Chamber and committees

I am aware that you engaged with retailers when you were developing the process. Have you had any feedback from retailers about the recent intervention by Westminster?

I do not so much want to ask questions, convener, as get clarity so that I can try to get my head around this. We heard from Ailsa Heine that, if we were to withdraw today’s SSI and introduce a new one, because of the date, we would have to recall Parliament to ensure that the scheme did not go live in August. Is that correct?

I will stay with glass. What are the implications of excluding glass—not only for the DRS but for the wider economy?

If that did happen, what would happen to the scrutiny? You said previously that it would go to the DPLR Committee and then have to come back to us. Should Parliament be recalled, would we have a good level of scrutiny?

Businesses in Europe are running schemes similar to the one that this Parliament has approved. Deposit return schemes that include glass exist in countries such as Denmark, Estonia, Germany and Latvia.

This is just another power play from the UK Government aimed at keeping Scotland bound to the economically devastating bandwagon of Brexit Britain. Does the minister agree that we can no longer afford to leave Scotland’s desire to live the values of a progressive nation in the hands of Westminster Tories?

The ABZ campus will offer a diverse range of courses across areas such as engineering and construction, science and social subjects, and dance and drama. I hope that everyone will join me in wishing those involved every success as they embark on this exciting new chapter.

The cabinet secretary has already partly explained this, but how does she expect that this innovative idea will offer new benefits and enhancements to the young folk in Aberdeen?

To ask the Scottish Government how secondary school pupils in Aberdeen will be supported through the launch of ABZ campus. (S6O-02342)

It might come as a surprise that I actually agree with some of the Conservative motion. I agree that

“the Parliament recognises the vital role that oil and gas plays in Scotland’s energy mix and in supporting tens of thousands of Scottish jobs, particularly in the north east”

and that it

“condemns Labour Party plans to ban new production from the North Sea”.

I agree as someone who lives and works in, and represents a part of, the oil capital of Europe. I know all too well the benefits that the industry has brought to my city, and I look forward to when it transitions to being the energy capital of Europe. We are all aware that, even though the major use of oil and gas is to generate energy, petroleum is used for many other essential everyday items, and that we will continue to need petroleum for our household products, beauty products, medicines, clothing, construction, furniture, electronics, agricultural products, healthcare and even children’s toys.

Deirdre Michie, the former chief executive of Oil & Gas UK, which later became Offshore Energies UK, said at the first meeting of the cross-party group on oil and gas that I attended that there will be a sweet moment when the use of renewables increases and oil and gas use reduces to a point where both become equal. Ms Michie said that that is when we will experience a true transition, and I could not agree more. That is what we should all be working towards.

On the subject of a just transition, I want to ensure that the staff who have worked in oil and gas—as many of my family members have—are supported in a just way, should their employment in oil and gas cease. Scotland is an energy-rich nation, the oil and gas industry has made a vast contribution to our economy, and its workers are some of the most highly skilled in the world. However, Scotland’s oil and gas basin is now a mature resource, and the Scottish Government is responsibly taking action to ensure that the sector and the community that it supports are supported in a transition to a cleaner, greener energy system. Our oil and gas workers and their vital skills are essential to the transition. Workers and trade unions must be at the heart of everything that the Scottish Government does.

Research from Robert Gordon University highlights that a majority of offshore workers could be delivering low-carbon energy by 2030 and that more than 90 per cent of the UK’s oil and gas workforce have medium to high levels of skills transferability, which means that those workers are well positioned to work in adjacent energy sectors. RGU’s “Making the Switch” report highlights the potential for the north-east region to become a net zero global energy hub that supports existing oil and gas roles into the renewables and low-carbon roles of the future.

On Monday, I visited the Seagreen offshore wind farm with my colleague Audrey Nicoll. I got chatting with a Windcat skipper, who was a fisherman prior to working in the renewables industry. He then went to work in oil and gas and then went back to fishing, and he is now working in the renewables sector. That is a just transition and a prime example of how easy it can be for skills to transfer.

