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I want to be clear—are you referring to the fact that there is additional capacity in the UK to produce gas, but the domestic price has not dropped to reflect that?

I am not aware of the £500 million that you are referring to, but if you can provide more information, I am more than happy to take the matter away and get clarification on it. As I have not been sighted on that, I would prefer to get some details on it and then clarify things with the finance secretary.

We still do not have clarity about the track 2 process for carbon capture, utilisation and storage. We have had extensive discussions with the UK Government about that, and it is rare that I do not raise the issue when I meet UK energy ministers. Their view is that the Scottish cluster has to be considered in track 2, but we do not have clarity on when that process will take place. However, the UK Government has recently said that it expects that it will require four CCUS projects to be in operation by 2030. The problem is that we do not know what the track 2 process will be for the other two projects that will be taken forward, and I would think that the Scottish cluster would be one of them. We need clarity on that timeline and a clear understanding of the timescale for decision making on track 2 to make sure that those projects can be delivered later this decade.

Again, because of the interconnected nature of the energy sector, wholesale gas prices are forcing up the price of LPG and oil gas heating. Our view is that there is a need for regulation in this sector, and we have raised that with the UK Government on a number of occasions. However, it is very clear that it has no plans to do so.

The sector is engaging with BEIS on what it can do to meet some of the spiralling costs that off-grid properties are now facing. Given the fact that 17 per cent of our population in Scotland is off-grid, it is an area that should have some regulation in order to manage some of the potential cost impacts that big price spikes can have on households. At about 12 per cent, the off-grid sector in England might not be as big, but it is still a sizeable percentage. There is a need for some market intervention, and there is a variety of different models that we could look at, but at the very least there should be some sort of engagement on different options for regulating the sector, given its impact on so many fuel-poor households in rural parts of Scotland.

If you can do so, I will ensure that we take the matter up with the finance secretary.

I do not believe that there should be a windfall tax only on energy companies; our view is that there should be a windfall tax on companies that have made a significant profit during the pandemic, including the oil and gas sector—in other words, the energy sector itself. That would expand the range of any windfall tax and, potentially, increase the pot available to the UK Government to create measures to address the cost of living crisis. I sense that the chancellor’s position on that changed during the weekend in a way that suggests that he is starting to think about the possibility of introducing a windfall tax on the energy sector.

Presently, we are not looking at an emergency budget. That is because we have a fixed budget, which means that we would not be able to draw in extra resource. We are looking at the present allocation of funding across different portfolios to see whether we can target more of it at people who are experiencing particular difficulty during the cost of living crisis. That work is being done now. However, given that we have a fixed budget, there are no plans for an emergency budget at the present time.

I cannot give you a figure off the top of my head for the number of civil servants who are involved in tackling fuel poverty, but I am more than happy to provide you with that information. Of course, many of them will be involved not just in fuel poverty but in wider social policy areas such as child poverty and household poverty. In other words, they will work not just on one specific bit of poverty but across a range of areas, because they are all interlinked. The households that are experiencing child poverty are often the same households that are experiencing fuel poverty, and those who are experiencing poverty in general often experience fuel poverty, too.

The danger in a governmental sense lies in taking a silo-thinking approach to this rather than a cross-departmental approach. However, I am more than happy to come back to you with the number of civil servants who are employed in tackling poverty, including fuel poverty.

Potentially, yes.

There is quite a lot in there and you have covered a wide range of issues. At an international, and particularly a European, level, there is much greater focus on decarbonisation of the energy sectors and there is a clear determination to move towards renewable energy at a much faster pace than anticipated.

We need only look at the comments that the European Commission has made and the approach that it has taken—Commissioner Timmermans has highlighted the importance of renewables, and Europe’s largest economy, Germany, has set out its stall very clearly when it comes to the focus on renewables and hydrogen as its future approach—to see that there is a real step up in pace and in the desire, at European level, to decarbonise energy markets, reduce dependency on imports, particularly from Russia, to meet climate change targets, and to deliver security of supply.

In recent months, it has been interesting to see how countries in other parts of Europe are recognising that they will not be able to meet all their renewable energy challenges themselves, so they are looking at the potential of other countries to provide markets and support. I have had engagements with ministers and representatives from different parts of Europe who are looking at Scotland as a potential exporter of renewable energy, particularly in the context of green hydrogen. Scotland is seen as a potential main source of green hydrogen to support the European economy.

Let me put that in context. Germany has said that it wants a big focus on hydrogen to decarbonise industrial processes. Germany will require to import about 70 per cent—the vast majority—of its hydrogen, so it is looking for import markets in the countries that are in a position to support that activity, including Scotland.

We are talking about faster decarbonisation, a greater focus on renewable energy, and countries that are looking for import markets and export opportunities because of the focus on greater energy security at European level.

On actions that can be taken, countries that have introduced windfall taxes include Germany, Italy and Spain. I hear people making the argument that, if we introduce a windfall tax, we will not see investment in renewables, but Shell was looking to invest in offshore renewables in Scotland, in a partnership with Scottish Power, before it was making record profits. That interest is not going to change. Renewables investment is increasing in Italy, Germany and Spain despite the introduction of windfall taxes. The argument is a red herring: the reality is that investors are still moving into those markets because they want to be there, and they can see that that is how security of supply will be delivered.

The UK Government needs to act quickly. It needs to look at introducing a windfall tax and using the proceeds to support people during the cost of living crisis that millions of households are facing across the UK, and which is only going to get worse.

In January, my colleague Shona Robison and I wrote a letter to the UK Government in which we proposed a four-nations approach to tackling the increasing cost of living crisis. I, along with Kate Forbes, wrote again in March, again looking for a four-nations approach to these matters. To date, the UK Government has not taken up that offer.