I am giving careful consideration into how remaining ScotWind funding should be deployed in both the current and future years. Through our emergency controls and savings announced on 3 September, I will seek to minimise usage of ScotWind in 2024-25.

Successive Scottish budgets have demonstrated Scotland’s commitment to addressing the climate change crisis, using all the power and resources at our disposal to accelerate the just transition to a net zero, climate-resilient and biodiverse Scotland.

Funding and spending decisions for 2025-26 will be set out in the 2025-26 Scottish Budget in December.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. It is for local authorities to determine their own mechanisms for recording instances of restraint in relation to looked after or care experienced children and young people and any record of this would be held at local authority level.

The Care Inspectorate collects data on the number of restraints that occur in registered care settings, such as care homes for children and young people, school care accommodation services and secure accommodation services. The Care Inspectorate does not collect data on restraint from local authorities. In order to improve monitoring and reporting of restraint of children in these settings, the Care Inspectorate intend to publish its data on restraint annually. The first report is due to be published shortly.

In school settings, existing guidance is clear that any decision to physically intervene must be recorded and monitored by local authorities. The Scottish Government is bringing forward new guidance on the use of physical intervention in schools to help improve practice in this area and prevent the use of restraint and seclusion.

The wellbeing and safety of children and young people is always paramount, and the Scottish Government is clear that the use of restraint should always be a last resort in exceptional circumstances when it is the only practicable means of securing the welfare or safety of the child or another person.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information in relation to children’s residential homes. Residential children’s homes can be owned and operated by health boards, local authorities, private, or third sector not for profit organisations.

The Scottish Government has some limited information in relation to fostering agencies. Fostering services can be owned and operated by local authorities, or third sector not for profit organisations. We are publishing a consultation on the future of fostering later this year which will include questions on the role of independent fostering agencies.

The implementation of the Scottish Recommended Allowance for Foster and Kinship Carers was an agreement between Scottish Government and COSLA. Part of this agreement was that where local authorities were already paying above the national minimum allowance, this would continue so that kinship or foster carers currently in receipt of the allowance would not be worse off because of this commitment. Therefore, while the national rate has been implemented, the allowances paid by local authorities may still differ. Officials are working with Social Work Scotland to ensure that all local authorities are publishing their allowances online, so that rates paid are transparent.

The Promise is clear that there is no place for profiting in how Scotland cares for its children and the Scottish Government supports this principle.

The Scottish Government meets with the UK Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive on a regular basis to discuss children’s residential care policy, including profit from care.

Although we have not undertaken a formal assessment of the Welsh Government’s legislative proposals, we continue to engage with the Welsh Government as these develop.

The Scottish Government, working alongside COSLA and local government, will consider what further steps could be taken in Scotland, including through legislation.

Within the Green Industrial Strategy, published on 11 September 2024, we set out how the people of Scotland will see maximum benefits from Scotland’s energy transition, including identifying Scotland’s wind economy as one of the five opportunity areas.

Seabed leasing for offshore wind is administered by Crown Estate Scotland (CES), which sets the terms of lease. Leasing terms may vary between leasing rounds to ensure that such agreements remain fit for purpose and reflect the latest statutory requirements and policy positions.

As part of the ScotWind bidding round, applicants were required to submit a Supply Chain Development Statement (SCDS) to CES. The SCDS outlines the commitment and ambition for supply chain activity within Scotland, the UK and overseas, across four project phases – development, manufacturing and fabrication, installation, and operations & maintenance.

The Scottish Government and CES will continue to review the leasing requirements for future leasing rounds, informed by best practice to deliver the best outcomes for Scotland and in line with our social, economic and environmental principles, including the need for any legislative changes to support the updated leasing conditions.

32 of the 38 projects progressed through the industry-led Strategic Investment Model have consented to being published and a list is available online at: Strategic Investment Model Stage 2 projects announced | Offshore Wind Scotland

Ten priority projects have been identified through the industry-led SIM process: five are port facilities, four are supply chain proposals and one is an equipment project.

A list of SIM priority projects is available online at: Full SIM Stage 2 List published | Offshore Wind Scotland.

The prospectuses and the details within them belong to the individual project proponents, however taken together the total capital expenditure of SIM projects is around £6.5 billion.

The Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) drove efforts to create a Collaborative Framework Charter to increase collaboration within the offshore wind industry. The primary output of that work is the Strategic Investment Model (SIM).

A strong pipeline of port infrastructure and supply chain projects has emerged through the industry-led SIM process. 38 project proposals were developed through the SIM, with a combined total capital expenditure of around £6.5 billion.

The industry-led SIM process has identified ten priority projects so far; five are port facilities, four are supply chain proposals and one is an equipment project. Further progress has been made with nineteen “progress” projects being identified through the SIM.

This approach will help deliver supply chain and port investment critical to the expansion of Scotland’s offshore wind capacity, while supporting the deployment of ScotWind.

The Scottish Government is committed to maximising the economic opportunity for the Scottish supply chain from our offshore wind potential. We expect developers to honour their commitments set out in the Supply Chain Development Statements (SCDS) which were a condition of their being awarded Option Agreements.

The SCDS process has been carefully designed and is managed by Crown Estate Scotland (CES) to ensure focus is maintained on supply chain capacity and capability to develop and deliver offshore wind projects in Scotland.

The ScotWind SCDS were updated within 12 months of signing the Option Agreement, and must be updated at least once every 3 years thereafter. The first updates made in 2023 have resulted in an increase from £1.4 billion to £1.5 billion in projected average spend per project.

Failure by developers to deliver on their commitments can trigger remedies ranging from financial penalties to an inability to progress to a seabed lease.