The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to a just transition and to ensuring that we take workers with us on our journey to net zero. We need to take the sector with us and recognise that we will still require petroleum. Even though that requirement will lessen, we need to ensure that that is locally sourced. We should be in no doubt that it is the highly skilled workforce in the current oil and gas sector that will be best placed to transfer over to the renewables sector in a just and fair manner. They will be at the forefront of delivering our net zero targets.

I begin by thanking my friend and colleague Audrey Nicoll for securing this members’ debate today. I was going to say that, although I do not agree with most of what Stephen Kerr says, it will become clear in my speech that I agree with the positive parts of his contribution.

As the motion states, women in STEM are making important contributions to economic growth and tackling the climate emergency. That statement applies everywhere in the world, but in Aberdeen we need to take particular heed of it. Our city has the ambition of becoming the net zero capital of the world. Our journey to being able to call ourselves that will not just involve innovation and new approaches, but a just transition away from the oil and gas industry that has underpinned our local economy for decades. Women in STEM will have an important role in shaping Aberdeen’s future, so we need to support and encourage girls and young women into the sector.

When I was discussing this last week, I asked how we encourage girls and women into the sector.

The reply that I received was quick, simple and not something that I had considered. It was “Stop stereotyping them. Don’t presume they want to play with dolls. Let them play with their Lego, their k’nex, their Meccano or whatever it is that their young minds are interested in.”

It gave me pause for thought as I remembered that, at the age of just two, my quine got really upset when she went to a Christmas party at her nursery and Sunty gave her a doll. She was really excited to be allowed to open a present from Sunty early, but she thrust that doll at me when I asked her what she got and said in a really upset tone, “Ah got a dolly! Ah wantit a tractor!” I do not know where that attitude has came from, Presiding Officer. [Laughter.] She could not understand why she had gotten a dolly while the boys got all the cool gifts. As you might guess, that was the last time that my quine got a doll from Sunty. Instead she received the presents that expanded her mind and creativity.

I am proud to say that that quine is now a senior operational technology cyber security engineer, and I would like to think that some of her success is down to us as parents encouraging her to play with what she wanted to play with, no matter whether it was classed as gender specific. It was age appropriate at all times, of course.

As I said, we need to encourage women and girls into the STEM sector, and I think that there is wide recognition of that need, given the many initiatives that are taking place across Aberdeen, a number of which have already been highlighted by Audrey Nicoll, Maggie Chapman and Pam Gosal.

I will take this opportunity to highlight two more initiatives in Aberdeen that I believe are worthy of praise. First, as we talk about giving opportunities to young women, I want to welcome the work of the Aberdeen university women in science and engineering society, which is a group of young women who have taken these matters into their own hands. They are creating a strong, supportive community of students in STEM and are helping to encourage the next and future generations of women into STEM.

Secondly, Techfest is a charity, based in Aberdeen, that aims to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics activities to young folk and the wider community. They do this work not just across Aberdeen but right across Scotland.

On this year’s international day of women and girls in science, they held an event in Kingswells, which is in my Aberdeen Donside constituency, with around 130 pupils from primary schools in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, who were able to get hands-on learning experiences and hear about careers in STEM.

As we consider the so-called leaky pipeline, I am encouraged by initiatives such as those and the efforts that are being made across the STEM sector. There is work still to do, but we are on the right track.

Let us show our girls that it is okay to do the jobs that they want to do and not the jobs that they think society wants them to do. The more that we encourage that, the more that we will see the benefit to the STEM sector.

The support that flows from completion of the single application form is vital to the wellbeing of Scotland’s agricultural sector. In 2021, more than 93 per cent of single application forms were submitted online through Rural Payments and Services. What percentage of applications has the Government received online this year, and what efficiencies are achieved by farmers using technology in this scenario?