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Potentially, yes. We can look at other ways of doing that, including the use of what I think are referred to as touch points, where people can engage with a range of public agencies. Is there a way, through those agencies, that we can make information available to the public about what they can do to meet some of the cost of living challenges? I think that such an approach could play a part.

The Home Energy Scotland programme was never designed to deal with a crisis of this scale, but it is a valuable part of the advice landscape in Scotland, because it gives independent, impartial advice on energy efficiency measures and provides some financial support for those who want to implement some of them. It has an important part to play, but it is not the only answer and we should not view it as being the only approach. We can look at bringing in a broader programme, part of which might involve providing people with advice and information on measures that can be taken.

The International Energy Agency has set out a range of actions that households and Governments can take to help reduce energy consumption, and some of that can be distilled to a local level in the form of advice to households on measures that they, too, can take to reduce consumption. There are other ways in which such advice and information can be put across, and we in Government are looking at that just now as part of a future programme of work.

I recognise that they are under greater pressure because of the cost of living crisis. We have taken specific measures. As I mentioned, we have expanded the Home Energy Scotland programme by 20 per cent and doubled the bit that is specifically for those who are most vulnerable. We have also put another £10 million into the fuel insecurity fund, which is administered by third sector organisations on our behalf, to provide financial resource.

Some third sector organisations have faced challenges because of concerns about future funding. I suspect that most of that is linked to UK Government delays in taking forward the warm home discount scheme, which has created points of vulnerability for third sector organisations in relation to whether they will have funding going into the new financial year. I believe that the UK Government has now sought to address that in the regulations that it set out in February to roll forward the programme.

We are trying to provide resource to third sector organisations to support them where we can. I am also very conscious that this is about more than energy—some third sector organisations that provide advice and information are dealing with other aspects of the cost of living crisis. We are considering whether we can do further work to support third sector organisations, given the increasing demand that they are facing over and above the additional support that we have already provided. I fully recognise and acknowledge that they are under considerable pressure and demands, given the cost of living crisis that many households are facing.

As I have said previously at committee, our priority is to move towards a public energy agency company in Scotland, which is a piece of work that we are taking forward at present. That has not changed. Nonetheless, it remains our view—and my view—that, in order to operate an effective public energy agency company, we would require to be able to enter not only the retail market but the energy generation market, and to control aspects of the grid network. As it stands, we do not have that power.

My view is that the best way in which we can deliver a public energy agency company in Scotland that can do all those things is through Scotland being a normal independent country. That would involve our taking responsibility for these matters and being able to borrow the capital needed to invest in those types of projects, in the exact same way that many other countries in the Scandinavian region of Europe have been able to do in recent years. Some of those countries are now investing in Scottish renewable energy projects, because they have been able to secure the capital necessary to enable them to do so.

The proposal still has merit, but to do it effectively and properly, we would require all the powers that we need with regard to energy. We also need the borrowing powers that are necessary to deliver the type of investment required to create renewable energy projects. Beyond that, our priority is the agency, as I have set out previously.

One of the purposes of the energy insecurity fund is to support some of the most vulnerable households, particularly those that are on prepayment meters. We provide some of that funding to the Fuel Bank Foundation, which supports vulnerable people on prepayment meters, I think, to reduce the risk, including by making available same-day money to stop people from self-disconnecting. There is no doubt in my mind that, across the UK, thousands if not millions of households on prepayment meters will find themselves thinking about self-disconnecting because they just cannot load up their meters. For that reason, we need to do more throughout the UK to meet the needs of people who are experiencing fuel insecurity.

Our £10 million fund is designed specifically to help to meet the needs of those households, but there is no doubt that households across the whole of the UK face the same problems. Much more needs to be done to meet the challenges that those households face.

We used to have gas storage capacity, but when the sector was privatised, it was all got rid of. Interestingly, some European countries are putting in gas storage capacity. Germany is doing that, and the Netherlands might be doing the same, with a view to future proofing in relation to hydrogen.

As things stand, as I understand it, gas production in the UK basins is already at capacity. There is no residual or spare capacity to produce more, and it would probably take several years to bring additional capacity in from other fields. That would not help us in the here and now.

Even though there is additional gas in the UK sector at the moment, gas is traded on the international markets and it is those markets that determine the price. At times, we bring in gas from Norway and we also export some to mainland Europe. It is all traded—-it is a commodity that is traded internationally. The price of gas is set by the international wholesale price.

