Meeting of the Parliament 18 March 2026 [Draft]
The member raises a serious issue that is impacting on businesses in Scotland, and we share his concerns. As I indicated earlier, issues relating to energy costs are largely reserved to the UK Government. We will continue to do all that we can to help; the member may be aware that we also fund Business Energy Scotland, for instance, to give advice to businesses. That initiative has, since we launched it, identified more than £200 million-worth of savings for businesses and has saved, on average, 24 per cent in the cost of energy bills for those businesses that have taken advantage of it. I encourage members to share information about that advisory service with businesses that are affected by high energy bills.
We will, of course, continue to do all that we can to support businesses, but energy policy is largely the UK Government’s responsibility. As it has given some—albeit very limited—support to households, it should extend that support to businesses.