operational wind farms off its shores, with plans for further development off the East Anglia Coast and at Dogger Bank in the North East which could collectively provide enough clean energy for over 6.5million homes.
An independent Migrants’ Commissioner would stand up for the rights of people who have moved to an independent Scotland, under Scottish Government proposals.
The latest ‘Building a New Scotland’ prospectus paper, which focuses on citizenship in an independent Scotland, sets out how a commissioner could advocate for migrants, including protecting the rights of EU citizens.
The creation of an independent Migrants’ Commissioner was a key recommendation of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review and would bring Scotland into line with countries like Germany. The UK Government has declined to implement this recommendation.
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Migrants are an important part of the fabric of Scottish society – enriching our culture, boosting our economy and contributing to our communities.
“After independence, this government would appoint a Migrants’ Commissioner to speak up for individuals and families, including the hundreds of thousands of EU citizens who call Scotland home, to ensure migrants’ voices are heard at the highest level.
“Unlike the UK Government, who rejected the Windrush review’s recommendation to establish this role, we are committed to protecting the rights and equality of migrants – alongside all our citizens – in an independent nation.
“Under our proposals, it will be up to individuals to decide whether Scottish citizenship is something they want to pursue, but we are clear that people from around the world will always be welcome in Scotland.”
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) have announced a programme of £11 million worth of cuts for 2023-24, which could lead to catastrophic removals of equipment and firefighter positions at fire stations.
Crewe Toll Fire Station in Edinburgh is due to be affected, with the potential loss of the station’s Turntable Ladder, the piece of equipment which allows rescues from height.
If the equipment is removed from the station, and if no other height appliance was available to attend, there would be no external rescue possible from above the fourth floor in a building.
Foysol Choudhury MSP this week visited Crewe Toll Fire Station to discuss the impact that these cuts would have on the firefighters and their ability to do their job safely.
Following the visit, Mr Choudhury said: “Firefighters risk their lives doing their jobs to save us, and our buildings, from fire.
“They depend on vital equipment to help them do this safely and so I am incredibly concerned that this equipment could be removed, meaning that rescues from height will not be possible.
“With over 50 buildings above four floors in the surrounding area, this proposal makes no sense.
“If there is a fire in a block of flats in the area surrounding Crewe Toll, what will happen?
“These cuts should not be made, knowing the dangers that fires can cause and the tragedies they lead to.
“You can sign the petition to help Crewe Toll Fire Station retain their height appliance here: https://chng.it/CJncjdvty7”
The Labour list MSP is supporting FBU Scotland’s #CutsLeaveScars campaign, which is calling for a reverse to the decision to cut £11million from services.
Mr Choudhury is also calling on the Scottish Government to urgently review their funding arrangements with the SFRS, so that these cuts are not forced and so that both firefighters and the public can be kept safe by a fully resourced fire and rescue service.
The Scottish Ministerial Code has been updated to further strengthen transparency and propriety.
Updates to the Code include:
New text reflecting the updates to the procedure for handling complaints by civil servants about the behaviour of a Minister or former Minister, making clear that for future complaints certain information about concluded cases will be made public, including the Minister’s name, the nature of the complaint and the outcome of the complaint, even after a Minister has left office, and setting out the obligation on Ministers to cooperate with the procedure.
The introduction of an annual review of Ministers’ private interests, and proactive publication of these interests on an annual basis, to enhance integrity and transparency around actual or perceived conflicts of interest. In addition, new text has been introduced to provide additional clarity for Ministers on managing overlaps between their Ministerial responsibilities and constituency interests.
General updates on provisions for maternity leave and to reflect the introduction of the Bute House Agreement, as well as minor amends to take account of digital developments, new published strategies and changes in Ministerial titles and responsibilities.
The First Minister Humza Yousaf said: “This new edition of the Ministerial Code sets the highest standards of propriety and transparency for Government Ministers.All Scottish Ministers, including myself, are bound by its terms and are committed to uphold the Principles of Public life, ensuring integrity, accountability and honesty at every level of leadership.
“Scottish Ministers are committed to building a better future for the people of Scotland while facing the profound challenges of our time. This will mean taking some tough decisions to ensure that we support those in greatest need, and it is vital that we are guided in this mission by a clear set of principles.”
