Chamber and committees

I welcome the opportunity to speak about supporting our island communities in their journey to becoming fully carbon neutral by 2040.

From the outset, I want to be clear that our islands are vital contributors to Scotland’s environment, society and economy, as well as to our enormous tourism offering and our national culture and heritage. As I am an MSP who represents part of the granite city and not our islands, some might ask why I am speaking in the debate. The answer is simple: it is because our islands matter. They can lead the way for our whole country in offering solutions to current and future challenges, of which the most pressing is the climate emergency.

In 2019, the Scottish Government consulted widely on what was important to islanders and island communities, and the consultation process showed where more work is required to better support our island communities. Importantly, it allowed the voices of island residents to be heard and their priorities to be known. Unsurprisingly, climate change emerged as one of the most urgent of those priorities.

Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Scottish Government has acted on the needs of our island communities, particularly in tackling the climate emergency. The Government is committed to demonstrating the low-carbon energy potential of Scotland’s islands as hubs of innovation in renewable energy and climate change resilience. That will be achieved while positively impacting on island economies and on population retention and growth.

Island communities are already engaged and are acting to cut emissions, including through working to ensure sustainable tourism by decarbonising transport infrastructure as well as sources of fuel for heat, which is helping to tackle fuel poverty—an issue that is hitting our island communities particularly hard, as we have heard from members across the chamber. Those actions are welcome.

The transition to net zero will require the deployment of significantly greater levels of renewable energy. The ScotWind leasing round, which is led by Crown Estate Scotland, offers significant potential for gigawatts of offshore wind power from the end of this decade. In addition to those projects, the move to deeper waters that are further from the shore presents fresh opportunities for the development of newer technology such as floating wind. That will offer more supply chain opportunities for Scotland than have been achieved to date with fixed-bottom wind developments, presenting huge potential not only for our islands but for the country as a whole.

As a north-east MSP, I welcome the fact that the oil and gas industry now recognises offshore wind as being a critical part of decarbonisation, with a commitment for operations in the UK continental shelf to be decarbonised by 2035. Our islands play a critical role in that regard. We are already seeing work under way to ensure that there is energy integration such as the powering of offshore oil and gas platforms by renewable energy. That is a priority for the Scottish Government. I welcome the fact that those who work in our oil and gas sector are being supported by the Scottish Government and industry to diversify their skill sets away from fossil fuels and into renewable energy.

It would be remiss of me to discuss the islands without noting that island communities are bearing the brunt of a hard Brexit, which has been recklessly expedited during a global pandemic. The Scottish Government is acutely aware of the impact that Brexit has had on our island communities and across the country, with EU support having been a lifeline to Scotland for decades.

It has been reported that EU structural and investment funds in excess of £1 billion have played a significant role in the socioeconomic development of the Highlands and Islands since the 1970s. I know that that is the case because I have seen a lot of the funding that is in place in the Highlands—indeed, I was up there visiting my sister just last weekend. Moreover, schemes that were supported by EU funding included the Shetland fibre optic broadband cable, the Scalpay bridge, the Eriskay causeway, the Lochcarnan community wind farm on South Uist and the electrification of Eigg. Our island communities are also missing out on around £150 million of potential investment, having been short-changed by the UK Government’s so-called shared prosperity fund.

However, against the backdrop of Brexit and Covid-19, the Scottish Government has continued to support our island communities through the national islands plan and, now, through the decarbonisation plan. The same simply cannot be said of the UK Government.

Islanders are extremely resilient and innovative, and they are determined to play their part in—and, indeed, to be at the forefront of—responding effectively to the climate emergency. I therefore welcome the work that is under way to help our island communities to achieve their enormous potential by becoming carbon neutral by 2040. I welcome the steps that the Scottish Government is taking to protect our islands against the backdrop of Brexit, and I highlight again the invaluable contribution of our islands to the North East Scotland region, to Scotland as a whole and to the globe.

Developers should, absolutely, be expected to remediate cladding on buildings that they have built, but what support is available to home owners for whose homes there is now no developer because they have stopped trading? How will the Scottish Government ensure that such buildings are assessed for any problems that have been identified or fully fixed and that there is no burden on home owners who are in need of assistance?

There are multiple different potential strategies and options for minimising the impact of the energy crisis and the cost of living crisis. Some that you have mentioned have been put in place and some have been suggested by witnesses in this inquiry. Should energy be subsidised at the point of sale?

I understand that, but in relation to the cost of living crisis, we have heard some hard-hitting stuff and some innovative ideas. Mark Ruskell said earlier that Scottish Power has suggested a deficit fund, where £1,000 is taken off the bills of the hardest-hit people, to be repaid over 10 years. Is that a good suggestion? What would be the practical implications of setting up such a fund to help those who are most in need?

To ask the Scottish Government what its latest engagement has been with the United Kingdom Government regarding programmes to deliver a replacement for European Union structural funding. (S6O-01063)

The Scottish Government previously made decisions about how best to spend EU structural funds based on local priorities. Now, a UK Tory Government, which Scotland did not vote for, is cutting Scotland’s elected Government out of the decision-making process. Does the minister agree that that Tory UK Government poses a fundamental threat to devolution?

What has the Scottish Government done to increase the capacity and capability of the legal aid profession?

We also hear that pre-payment meters are left in houses when people move out and that, when new tenants move in, they are automatically put on to the higher tariff. We have heard that it is up to the tenant, not the landlord or supplier, to get the meter taken out. Some folk cannot afford to take out the meter, so they are left with higher payments. Can anything be done about that? I am not sure whether you will be able to answer that, but it would be interesting to hear from you.

Will the measures that you have outlined be enough to ensure that the situation does not have a huge impact on achievement of the reduction goals that have been put in place? To balance out the position, will one aspect have to suffer rather than the other?

Good morning, gentlemen. I will follow what the deputy convener said about the cost of living crisis. I am interested in your thoughts on how that should be tackled in the short to medium term, without compromising the strategic emissions reduction goals. Maybe I will start with Mr Kenward—or would it be better to hear from Mr Lawrence?