Scottish Budget - Annex A.7 - Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work & Energy

20th December 2023

Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work & Energy is at the heart of the Scottish Government's ambition to build a stronger, fairer, and greener economy, which meets the needs of Scotland's people and places.

This portfolio is responsible for employment and jobs, energy and offshore wind, digital strategy and connectivity, international trade and investment, and the funding of Scotland's enterprise agencies, VisitScotland and the Scottish National Investment Bank.

Through the National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET), the portfolio is building a fair, green, and growing Wellbeing Economy which attracts international investment and facilitates the transition to a net-zero economy. It will enable progress towards Scotland being a leading fair work nation, and through our investment in employability and training, it will deliver on the government's ambition to eradicate child poverty by removing structural barriers for those who struggle to access the labour market.

The portfolio will support the sustained growth of international exports and the attraction of more inward investment in Scotland’s key sectors. Alongside our enterprise agencies, the Scottish National Investment Bank will continue to act as a mission-focused investor, making commercial investments and crowding in private capital to deliver impact across its three missions.

The portfolio supports energy transition in businesses and communities across Scotland. Our strategic investment in offshore wind will stimulate and support private investment in the infrastructure and supply chain critical to the growth of the sector. It will also support market certainty, providing thousands of new jobs, embedding innovation and boosting skills.

We will also continue to promote industrial decarbonisation across the economy, supporting a just transition for the energy sector, including support for businesses in the North East of Scotland to grow and diversify. We also continue to support early-stage investment in Hydrogen innovation, along with other technologies such as tidal and wave. Due to uncertainty from the UK Government on the timescales for Track 2 CCUS support, no budget provision has been provided for this financial year; despite this we remain committed to supporting the project with up to £80 million of Scottish Government capital funding at the earliest opportunity.

The portfolio is also building Scotland’s digital capability. Our strategic investments to extend and enhance Scotland’s digital infrastructure will ensure that all of Scotland can contribute to, and benefit from, the digital economy. By extending gigabit-capable fibre networks, we are providing a platform for innovation across all sectors, including the transformation of digital public services, and creating the conditions for Scotland to become a green data hosting location at the heart of the technology revolution.

The portfolio will continue to provide person-centred employability and skills support, focusing on improving long-term labour participation. Through the New Deal for Business, the portfolio will work with businesses to support an effective regulatory environment for businesses in Scotland. Alongside this, our work to implement the Investor Panel recommendations aims to increase the amount of private sector capital investment that flows to Scotland.

Scotland has the potential to become a leading European start-up nation, and the portfolio will realise that potential by continuing to invest in world-class start-up incubation environments, first-rate mentorship and commercial education, and by supporting more women to start and scale businesses. We will also progress key recommendations from the recent innovation strategy, including a focus on the commercialisation of research and reforming our approach to investing in innovative projects.

The spending plans set out below will ensure that we build on local strengths, boost investment, innovation and productivity, and promote Fair Work and wellbeing across Scotland. This is how we will deliver an economy that is fair, green, and growing, benefitting all Scotland’s communities and people.

Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work & Energy intended contributions to the National Outcomes
Primary National Outcomes

Economy
International
Fair Work and Business
Environment
Poverty
Communities
Health
Secondary National Outcomes

Children and Young People
Education
Human Rights

For further information on the purpose of the portfolio budget, and contributions to national outcomes (including impacts of spend on equality of outcome) please refer to the relevant portfolio annex in the published Equality and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement.

There are reductions and increases in different sectors.
See the figures and tables HERE