Chamber and committees

The removal of STV North from the north-east will silence the region’s voice at a critical time when issues such as energy are of national importance. STV North has been an important destination for a pipeline of top-quality north-east journalists, who have cut their teeth on local stories. Indeed, the school of journalism at Robert Gordon University has a strong collaboration with STV North through student placements and a memorial bursary in the name of Donald John MacDonald—the wonderful former STV news editor.

Does the cabinet secretary agree that STV is shamefully closing the door on the next generation of journalists, producers, engineers and creatives in the north-east? Will he join me in calling on STV to immediately reverse its damaging proposal?

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to STV’s proposed changes to its news provision, including the potential impact on local and regional journalism in north-east Scotland. (S6O-05128)

I will come on to policy, which is often overlooked but is absolutely crucial.

In addition, the recently published UK Government “Clean Energy Jobs Plan” has emerged. It is certainly ambitious, but the reality is that the energy profits levy is costing jobs and investment. Frankly, it is infuriating that, yet again, the north-east is likely to see further job losses—this time, at Port of Aberdeen, which has experienced a 25 per cent drop in oil and gas activity over the summer. Ports are a critical part of our infrastructure for delivering manufacturing growth, so I again call on the UK Government to urgently change course on that damaging levy.

The “Striking the Balance” report states:

“Based on current public commitments and announcements, the UK should be able to deliver the scenario 3 outcomes. Without intervention, however, it is likely to fall short of delivering the outcomes outlined in either scenario 1 or 2.”

That concern is also reflected in the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee’s report, “The future of Scotland’s oil and gas industry”.

I draw on the words of Bob Sanguinetti, chief executive at Port of Aberdeen. Earlier this week, he said:

“Supporting existing energy business is the most likely way of accelerating the transition, drawing on the expertise and project management skills to deliver the vast scale of potential developments in renewables.”

There is so much more to say. Again, I thank Liam Kerr for the debate.

I thank Liam Kerr for lodging his motion, which I am happy to support. I commend Professor Paul de Leeuw and the team at the Energy Transition Institute at Robert Gordon University for producing the excellent “Striking the Balance” report, which sets out predictions for the future of the UK offshore energy workforce across three scenarios and through the prisms of policy, cost pressures and industry dynamics, among others.

Underpinning the analysis is some important context. First, despite the UK oil and gas industry decline, demand remains, as we heard from Liam Kerr. As such, around 70 per cent of our oil consumption will be met from imports. Secondly, global electricity and gas demand increased sharply in 2024, and transformative action is required now to meet future demand. Thirdly, Scotland’s energy future is at a critical juncture.

On offshore wind, the scenarios in the report model the delivery of 50GW, 70GW and 90GW respectively by 2030, with similar scenarios being considered across hydrogen and carbon capture, use and storage. To develop the low-case scenario of 50GW by 2030, the UK requires to install around 35GW of new wind capacity, or nearly 6GW annually. That is about one turbine each day.

What does that mean for our future energy workforce? The report highlights that securing UK content to 2030 will be crucial to sustaining a world-class offshore energy supply chain and workforce. As such, energy policy must evolve to incentivise domestic production through, for example, tax and policy incentives.

I welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to the oil and gas transition training fund. I also welcome the findings in the “Transition On Our Terms” report, which states that workers want action to create “good ... unionised ... jobs” in renewable industries, and “support” for their transition into those jobs,

“with profits ... returned to workers and communities”.

I also welcome the latest just transition fund announcement of £8.5 million for clean energy supply chain development.

What progress is the Scottish Government making on reducing drug harms? In particular, what work is being done to target the delivery of more residential rehabilitation beds?

I thank colleagues from across the chamber for supporting my motion on protecting Scotland’s rivers. My thanks go, too, to Susan Cooksley from the James Hutton Institute, and Craig Macadam and Rebecca Lewis from Buglife for their support in developing the motion. I also commend the many organisations, some of which are referred to in the motion, and individuals who are working hard to protect our wonderful rivers.

As the motion says, our rivers provide Scotland with stunning landscapes and a huge ecosystem of animals, plants and micro-organisms. They flow from our mountains through our glens, they cross our lowlands and they eventually reach the sea. They are the lifeblood of the landscape and are central to Scotland’s brand, economy and sense of place. However, our rivers are under threat, causing them to become more nature depleted than ever before. Flooding is among the largest threats to Scotland’s rivers, eroding the soil from riverbanks and leading to the destruction of habitats.

