No, thank you. I just want to be clear on this topic—it is a short debate.

Scotland’s huge renewables potential must be unlocked by maximising the opportunities from offshore wind, accelerating onshore wind, expanding green hydrogen and investing in the carbon capture and storage projects that the Tories delayed for years—projects that would have delivered thousands of jobs across the north-east and at Grangemouth.

We must also address the climate and nature emergencies, which are beginning to affect households across the country. For example, let us look at heating our homes. Scotland’s 2.5 million homes account for 13 per cent of our total greenhouse gas emissions, so we need action now from the Scottish Government—I say that on fuel poverty awareness day. Our councils need support to invest in that area, so that we get new, well-paid jobs across the country. Midlothian Energy Ltd is looking at delivering low-carbon energy projects and investment. Its heat network will supply 3,000 customers. The work has started, but we are not seeing the development to take it to the next level. I therefore call on the Scottish Government to deliver on the statutory undertaker rights that were included in the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021. Their implementation has been delayed, so heat network projects are not able to proceed. We will not see new jobs being created unless we have a plan or cross-Government action, which is vital.

Here is something that I agree with Douglas Lumsden on—shock, horror! A draft energy strategy was announced nearly three years ago. Businesses are crying out for clarity, supply chains need to be able to invest now, and, crucially, workers need to know where their future lies. A credible energy strategy must include a real skills and training plan, so that workers in oil and gas can transition; well-paid jobs; clear investment pathways for renewables; and green hydrogen that is linked to local production and supply chains and is not imported from foreign manufacturers. I call on the SNP Government to publish its energy strategy and just transition plan now.

I move amendment S6M-19894.4, to leave out from first “the Scottish” to end and insert:

“that the Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Conservative and Unionist Party stood by for years and let Scotland’s oil and gas industry decline with no plan for the future; welcomes the UK Labour administration’s plans to ensure that oil and gas continue to be key parts of the country’s energy mix for decades to come, while working to unlock Scotland’s huge renewable potential; condemns the two decades of SNP failure to turn this enormous potential into jobs, wealth and social good for communities across Scotland, and calls on the Scottish Government to urgently publish its Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, and to invest now in skills development and the green jobs of the future.”

No.

The UK Government is backing Scottish industry and jobs, including through £14.5 million for Grangemouth, £20 million for Inchgreen dry dock and the North Sea future plan for a fair, managed and prosperous transition. That will be critical, and it followed extensive consultation with workers and unions.

The UK Government will establish the North Sea jobs service, a world-leading national employment programme that will offer tailored end-to-end support for members of the workforce who are seeking new opportunities, including in clean energy, defence and advanced manufacturing. The service will provide support at every step of a worker’s career journey, and it builds on the discussion that we have had in this Parliament about the energy skills passport. Funding of up to £20 million will be provided by the UK and Scottish Governments, following demand for the Aberdeen skills pilot to help oil and gas workers to retrain. Transitional energy certificates will be critical in supporting the management of existing North Sea fields for the entirety of their lifespans, and a new jobs brokerage service will offer end-to-end career transition support. That will result in more skilled Scottish jobs and more opportunities for the green industries of the future to drive our economic growth.

We need our Governments to work together, whether in relation to project willow for Grangemouth or support for the workers at Mossmorran. We also need a joined-up approach when considering the benefits of capturing heat from waste and from data centres, to ensure that we use the additional electricity, instead of paying £1.5 billion in constraint payments. We must ensure that we make the right investment.

I agree with the cabinet secretary about the opportunities to decarbonise existing oil and gas platforms, including through making links to offshore floating wind, considering low-carbon technology and investing in new shipping.

Rhoda Grant’s comments about ScotWind were bang on. It could have delivered so much more in terms of both income and Scottish manufacturing.

