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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 19 August 2025
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Displaying 1071 contributions

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Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

Obviously, we keep the situation under constant review and we will seek to recoup the money that has been invested in Prestwick as best we can, to ensure good value for the public purse. I am sure that Graham Simpson would expect that.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

We expect Mr Withers鈥檚 report very soon. When it arrives, I and colleagues across Government鈥攁fter all, the issue touches not just on my areas of responsibility but on those of Jenny Gilruth, Graeme Dey and others across Government鈥攚ill ensure that we respond timeously and that we take seriously what he says.

As for the climate report, I turn to Gary Gillespie to fill in the detail.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

We will ensure that we follow that up with the committee in writing as and when Mr Withers鈥檚 report comes back. To give Mr Beattie confidence, I can confirm in answer to his question that the two elements will be joined.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

That is work in progress. Part of the area that we touched on in an exchange with Ms Hyslop at yesterday鈥檚 meeting of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee was how we ensure that we have both a successful supply chain and a successful infrastructure to enable us to deliver on our net zero ambitions.

Mr Beattie is right to say that public finance is finite. We have already touched on the current challenges in the sector, because of the areas that have been impacted in recent years thanks to decisions outwith our control. However, we continue to work with the likes of the Scottish National Investment Bank and our investor panel on where we can leverage private capital to ensure that we are able to meet such demands both on investments, in the form of private capital coming into the supply chain, and on the required infrastructure.

The scale of that will be challenging. National Grid Electricity System Operator Limited estimates that the grid infrastructure alone will require investment of 拢7 billion; in any case, a substantial amount of capital will be required. We will do what we can both on our investment priorities, to deliver as much as we can within that envelope, and on working with private capital to ensure that we can meet those demands.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

Nothing is anticipated. Progress is good. As I say, the asset is currently generating income for the Scottish Government, but we will keep monitoring the situation closely to ensure that our investment continues to be strong and that the commitments, including on the billet factory, are met.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

Ms Thomson absolutely gets to the nub of the issue: we need to understand the landscape within which we operate if we are to have informed policy decisions aimed at improving the situation.

To answer her question directly, I have to say that I am more than open minded. The first step would be to ensure that we are working on that initial recommendation. I cannot give a full commitment until I have met Ms Stewart and we have published our response in detail, but I can say that Ms Stewart will certainly have a sympathetic ear from me in that regard.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

We have received incredible interest in that consultation. I believe that, at the previous count, there were more than 1,400 responses to it, which is almost seven times the number of responses that we had the previous time that we consulted on an energy strategy, so there is clear interest in it. We need to ensure that we give that proper consideration, but we will seek to publish our final strategy as quickly as we can off the back of considering the consultation responses.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

Wellbeing economy elements already run through NSET. Indeed, we have built in a wellbeing economy metric that allows us to continually monitor our progress in the areas that we want to chart, including our sustainability, our child poverty targets and ensuring that we are narrowing the gender pay gap and that more people are going into employment.

The job title has been changed to refocus things and ensure that prominence is given to wellbeing elements. The First Minister has also set me the very clear task of resetting the relationship with business and ensuring that that relationship is strong and that business continues to perform well so that we can deliver the wellbeing elements of what we want to achieve in Government.

There will be no change to NSET. We will be sharpening our focus as a result of the policy prospectus, which covers the areas that I have set out and which come directly from the national strategy, but we are also committed to delivering the priorities in the strategy.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

We are working on that now with the investments that we are making and through the energy skills passport to ensure that we offer opportunities for people who work in the oil and gas sector to transition. That will be an on-going process, but we will maintain a focus on ensuring that we give as many opportunities as possible to our indigenous workforce. However, we will also put pressure on the UK Government to ensure that the international labour force鈥攚hich we must accept will need to play a part鈥攊s able to play a part in some areas.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Scottish Government Policy Priorities (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)

Meeting date: 10 May 2023

Neil Gray

I will bring in Colin Cook at this point. I do not know the current value off the top of my head.