Torcuil Crichton

The Government recognises that communities hosting energy infrastructure play a vital role in delivering a clean, secure and affordable energy system. Through the Clean Power Action Plan, we are committed to ensuring communities benefit from low carbon energy infrastructure and the Government has set out its ambition that there should be much more energy infrastructure owned by communities directly.

On 21 May, we published a working paper on community benefits and shared ownership of low carbon energy infrastructure. The working paper sought evidence on current shared ownership practices in the UK and whether introducing a legal requirement to offer shared ownership using powers in Section 38 Part 6 of the Infrastructure Act 2015 is appropriate. We are currently reviewing responses.

According to the independent website ThinkBroadband.com, over 86% of UK premises can access a gigabit-capable broadband connection.

More than £2 billion of contracts have now been signed to provide gigabit connectivity to over a million more premises. The vast majority of the premises to be covered by these contracts will be in rural areas.

This includes the first Project Gigabit contract in Scotland which was announced last month, and we aim to announce further contracts in the coming months.

Consolidating blue light and siren permissions for all voluntary search and rescue organisations operating under UK Search and Rescue (UKSAR) governance will be considered by Ministers in due course.

As set out in the contract for the Second Generation Search and Rescue Aviation programme, search and rescue helicopter provision will transition from the Sikorsky S92 to the Leonardo AW189 in Quarter 4 of 2026 at Stornoway, and in Quarter 1 of 2027 at Sumburgh.

The department has made strides in turning the tide on fraud and error in the benefits system, with the overall rates dropping since the peak in overpayments in 2022. We welcome the recognition of this progress in the NAO’s recent report.

We will continue to go further with the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill which is estimated to save £1.5bn by 2030, as part of a wider package of £9.6bn of savings.

The Department invests over £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

In November 2023, the Government and Prostate Cancer UK (PCUK) announced the £42 million TRANSFORM screening trial to find the best way to screen men for prostate cancer, in order to find it before it becomes advanced and harder to treat. PCUK is managing the award on behalf of the funders, with the Government contributing £16 million through the NIHR.

Once received, the protocol will be published on the NIHR’s website on the funding and awards page. This is expected to contain details of the site selection criteria. TRANSFORM will aim to recruit men from across the United Kingdom, including Scotland.

NHS England run Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address the barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging body awareness to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an earlier point.

The Department continues to advise patients to follow National Health Service guidance on signs and symptoms of several types of cancer, including prostate cancer. This advice is available publicly on the NHS.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/prostate-cancer/

To address disparities and find ways to better detect prostate cancer earlier, we have invested £16 million in the United Kingdom-wide TRANSFORM trial, aimed at helping find the best ways of detecting prostate cancer in men, even if they are not displaying any symptoms. This research will aim to address some of the inequalities that exist in prostate cancer diagnosis by targeting black men in trial recruitment, ensuring that one in ten participants are black men.

We have also asked the National Screening Committee to review the evidence for prostate cancer screening, including for high-risk groups like black men.

Our recently announced trade deals will benefit key industries in rural, coastal and island communities, such as whisky and salmon.

Our forthcoming Industrial Strategy and drive to clean energy will ensure good quality jobs across Scotland.

Project Gigabit is improving broadband connectivity for homes and businesses, and only last week we announced thirteen upgraded phone masts to transform rural connectivity across the Scottish countryside.

Brand Scotland, the Scotland Office’s programme of international trade and investment promotion, is about selling Scotland to the world.

I have already visited Norway, Singapore and Malaysia, to promote our food and drink, energy, and defence sectors. Next month, I will be in Washington D.C and New York for the famous Tartan Week.

Closer to home, I was delighted to meet my Honourable Friend last week to discuss how Brand Scotland can support some of his constituents’ finest products - Harris tweed and Scottish seafood - and I commend his outstanding work in this area.

I have been working closely with my cabinet colleagues to achieve our clean energy Mission.

Scotland has a huge role to play, not least through GB Energy - headquartered in Aberdeen and backed with £8.3bn. It will work to deliver clean energy, lower bills, and bring the jobs of the future to all parts of Scotland.

This is on top of the largest ever Contracts for Difference round and the National Wealth Fund, which will mobilise billions into our world-leading clean energy industries.