Chamber and committees

Good morning. You have already talked about the importance of the bank not crowding out private finance, and the fact that the role of the bank is to invest where the private sector is failing to provide sufficient finance. How can the bank ensure that it is investing in a company or project that would not get private investment? Can you give us an indication of where there is greater appetite from the private sector to invest and where there is less appetite? Within your Venn diagram, are there areas that you might look to target?

I know that it is early days, but is there any evidence that the bank is attracting domestic and international private investment into Scotland? By its sheer existence, a development bank can provide a mission-led focus. Obviously, the bank is attracting interest but does it give outside investors confidence that there is something interesting going on in Scotland that they want to be part of?

The committee might want to take that matter further as the situation develops.

Minister, as you will be aware, the committee is interested in both continuity and the opportunity for change. Given that Network Rail is going to be subsumed by Great British Railways, can you update us on discussions between the UK and the Scottish Governments on the development of GBR and how it will operate in Scotland? What responsibility and powers will Scottish ministers have? Clearly, when it comes to the interaction between the new ScotRail and Network Rail on, say, new lines or even new stations to help get commuters out of their cars and on to rail, that relationship will be very important. What continuity and what potential change will there be in that relationship?

You have talked a lot about the return to rail, but I also asked about new passengers and people who could use the railway but are not currently doing so.

Decarbonisation is a key part of the future of the newly publicly owned and controlled railways. Will you give us more detail on implementation of the “Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan”, and on delivery of individual schemes and their likely budgets? I am interested in particular in what you are planning in relation to battery power, which you mentioned earlier. Also, is there any interest in a move to hydrogen at some point?

The committee has heard that, as we go through the various stages of the coronavirus pandemic, the rail industry will have to understand passenger needs better and flex services accordingly. How will you create a railway that is focused on meeting the current needs of rail passengers—I might add that one can only just get a seat on the Linlithgow to Edinburgh rush-hour trains, so already passengers are coming back on to that line—and how will you adapt to the needs of people who could travel by rail but are choosing not to? You talked about the current situation, with more people travelling at the weekends and so on, but we need a step change. How are you planning to attract more people, including those who could use rail but are not doing so, to the railways? I suspect that price might well be an issue.

Yes. As the former minister who helped to establish it, I recognise both appeals.

Finally, on additional support in the form of medical aid and goods, we have heard about the importance of cash, but we have been able to mobilise other resources in Scotland.

I will move on as I am conscious that other colleagues might want to come in. You have just returned from Dublin. Could you briefly share with us the Irish Government’s view? Obviously, Ireland is part of the EU’s political response to Ukraine but are there any practical lessons that we can learn from there? You have already indicated that there are some.

I point out that no Russian minister has ever been invited to the Edinburgh international culture summit since 2014, when Russia invaded Crimea. Culture is very powerful in building connections, as we have learned from incoming refugees from other countries. I would impress on the cabinet secretary the importance of that cultural connection for when people arrive here, and also in the rebuilding of Ukraine when peace eventually arrives.

In terms of culture giving hope, one of the most hopeful things that we heard this morning from the consul general was the re-establishment of online learning for Ukrainian children in Ukraine. We also need to prepare support for online learning when they arrive here, not just assimilation in our schools, which they might do for social reasons, because the spirit of education and culture is not just to bring comfort and solace but to provide and build the future, in this case for Ukraine through the education of its children. That is surely something that the Scottish Government can try to support—a very practical measure to help children with their education when we receive families here.