Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 12 September 2024
12 Sep 2024 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Programme for Government (Growing Scotland’s Green Economy)
I will start by sharing our concerns about the announcement on Grangemouth today; our thoughts are with all the workers and families that we have relied on for decades to keep the lights on and keep the country moving.
Today’s debate was supposed to be about the programme for government and growing Scotland’s green economy. It was supposed to be an opportunity to focus on what the Scottish Government has achieved—or not achieved—over the past 17 years and what it plans to do to fix its mistakes over the next 18 months. Instead, we have a strategy document that was published yesterday, which focuses on a narrow part of our net zero ambition and misses out a huge tranche of policy work that the Parliament should be discussing.
We should be discussing the fact that the devolved Scottish National Party Government has missed eight of its 12 net zero targets, and the fact that funding has been cut in key areas that would help us to achieve our net zero targets. Those key areas of policy impact every one of us and our constituents. The transport, net zero and just transition budget was cut by £29.3 million; the rail services budget was cut by £80 million; the just transition fund was cut by three quarters; and support for sustainable travel was cut by 60 per cent.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Annabelle Ewing)
SNP
The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-14431, in the name of Kate Forbes, on the programme for government—growing Scotland’s green economy. I in...
The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic (Kate Forbes)
SNP
I know that the whole Parliament is united in expressing its disappointment at Petroineos’s decision to cease refining at Grangemouth in 2025. It is deeply r...
Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD)
LD
Before the Deputy First Minister moves on from our industrial past, would she care to comment on the situation at Liberty Steel? I hear some very concerning ...
Kate Forbes
SNP
We are engaging on the basis of all of Scotland’s key industrial sites and key assets. We know that there are challenges across the economy. Our commitment t...
Graham Simpson (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
The Deputy First Minister talks about good, well-paid jobs in Scotland. She may be aware of today’s announcement by Alexander Dennis that it could be sheddin...
Kate Forbes
SNP
That is an extremely important issue and it has received the attention of the First Minister as well as the Cabinet Secretary for Transport. We must find way...
Michael Marra (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I appreciate the Deputy First Minister giving way. Industry members have said to me that a very large anchor contract with, for example, the Berwick Bank win...
Kate Forbes
SNP
The member is experienced enough to know that that is a live application, so I will not comment on it, but I will comment on the principle. It is absolutely ...
Douglas Lumsden (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
On carbon capture, utilisation and storage, the Scottish Government announced £80 million of funding more than two years ago. We have had clarification that ...
Kate Forbes
SNP
When it is required. The member will know that we have been waiting for quite a long time on CCUS, and I am sure that he has an interest in seeing that work ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
I call Douglas Lumsden to speak to and move amendment S6M-14431.2. 15:15
Douglas Lumsden (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
I will start by sharing our concerns about the announcement on Grangemouth today; our thoughts are with all the workers and families that we have relied on f...
Ben Macpherson (Edinburgh Northern and Leith) (SNP)
SNP
While Mr Lumsden is engaged in this period of reflection, does he want to touch on the fact that the UK Government subsidy change, from renewables obligation...
Douglas Lumsden
Con
I am sure that mistakes were made in the past as growing industries came forward and that all Governments could look back and want to change how things were ...
Kate Forbes
SNP
I appreciate that Douglas Lumsden and his colleagues will probably have to go through excessive negativity about Scotland’s economy, but can he rise to the o...
Douglas Lumsden
Con
Of course there are opportunities, and I will come to them, but we need to ensure that we make the transition in the correct way. I have concerns about the i...
Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green)
Green
On a matter of pure fact, the member talked about the investment that the oil and gas industry is making tirelessly in the transition. Does he not acknowledg...
Douglas Lumsden
Con
Once again, Patrick Harvie seems to ignore the fact that much of the investment in renewables is coming from profits from oil and gas. If we switch off the o...
Kate Forbes
SNP
My intervention is in good faith. A lot of those actions have come out of engagement with local government. For example, when it comes to the planning hub or...
Douglas Lumsden
Con
I thank the Deputy First Minister; that is very helpful. There is much in the strategy, but I feel that it is lacking in detail and targets, and it misses s...
Kevin Stewart (Aberdeen Central) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member give way?
Douglas Lumsden
Con
Of course.
Kevin Stewart
SNP
I agree with Mr Lumsden that hydrogen should not be only for export, but one of the things that was holding back hydrogen production was the inability of the...
Douglas Lumsden
Con
Any way that we can improve the market for hydrogen would be a good thing. To go back to my point, if we are producing hydrogen, let us use it in this count...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Mr Lumsden, I appreciate that you have been extremely generous in taking so many interventions, but you need to bring your remarks to a close and move your a...
Douglas Lumsden
Con
I will come to a close soon. We support the development of renewable technologies to build Scotland as a powerhouse of renewable energies, but we want to do...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
I call Sarah Boyack to speak to and move amendment S6M-14431.3. 15:25
Sarah Boyack (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
I welcome the publication of the green industrial strategy, but I would have welcomed it more enthusiastically if it had arrived sooner so that I and other c...
Kate Forbes
SNP
The member sounds hauntingly like the Conservatives in her negativity, and I am relieved to hear some positivity about the port of Leith and Ardersier. The ...
Sarah Boyack
Lab
I am saying not that we have not had investment but that, whenever I meet people in the industry, whether from oil and gas or renewables, supply chains are t...