Increased tax relief to boost Britain’s animated film production
Measure is “about backing business to innovate and grow the UK economy”
Draft legislation also published to clarify design details underpinning a simplified Research and Development Scheme
Animated film productions in the UK are set for a boost as the government reveals increased tax relief, to take effect from 1 January 2024.
The creative industry has grown at more than 1.5 times the rate of the wider economy over the past decade, making it an important sector for the Chancellor’s plan to grow the economy.
The new tax changes announced today are expected to be worth £5 million each year to business and come alongside the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit which was uplifted at budget from 33.33% to 39%. This also follows the Creative Industries Sector Vision published last month which set an ambition to grow the creative industries by an extra £50 billion by 2030.
These changes are a key part of the government’s plan to get the economy growing and make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business.
Financial Secretary to the Treasury Victoria Atkins said: “We want the UK to be the best place to start and grow a business and while we have the lowest corporation tax rate in the G7, we are not complacent.
“The changes we are making are about backing business to innovate and grow the UK economy, creating good jobs across the country.”
This measure is part of 23 tax announcements published as part of the government’s ‘Legislation Day’, where draft legislation for an upcoming Finance Bill is published, as well as technical tax documents and consultations mostly from measures announced at the Spring Budget.
Also published is the proposed design for a simplified R&D scheme, which would be born out of a merger from two previous schemes, as well as draft legislation also published to cement a further new £500 million per year scheme to support 20,000 R&D intensive SMEs.
A final decision will be made in the Autumn on whether to merge the Research and Development Expenditure Credit and Small Medium Enterprise relief schemes to form a new scheme. A merged scheme would simplify the system, by creating a single set of qualifying rules, and giving clarity on how much could be claimed before claims are made.
On Legislation Day the government also announced that:
From today, any Ukrainian who has arrived in the UK under the Family, Sponsor and Extension Ukrainian visa schemes will no longer need to register or tax their vehicle. This will last 36 months, in line with the length of their visas, and can be applied retrospectively from one’s arrival, potentially saving them hundreds of pounds.
Income tax will be exempt on payments made under the Family Network Support Package, which are aimed to keep children out of state care and in their family network where appropriate and in their best interests. The Department for Education will set out further details on the pilot scheme in the summer.
It will simplify the process so people who need to start paying the High Income Child Benefit Charge will not need to fill out a Self-Assessment form to pay the charge, but will be able to do it through their tax code. HMRC will set out in due course how it will do this.
The House of Commons adjourned on Thursday 20 July for summer recess and will next sit on Monday 4 September at 2.30pm.
TUC condemns Tory “wrecking ball” to right to strike and says it won’t rest until the legislation is repealed
Union body urges employers to do “everything in their power” to avoid using this counterproductive legislation to settle disputes
The TUC has vowed to fight the anti-strike bill “tooth and nail” as the legislation passed its final parliamentary stage.
The union body said the Conservatives were threatening to “take a wrecking ball” to the fundamental right to strike – adding that “unions won’t rest” until the legislation is repealed.
The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill will soon receive Royal Assent and make its way onto the statute book as the legislation passed in the House of Lords – after several previous defeats.
The Bill will mean that when workers lawfully vote to strike in health, education, fire, transport, border security and nuclear decommissioning, they could be forced to attend work – and sacked if they don’t comply.
1 in 5 workers
TUC research found a massive 1 in 5 workers in Britain – or 5.5 million workers – are at risk of having their right to strike undermined. The legislation gives ministers sweeping powers to impose strike restrictions in any service within those extremely broad sectors.
The UK’s actions have already come under scrutiny from international organisations. The UN workers’ rights watchdog, the ILO, recently slapped down the UK government over its anti-union agenda and demanded it respect international law.
The Bill will give ministers the power to impose new minimum service levels through regulation, but ministers have given few details on how they intend minimum service levels to operate.
Humiliating defeat
The government is rushing this latest legislation onto the statute book just days after a “humiliating defeat” on its agency worker regulations – as the High Court deemed the regulations unlawful.
The “strike-breaking” regulations were brought in last summer and allow agencies to supply employers with workers to fill in for those on strike.