As the nature champion for the freshwater pearl mussel, I draw members’ attention to the findings of a 2023 NatureScot report centred on freshwater pearl mussels in the River Dee, which runs through my constituency of Aberdeen South and North Kincardine. The report found that the mussel population had decreased by 90 per cent since 2002. For context, more than 1 million freshwater pearl mussels have been lost, which is a truly shocking amount. The report links that decline to the devastating effects of storm Frank in 2015, which caused significant damage to the river bed, rendering it largely unsuitable for mussels. The River Dee is the only river in Scotland to have suffered such a loss. However, our other rivers are similarly vulnerable.

Although significant flooding is a natural and important feature of a river’s hydrology, flood events used to be infrequent, occurring once in a generation. However, there has been a marked increase in the frequency and severity of floods. The same climate pressures that have led to increased flooding also contribute to water scarcity. During periods of drought, our rivers face severe stress. Reduced water levels, rising temperatures and lower oxygen concentrations combine to create harsh conditions for aquatic life. Additionally, pollutants become more concentrated, further degrading water quality. Although all river species are affected, those that are unable to move, such as mussels, are especially vulnerable.

Water scarcity poses a significant risk to Scotland’s rivers, and the risk will grow as climate change accelerates. Just this year, we experienced our driest spring in 60 years, leaving the entirety of Scotland in varying degrees of drought. Rivers used to be able to rely on snowmelt from the mountains to ensure healthy and cooler water levels. However, due to rising temperatures, that is no longer the case. In summer 2018, it is estimated that 70 per cent of Scotland’s rivers experienced temperatures exceeding 23°C. That figure is notable, as it is the temperature at which Atlantic salmon exhibit thermal stress. It is of concern that the Met Office is projecting that similar conditions could impact our rivers every other year by 2050.

Many of our native species require colder river temperatures in which to live. As such, riparian woodland expansion not only benefits biodiversity and the overall habitat but provides much-needed shade to cool our river waters. I commend the River Dee Trust on its work to expand riparian woodland along the river. That work is absolutely vital to the long-term survival of Dee salmon. Salmon, of course, host pearl mussel larvae until they drop off, sink to the river bed and grow into mussels. Many such projects are already supported through, for example, the Scottish Government’s nature restoration fund; the Riverwoods initiative, which co-ordinates nationwide efforts to restore and protect Scotland’s riverbank woodlands; and the peatland action project, which supports the improvement of degraded peatlands across Scotland. The Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill offers an opportunity to establish a legal framework for biodiversity targets, including in the freshwater ecosystem. However, an even greater scale of action is urgently needed.

My call to action is to build on the work that is already under way and to develop a national approach to make our rivers and freshwater populations even more resilient to extreme climate events. Further still, considerations could be given to land management policies that drive evidence-based, prioritised catchment-scale management, development of riparian woodland and the diversification of upland land use to protect our natural water stores.

I believe that that aligns with the recently published Scottish Environment LINK report, entitled “Restoring Scotland’s Waters”, which highlights 10 key areas for improving Scotland’s freshwater ecosystems, including adopting a source-to-sea approach, restoring natural processes to rivers and lochs and tackling invasive non-native species. I look forward to hearing the cabinet secretary’s response to that proposition.

The future of our rivers depends on the actions that we take today. The devastating decline of freshwater pearl mussels in the River Dee serves as a stark indicator that change is urgently needed. Our rivers are crucial to sustaining Scotland’s unique wildlife and biodiversity. More than that, they are central to Scotland’s brand, economy and sense of place.

I again thank members for their support in lodging the motion for debate. I very much look forward to hearing colleagues’ contributions.

A recent report from Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce found that one in four businesses in the north-east has cut jobs as a result of the United Kingdom Labour Government’s fiscal regime. Does the First Minister agree that the UK Labour Government must urgently change course to protect the supply chain and local jobs? What steps can the Scottish Government take to protect industry and livelihoods in the north-east?

Thank you for that. My next question shifts us into the mental health space. I know that the SPA has been very invested in that over the past few years. We are aware that Police Scotland and staff organisations have been looking at mental health perhaps more robustly than they have before. In their written submissions, they outline some of the current workforce pressures on police offers, including the levels of assaults, overtime—the chief constable spoke about that earlier—and the time that is due to officers.

What work is being undertaken on officer and staff wellbeing? Another aspect is the operational demands from people who are in distress. How does that impact on budgets? We know that that is one of the biggest policing challenges, if not the biggest police challenge.

We are coming up to around 15 minutes left. Two committee members are looking to come back in, and one wants to come back in with a follow-up question, so I must ask for succinct questions and responses if possible.

From the Scottish Police Authority, I welcome to the meeting Fiona McQueen, who is the chair; Alasdair Hay, who is the vice chair; and Chris Brown, who is the chief executive and accountable officer. I warmly welcome you all and thank you for your written submission. I remind members that I intend to allow around 60 minutes for the session. I invite Fiona McQueen to make a short opening statement. We will then move to questions.