Hansard

I want to make some progress. I am not sure that I got a particularly good response from Mr Fraser.

High energy bills might not matter to the Conservative Party, but they matter to the people of Scotland. Labour came into government promising that bills would be £300 lower, but yesterday another eye-watering increase was announced that will mean that they will be £300 higher. That is not good enough. The future lies in providing clean, sustainable and secure power, strengthening affordability, resilience and competitiveness, and protecting Scottish people and businesses from our energy bills being dictated by international events.

Within the limited powers that we have, we are already reforming the energy consents process to enable us to bring forward more low-cost renewable energy. During the parliamentary session, we will establish a ScotWind health fund. We will also establish a future generations fund for the oil and gas sector, which Labour and the Conservatives failed to establish. We will encourage more community ownership—we are already delivering £15 million for that. We will deliver on the £500 million just transition fund, as well as supporting the Acorn carbon capture and storage project for the north-east. Do the Tory members remember carbon capture and storage?

More immediately, we want updated guidance to be provided to public bodies on community use of public land and an assessment to be undertaken of the potential for installing solar panels in underused spaces. That cannot be done within the current devolution process to enable us to meet our full potential.

That leads me on to oil and gas. Few industries know the price of Westminster failure better than our oil and gas sector. North Sea oil and gas plays a vital role in Scotland’s energy system and security mix. That excellent workforce in the north-east has been let down by our wealth being squandered by successive Westminster Governments. There is no future generations fund. Let us look next door at Norway. It has a sovereign wealth fund that is worth £1.6 trillion, which is six times Scotland’s gross domestic product. Just think what we could have done with that.

The North Sea is a mature and declining basin, so it is vital that we have a parallel-track approach to the transition, with oil and gas production being managed alongside the increasing deployment of renewables. However, the transition is being put at risk by the current energy profits levy, which is accelerating the decline of North Sea oil and gas while failing to give the support that is needed to renewables to ensure a just transition. The approach that is taken must be fair for the North Sea. That is why, I am afraid, we cannot back the Greens’ amendment. As the First Minister said earlier today, that approach must be evidence led and determined on a case-by-case basis, with climate compatibility and energy security tests being met. When I was in Aberdeen, I heard about the need for a joined-up approach.

I was glad that, on his first ministerial visit, Stephen Flynn went to Grangemouth, which has been so badly let down by Westminster. Climate action and a just transition to net zero will bring benefits across Scotland. We will support the creation of 500 additional jobs in the Grangemouth industrial cluster and, at the same time, we will invest £9 million in support for workers at Mossmorran.

Let me turn to the idea of community benefit. We must reject the Liberal Democrat amendment, because it knocks out the idea of devolving those powers, which the Liberal Democrats were once in favour of. I have great respect for the member for Orkney, Liam McArthur, and look forward to working with him on how we can expand the work that has already been done. However, let us not forget that, last year alone, community benefits delivered £30 million to our communities.

In conclusion—I think that I am reaching my conclusion—a more energy-secure Scotland will see us building renewable energy generation that will lower bills, protect us from international shocks and secure good jobs for those who are currently employed in our offshore sector and who bring so much to our economy.

Scotland has the energy; it does not yet have the power. Our vast resources are among the best in Europe, but the people are not feeling the benefit. Westminster has had its chance and has failed. Today, I am asking members to empower this Parliament to be part of the solution for energy security across Europe and to be part of the solution locally, nationally, internationally and—vitally—in people’s homes.

I ask colleagues to back our motion today, and I move,

That the Parliament believes that Scotland’s energy should be in Scotland’s hands, and calls for all energy powers to be immediately devolved to the Scottish Parliament.