Hansard

The debate on the bill has been really constructive. We are now living in a climate emergency and we need to take steps across all sectors to reduce our carbon emissions, so the bill’s provisions will be critical. New heat networks will require strategic thinking and a lot of detailed work to enable us to build in the opportunities that new technologies will deliver in the years to come. It is vital that our infrastructure is future proofed, is affordable for those who use and rely on it, and works for all.

Heat networks are a key aspect of our net zero infrastructure. As Alex Rowley said, they bring us in Scotland a big opportunity to invest in local jobs, with apprenticeships and roles in designing, building and installing projects, all of which could be spread right across the country. It is also vital that such networks help us to tackle fuel poverty, and enable the green recovery that we urgently need to deliver good-quality, long-term employment and training opportunities for our communities.

Heat networks are also vital infrastructure elements in the context of our national climate targets. However, alongside that, maximising local decision making will be critical. There is a need for leadership at both Scottish Government and local government levels. The Scottish Government needs to use its leadership to support information exchange and to work with local authorities to ensure that they have the funding to lead on the planning and implementation that will make such goals a reality. Crucially, though, and as the Local Government and Communities Committee discussed last week, such leadership must be used to help to de-risk projects. That was the key message that came across from the committee’s witnesses.

My amendment to the Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Bill enabled infrastructure that will contribute to our net zero goals to be exempt from non-domestic rates, or at least have them significantly reduced. My colleagues in the previous Labour leadership of Glasgow City Council led the way for heat networks to be deployed, only for them to be hit with the prospect of huge NDR bills that made the project totally unworkable. However, the work in Glasgow is an excellent example of anchor institutions—the council and the University of Strathclyde—working together to drive innovation in the city. We need to see such an approach being replicated right across Scotland. I am therefore delighted that the statutory instrument on non-domestic rates and heat networks will be considered at tomorrow’s meeting of the Local Government and Communities Committee. That will be really good progress.

Quite a few of the members who have spoken in the debate mentioned Denmark. I went there as a minister 20 years ago, when it was miles ahead of us. We are still miles behind, but we can learn from its example. It was focusing on heat networks that actively encouraged municipal and local ownership and planning, in close co-operation with local industries and businesses. We need the same leadership and support to enable us to maximise the development of local investment so that the benefits of community-owned networks can be recycled into our communities. Community wealth building needs to be built in from the start.

Given the growing demands on local government budgets and resources, it is critical that we get the right support to our local authorities. Given the pressures that they are under, in-house knowledge and experience need to be developed across the country. Leadership from the next Scottish Government will be absolutely critical. Ministers must take the political lead to support authorities through finance, policy and technology, or exchange of experience. However, local authorities must also begin to take on their leadership roles and seek to plan head successfully. Both aspects of government must work together, and in conjunction with the UK Government, so that everyone is aligned to deliver. That will be a key issue if we are to be successful—and the climate emergency demands that we be successful. We can do so by supporting our communities and seeing manufacturing happening in Scotland. We need people to work together, but we also need there to be the right incentives and support.

We need to ensure that whoever is here in 20 years’ time will not be talking about missed opportunities and the need to catch up. We now have good examples in the UK and Denmark—and also in Scotland—from which we should learn. Let us get going, and let us ensure that the bill makes a real difference and that we get the low-carbon investment that our country urgently needs.