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Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 21 June 2025
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Displaying 1071 contributions

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Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 12 September 2023

Neil Gray

It is certainly not possible, without the devolution of those powers, to take away the potential for a public inquiry that adds a year to the process. That is an important aspect of ensuring that people can have their say on projects. However, you are right that, for us to be able to make full and meaningful progress, there is a need for interaction with the UK Government. Particularly on onshore wind, it would be an understatement to say that we are on different pages as to the importance of that particular element of renewable energy. As we saw from allocation round 5—AR5—just this week, the same applies to offshore wind.

We will continue to interact and engage as best we can with the UK Government and try to ensure that there is as much alignment as possible and that it is doing its share to provide as much certainty as possible, because that is an ask not just of the Scottish Government on consenting but of the UK Government on the areas for which it has responsibility.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 12 September 2023

Neil Gray

No. We have had no information other than what you have seen to be publicly available, Mr Lumsden.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 12 September 2023

Neil Gray

As I have said, that money will be available when we have the information about the emitters that will be included and when the process will be concluded. At this stage, we do not have that information, so we cannot spend that money. When we have that information, we will spend that money. I cannot be any clearer than that.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 12 September 2023

Neil Gray

Absolutely. I want those ferries to be delivered as quickly as possible. I was born in an island community, and I continue to have family living in an island community, so I know how critical ferries and lifeline operations are to people living in those communities and for the businesses that operate in those communities. I fully understand and appreciate that. That is why we have been pushing as hard as possible for them to be built as quickly as possible. To be fair, the MCA is a regulator and it would be inappropriate for me to try to intervene in the MCA’s decision making. Those discussions are for Ferguson Marine and the MCA to carry out so that mitigations in the design of the ferries can be brought up to what the MCA now expects. I hope that that can be completed as quickly as possible, for all the reasons that I have set out.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 12 September 2023

Neil Gray

Those discussions are on-going, and that proposition is still on the table. Mr Ruskell is right that this is not a conundrum that we face alone; other countries around the world face the very same one. We are looking to show as much leadership as we can and to take our responsibilities as seriously as possible in relation to the decisions that we can take.

We will work collaboratively internationally to ensure that we take those responsibilities seriously. John Kerry was here recently, and the First Minister introduced him for a very important speech. Other discussions on that front are on-going. We take our international responsibilities seriously. We have world-leading targets to achieve, so we will take the decisions that we can take, such as supporting the just transition fund and our energy transition, and we will try to make sure that the decisions that are taken for us are taken in the best way possible to ensure that we have an accelerated just transition.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 12 September 2023

Neil Gray

I will make sure that we follow up on that in writing.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 12 September 2023

Neil Gray

The deputy convener’s point about the expertise is well made. I visited a number of operations and businesses over the summer that are involved in renewable energy, many of which have already transitioned from oil and gas. Many of our ports are doing likewise. Obviously, the deputy convener has more than a passing interest in that fact.

I was also at Montrose to visit the Seagreen offshore wind farm. The substantial investment made by Montrose Port Authority to ensure that it captures as much of the renewable energy potential as possible is demonstrable; it is there for all to see. I had a very good conversation with Port of Aberdeen, the Aberdeen port authority, as well, which Ms Dunbar and Mr Lumsden will be interested in. Again, the plans that it has to ensure that it is able to scale up and have the capacity to be able to deal with what is coming from the green industrial revolution—if you want to put it that way—are huge. We know that it is there and that it is coming. We just need to make sure that the landscape in which we are operating is encouraging those investment decisions to be made and supporting people in making those employment decisions. We also need to ensure that we are making the just transition happen as fast as possible. That is the Government’s ambition, and I am sure that it is the ambition of colleagues around the table.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 12 September 2023

Neil Gray

It goes without saying how challenging it will be, for all the reasons that I have set out to Ms Dunbar and for the reasons that she set out in her line of questioning. Fuel bills have doubled for many customers. The change in the price cap, although welcome, has made a marginal difference to fuel poverty rates, moving the figure from 34 per cent to 33 per cent of households. That shows the scale of the challenge that is before us and the actual difference that the shift in the energy price cap has made in terms of the pressure on households—I think that only around 20,000 households were lifted out of fuel poverty, so we need much greater structural intervention as well as mitigations to ensure that this winter is not a very cold one for people across Scotland.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 12 September 2023

Neil Gray

I obviously have an awareness of the work that has been done, and I continue to work closely with MĂ iri McAllan and Patrick Harvie on the work that is coming forward. I expect to have a copy of the report when it is forthcoming and to ensure that the stakeholders that I have an involvement with in the private sector investment landscape are able to play their part in what is going to be required in that heat in buildings work.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 12 September 2023

Neil Gray

I would always encourage that, and, from the engagements that I had in the summer, I know that there is a lot of work going on around the innovation that will be required to assist us. A huge amount of innovation is happening in Scotland in energy generation but also in the system changes that Ms Lennon referenced to assist us in that progress. Also, businesses are looking at what they can do in their operations, whether or not they are involved in energy transition or anything to do with net zero.

The majority of the businesses that I deal with want to do the right thing and are looking at trying to decarbonise and make sure that they contribute in their own way. Monica Lennon is right: it is about making sure that, where people are looking to do that, we exemplify it and point it out. I say “we” as in the Government, but, in the engagements that the committee will have with your stakeholders as well, it is about making sure that, where there has been good practice and best practice, we share that, exemplify it and pass it forward as an example to others. It is also about making sure that we point people in the right direction of the interventions that we are making, which I shared with Mr Lumsden, to ensure that people know that the support is there for them to do that work.

10:45