The High Court ruled that the then Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng, failed to consult unions, as required by the Employment Agencies Act 1973 – quashing the 2022 changes.
The TUC has accused the government of adopting the same “reckless approach” with its anti-strike bill.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “The Conservatives are threatening to take a wrecking ball to our fundamental right to strike.
“No one should be sacked for trying to win better pay and conditions at work – especially in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. But that is exactly what this draconian legislation will allow.
“These new laws will give ministers the power to snatch away the right to strike from a massive 1 in 5 workers – that’s 5.5 million people.
Commenting on the ongoing campaign against the bill, Paul added: “Make no mistake. The TUC will fight this pernicious legislation tooth and nail – exploring all options including legal routes.
“We won’t stand by and let workers get sacked for defending their pay and conditions. And we won’t rest until this bill has been repealed.
“It’s unworkable, undemocratic and almost certainly in breach of international law.
“After the government’s humiliating defeat in the High Court over its unlawful attempt to undermine the right to strike, ministers should spare themselves further embarrassment.
“Every employer must reject this blatant attempt at union busting. That means doing everything in their power to avoid using this counterproductive legislation – it will only poison industrial relations and drag out disputes.
“Our message is loud and clear. The entire trade union movement will rally behind any worker sacked for exercising their fundamental right to strike.”
On Labour’s plans to repeal the legislation in its first 100 days, Paul said: “The right to strike is a fundamental British liberty – Labour gets this. That’s why they have done the right thing and promised to repeal this nasty legislation at the earliest opportunity.”
First Minister calls for action to end uncertainty on Acorn Project
First Minister Humza Yousaf has called on the UK Government to give the go-ahead for the Acorn carbon capture and storage (CCS) project to enable Scotland to ramp up its transition to clean energy.
On a visit to Peterhead Power Station, the First Minister said that the Scottish Government is wholly committed to supporting the Acorn Project, and urged the UK Government to set out its plans and end uncertainty for investors and stakeholders.
The project, based in Aberdeenshire, would take captured CO2 emissions from industrial processes across the country and store it safely under the North Sea.
The First Minister added: “Scotland’s net-zero future is being held back by UK Government dithering and delay.
“The Acorn scheme should be given approval now, so that we can take advantage of our unrivalled access to a vast CO2 storage potential and our opportunities to repurpose existing oil and gas infrastructure. CCS will play a pivotal role in achieving a just transition for our workforces, capitalising on existing world-leading skills and expertise to create many good, green jobs in the coming years.
“Despite the UK Government confirming in March that Acorn is ‘best-placed’ to meet the eligibility to be awarded Track-2 status, which would allow access to financial support from the UK Government, they continue to fail to provide a clear timetabled solution for the next stages of the process. This is entirely unacceptable and layers further uncertainty on top of never-ending delays which are impacting investor confidence and which compromise our climate-change commitments and just-transition ambitions.
“Acorn’s target of capturing and storing up to five million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2030 is critical to Scotland’s plans to achieve net zero by 2045, ahead of the rest of the UK. The scheme will also help the UK Government to deliver on its commitments.
“While the UK Government prevaricates, we have already established a £500 million Just Transition Fund for the North East to build on the region’s world-renowned expertise and ingenuity, to create jobs, foster innovation and support the region to deliver a fair and managed transition to net zero.”
Catherine Raw, Managing Director of SSE Thermal, who are part of the Scottish Cluster group of industrial companies backing the capture and permanent storage of CO2 emissions, said: “To unlock the potential of Peterhead and the wider region, it is vital that the Scottish Cluster is brought forward urgently, allowing the development of decarbonisation projects to be accelerated and Scotland’s net-zero ambitions to be met.
“Doing so will not only help us meet our energy goals, it will also support industries and provide a fair and just transition for workers and communities across the North East of Scotland, including at Peterhead.
“SSE have set out plans to invest up to £40 billion in the next decade, including more than £21 billion in Scotland alone. Renewables will be at the heart of that investment but we also recognise the need for flexible generation to provide backup when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. Our existing Peterhead station fulfils that role today, playing a critical role in Scotland’s energy system.”
