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Good morning, and thank you for your time.

Building on what has already been said—and I appreciate the comments that have already been made about the process—can you say a bit more about what redress children and young people might have if the principles are not followed? What is the process for seeking redress?

Good morning, Professor Logan. I want to go into how we attract young people into computer science and related industries and pathways, and the variety of opportunities that exist. I also have a few questions about the challenge of attracting people to teach and to speak to young people about the opportunities.

Like your STER report, the Withers review garnered a lot of respect and interest. To what extent might the structural changes to the skills landscape in Scotland proposed in the Withers review help to address some of the barriers to increasing digital skills?

On that point, it has been interesting today to reflect on the point that, when there is a Scottish Parliament election, the Westminster Parliament is in no way constrained in the way that we will be in the weeks ahead. That is quite an inconsistency.

Moving to positive considerations, cabinet secretary, you rightly emphasised in your opening statement or earlier in the meeting—I cannot recall exactly when—the significant progress that there has been in renewable electricity production in Scotland since the passage of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. Building on that, there is significant further capacity that could be realised, and is going to be realised, in the years ahead. Part of the challenge is the number of projects coming forward, the diversity of those projects and the Government’s rightful considerations of biodiversity and other issues.

The consenting process is quite challenging for those who are trying to progress projects on a variety of different technologies and infrastructure initiatives. I have raised in committee and in the chamber, as have other members, the matter of what action is being or can be taken to ensure that we have a robust, appropriate and timeous consenting process, so that projects that will be consented can be advanced as quickly as possible to realise the many advantages that they bring in terms of not just renewable electricity production but job creation, the attraction of investment and many other positives. Do you and your officials want to update the Parliament on those matters?

Good morning. I want to go back to what you said about external events. During the passage of the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019, which I recall very clearly, there was significant debate about the achievability of the targets, based on the CCC’s evidence, particularly during the stage 3 proceedings. Then, of course, we had the global pandemic. Do you want to say any more about how challenging that period was, with the redeployment of civil servants, the loss of time to introduce legislation, the impact on our ability to collaborate with local government and other stakeholders on implementation, and a general constraining of the financial resources of the Scottish Government? From memory, that affected the preparation of most recent climate change plan, which Parliament managed to conclude just before the 2021 election. That context is important in this wider debate. Do you want to say anything more about it?

That was a helpful update. I am not taking away from the fact that there is a good average and that there is progress, but I think that it is important for all of us to seek to continue to refine and improve the process as much as we can, given its potential.

There is the hurdle of capacity, which is challenged in a growing city such as Edinburgh.

In relation to employment and the workplace, you could apply that same argument to Scots.

I will touch on another issue. There was a discussion about the economy earlier. One of the benefits that I know about from my constituency work is that young people who learn Gaelic also develop skills that help them to learn a number of other languages, which not only gives them the benefit of learning Gaelic but enables them to learn more languages, which in turn helps with their economic contribution and the opportunities available to them later on. In considering young people learning languages more widely, should education authorities prioritise Gaelic as a modern language over other modern languages, or not?

In our evidence, we heard feedback on higher education. Will the Government use the powers under the bill to improve the provision of Gaelic-medium further and higher education?

Absolutely.

Earlier, you spoke about the overall ambition. Do you think that the bill will support Gaelic-medium education pupils having wider opportunities to use Gaelic in their homes and communities? How will it increase what you described as the breadth and the depth of Gaelic?