Meeting of the Parliament 10 January 2023
Let me deal first with the point that Mr Smyth is making about the skills in the energy sector, which is extremely important. As we move forward, it is important that we no longer look at the energy sector as being just an oil and gas sector. We need to look at it in a much more holistic fashion, to include oil and gas, renewables and hydrogen. All of those areas play an important part, and it is important as we go forward that we have the right type of skilled workforce in place to support that.
One of the ways in which we will do that is through the green skills strategy, which we have committed to publishing this year. It will set out in detail the measures that will be taken to help to support the transition within the energy sector and green skills. I am sure that the member will be aware of the recent report by PwC that highlighted that Scotland is the part of the UK with the highest green jobs growth—it is where the fastest level of growth is being seen in green jobs. We want to build on and capitalise on that moving forward.
Let me deal with the member’s final point about a public energy company. He will be aware that we considered the possibility of setting up a public energy company in the retail sector, but the present market simply does not allow for that. I am sure that the member will recognise that, for many decades while the Labour Party was in government in Westminster, it failed to put in place any fund to secure some revenue from the North Sea, which could have been invested for future use. It took exactly the same approach that the Westminster Tory Government has taken. For decades, Westminster Governments have quite literally siphoned off the taxes from our oil and gas sector, so we have no benefit to show from them. [Interruption.]
The difference that we see with ScotWind and overseas public energy companies is that the Scandinavian companies have oil and gas—