1. To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on the energy skills passport for offshore energy workers. (S6O-02164)

The energy skills passport project, for which we have committed nearly £5 million from the just transition fund, reached a key milestone at the end of in 2022 in the development of a prototype that will be tested with workers and employees in the next phase.

I am pleased that trade unions have been engaging their workforces in the design of the passport solution, and unions are representing workers directly as part of the project review group for the passport.

The Scottish Government supports delivery of a skills passport that will work for the different offshore energy industry sectors, recognising the cross-sector skills of workers and supporting a fair and managed transition. The offshore industries, including wind, have also demonstrated clear support for a solution that works for all and promotes a fairer transition in offshore energy.

As the minister will know, the energy skills passport was due to launch in the first quarter of this year. We are now in May. The unexplained delays are reportedly due to opposition from the Global Wind Organisation—GWO—which is the offshore wind standards body. In the meantime, offshore workers continue to face barriers to transition.

Will the minister use her role and position to intervene and chair a crisis summit, which would include the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation, the GWO and the offshore trade unions—the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers and Unite—to resolve that crisis, end the delay and give offshore energy workers the certainty that they need in order to transition?

I support Mercedes Villalba’s call for the skills passport to be delivered in a timely fashion because we all want to support workers in a just transition.

Excellent progress is being made on that project. As I said in my first answer, the proof of concept and prototype of the skills passport was completed and signed off by union reps in December. We are progressing with a mapping exercise—mapping the alignment of standards—which is a big piece of work that will bring together in one place the standards from multiple offshore sectors. Currently, we are looking at the mapped equivalent of about 75 per cent of the core crew for an offshore installation, so that work is progressing well.

The project is moving into preparations for beta testing of the prototype, with the intention being to deliver the skills passport to end users in quarter 3 of this year.

Offshore wind was mentioned as a possible transition route for offshore energy workers. Ten years ago, the Government promised to deliver 28,000 jobs in offshore wind; by 2021, it had delivered just over 3,000. What action has the Government taken to examine the reasons why it has failed so badly, and to ensure that the promise of 28,000 jobs can be delivered?

We are all keen for the offshore energy sector to have a just transition away from oil and gas to renewable energy, in which Scotland has so much potential. The creation of the offshore skills passport is a key part of that process because it will, as it reduces the time and costs that are required for training, remove barriers so that workers can make the transfer between the sectors more simply and efficiently to allow the just transition.

The added benefit is that the passport tool will, when in use, give good visibility of potential career pathways and training needs, which relates to the desired goals in the sector to help businesses to plan their workforces and workforces to plan for the roles that they want.

Renewables is an important and growing sector, but some uncertainty remains for workers who have the desired skills because equivalent certification can be expensive. What support is available to offshore workers who are looking to transfer their skills?

As I have just outlined, that is the whole purpose of the offshore skills passport, which means that various offshore sectors have agreed to align their standards. The passport will show the standards to which the worker can adhere in order for them to transition and move back and forth between different offshore energy sectors. That is exactly the purpose of the passport.

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

Question 2 has been withdrawn, so I call question 3.