Meeting of the Parliament 20 February 2025
I have to make progress in the little time that I have available.
It is important to note that the Scottish Government was given very little notice of the tabling of the amendment dealing with clause 6A, and that was also the case with the clauses that are covered by today’s supplementary LCM. I note the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee’s concerns about not having sufficient time to scrutinise today’s LCM. I will be clear that the Scottish Government recognises the importance of Parliament having sufficient time to scrutinise legislation—indeed, we share the committee’s concerns on that point. The lack of time that is afforded to the Scottish Parliament to scrutinise the amendments is the result of decisions on timing taken by the UK Government due to the speed at which the bill is moving through the UK Parliament towards royal assent.
I have raised those points with UK ministers and I have emphasised the importance of the Scottish Parliament and its committees having sufficient time to consider matters. I also made it clear that amendments being made at an extremely late stage in the UK bill’s parliamentary passage make it extremely challenging to facilitate the Scottish Parliament’s consideration of motions on legislative consent ahead of the bill getting royal assent. I hope that members will therefore appreciate that the Scottish Government shares some of the concerns that have been expressed and that those concerns have been communicated to the UK Government.
On the substance of the UK bill, I am aware that there is a considerable level of interest in how GB Energy will operate. In the past few months, in parallel with our legislative discussions, my officials and I have worked with the UK Government to establish how GB Energy can help Scotland to seize the boundless opportunities that the energy transition will have here. Despite already having a strong pipeline of clean energy and growing supply chain opportunities, there are still so many opportunities for Scotland to grasp as we advance our position as one of the world’s leading countries in renewable energy production. We are engaging with the UK Government—I believe constructively—on funding priorities across the spectrum of Scottish clean energy interests to ensure that Scottish projects will benefit from GB Energy funding in 2025-26 and beyond.
In discussions with the UK Government, I and the acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy have been clear that GB Energy must deliver real benefits for the people of Scotland and support a just energy transition. It certainly has the potential to do that.
I move,
That the Parliament agrees that all relevant provisions of the Great British Energy Bill, introduced in the House of Commons on 25 July 2024 and subsequently amended in relation to sustainable development (clause 7A) on 11 February 2025, so far as these matters fall within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament and alter the executive competence of the Scottish Ministers, should be considered by the UK Parliament.