Even if we could bring on 50 per cent extra capacity in the UK sector, that would not have much of an effect on the international markets, because the UK sector is too small a part of the international sector. At the same time, the price will be determined by the international markets that trade in it.

We are not seeing the benefit of the additional gas that we have in the UK at the moment because gas is a commodity that is traded internationally, and the price is set by the international wholesale price.

I am happy to take the matter away and look at whether there is a way of capturing that information. We have the rurality aspect, so we know that those in rural communities are at greater risk, but as I have said, I am happy to take the issue away and see whether we can do something.

I can assure you that we are not experiencing underspends in my portfolio budget, and there is certainly no underspend as far as the Scottish Government itself is concerned. We ensure that we utilise every aspect of our resource to our maximum ability.

Of course, we have a fixed budget, and we do not have borrowing powers or the ability to implement, say, a windfall tax to bring in additional resource to meet the crisis that households are facing. If we take money from one area and put it into another, we have to stop doing things. With a fixed budget, we have to shift money around in the same way that most households have to.

The UK Government benefits from having many more levers to bring in the level of money and funding that is necessary to deal with this crisis, including the ability to introduce a windfall tax to tackle issues such as fuel poverty and to provide the Scottish Government with funding that would allow us to make even faster progress in tackling these matters. If we had greater financial flexibility, we would have much more effective means of tackling those issues than we have.

On your first question, however, I am more than happy to come back to you with a more detailed explanation if you give me the details.

Are you talking about fuel poverty in the Scottish Government?

The principal source of advice for energy efficiency and energy issues in Scotland that the Scottish Government supports is Home Energy Scotland. It provides advice and guidance, as well as loans for certain programmes around energy efficiency and renewable energy schemes for people’s properties. It is the principal source of advice and information for assistance in Scotland. Alongside that, we have the warmer homes Scotland programme, which is taken forward in partnership with our colleagues in local government.

At present, there is an increasing demand for information on energy efficiency programmes and advice around heating bills. That is why we have increased the scope of the Home Energy Scotland programme by 20 per cent. There is also a bespoke programme for the most vulnerable people, which has been doubled in size to help support the provision of advice and information.

There is a clear existing arrangement for people to get impartial advice and information. However, I am always willing to look at whether there are ways to improve that arrangement or whether we should further expand it. If there are specific examples of people being left confused or unclear about where they should go to, we can look at how we ensure that we are communicating much more effectively. As I said, there is a bespoke service to which people can turn for advice and information.

Thank you, convener. Good morning. Households across the country are struggling to cope with the cumulative pressures of the cost of living crisis, and energy costs lie at the heart of that crisis. Record-high inflation, which is in large part being driven by energy price increases, has forced thousands of people to choose between heating and eating and to experience the worst decline in living standards in the past few decades. The tragic events in Ukraine have exacerbated the already elevated fuel prices, which have risen to unprecedented levels, and the impacts are felt by domestic and business consumers in Scotland. We have also seen the standing charges in fuel bills double, which means that reducing consumption does not save as much as would have been the case previously.

Scotland is a forerunner in renewable energy generation and has the potential to expand our renewable capacity and reduce energy bills. However, investment is being held back due to unfair network charges, which is a missed opportunity in the current energy crisis. A significant number of Scottish households are off the mains gas grid and, due to the interconnected nature of the energy market, natural gas price increases have had a knock-on effect on electricity, heating oil and liquefied petroleum gas prices.

This year, the Scottish Government is set to invest almost £770 million in helping to tackle the cost of living pressures, which includes a £150 cost of living award to support households with higher energy costs, and there is a further investment of £10 million to continue our fuel insecurity fund. Crucially, we are also committed to investing at least £1.8 billion over the next five years in heating and insulating Scotland’s homes and buildings.

We have repeatedly called for urgent and targeted support from the UK Government in the immediate and longer term, such as: a one-off windfall tax on companies that are benefiting from significantly higher profits during the pandemic and energy crisis; direct financial support for low-income households; improvements to the warm homes discount scheme; and a temporary removal of VAT on energy bills.

Sadly, in the March budget, in the energy security strategy and, last week, in the Queen’s speech, the UK Government repeatedly failed to deliver anything to match the scale and urgency of what is required. However, we continue to engage with the UK Government on those matters. We are also engaging with stakeholders and the sector to explore what more we can do and how we can work on a four-nations basis to help to address what is a growing crisis for many households.

Convener, I am happy to respond to the committee’s questions.