Our approach is rooted in partnership with workers, businesses and communities. Part of me is not surprised that, today, the SNP has focused on the EPL. The SNP has criticised Tory austerity and ignored the additional public spending that our Labour Government has already delivered. That is £5.2 billion already this year, and my understanding is that, when we add in what was announced in today’s budget, there will be £10.3 billion in total for the Scottish Government.

We can continue with the decade of division, delay or missed opportunity, or choose a path where oil and gas workers are supported; renewables are accelerated; people’s bills come down; and we have a clean, green energy powerhouse that is built in Scotland. That is the future to which Scottish Labour is committed, maximising the opportunities, with new jobs created right across the country delivering confidence in supply chains; supporting new manufacturing opportunities; investing in renewables; and making our homes, buildings and transport, and our industry, fit for the challenges of the future. That is the future that our Parliament should back today.

I have looked at the reports that have been produced by different committees over the years, including those on the national performance framework and the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. There are occasionally reviews in Parliament, but the legislation that we have at the moment is not delivering. The Finance and Public Administration Committee’s 2024 review of the national outcomes highlighted that we are not making the progress that we need to make. It also talked about the need for wellbeing and sustainable development legislation, which helped to push me forward.

There is a need to strengthen the legislation, because having a public duty pushes things up people’s agendas. If something is just seen as being nice to have, it will not happen. Some of the reports that have been produced show that we are not getting the reviews that we need. You mentioned the national performance framework and the national outcomes. It is striking that reviews of the national outcomes are done every five years—that is in the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. The Scottish Parliament information centre blog shows the work that has been done, but we are not getting implementation on the national performance framework and the national outcomes.

We need to pull this together and push it up the agenda. Until we do that, we will not get the action that people agree that we need but which is not being implemented across public bodies and the Government.

I referred to the planetary boundaries in the policy memorandum. We certainly do not want to transgress environmental limits or planetary boundaries. That is a key part of sustainable development and collective wellbeing. I would be up for looking at that aspect in advance of stage 2, but I would not want to change the definition and get it wrong. We would have to get the definition right, and I thought that the way forward was to use the Brundtland definition and the past experience with regard to the sustainable development goals. As that definition is clearly—and internationally—understood, I do not think that there would be a challenge in that regard. The bill is intended to strengthen and accelerate our progress towards meeting the United Nations sustainable development goals. That is the overarching ambition.

I met the previous and current commissioners and it was really helpful to get their insights. The fact that the Welsh commissioner can produce policy guidance has been critical. Independent reports have shown that their work has changed the culture in public bodies in Wales and pushed wellbeing and sustainable development up the agenda. Lots of work has been done in Wales that we can learn from.

I am sure that you will come on to the discussions that you have had about shared knowledge and information. I remember that, in one of your evidence sessions, a witness spoke about the joined-up working in Wales and the fact that somebody from the Children’s Commissioner for Wales’s team worked for a short time in the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales’s team in order to share knowledge and best practice so that their work did not overlap, which is really important.

Another interesting thing is that those who are working on wellbeing and sustainable development in Wales have a body that pulls together organisations such as businesses, trade unions and public sector representatives, which enables them to ensure that the approach is coherent. It strengthens accountability and opens things up.

A concern was raised at a previous evidence session about overlap with existing organisations such as Environmental Standards Scotland. In Wales, interestingly, Natural Resources Wales sits on the statutory advisory committee. The joined-up approach to thinking brings stakeholders together, but also pushes the principles into the heart of Government. They work in partnership, and the reports to the Senedd’s Equality and Social Justice Committee and Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee have raised the profile of the commissioner, held them to account on their work and helped to move the Government and public bodies further ahead. There is public transparency, and those bodies know that, if progress is not being made, the Senedd committees and the commissioner will raise the issue up the agenda, which has been really helpful.

The commissioner partners and shares resources with the Welsh Language Commissioner and works with the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, so the approach is much more joined up, even when it comes to considering how the commissioner works. That has been very successful, and there is good evidence in the reports that have been made to the Senedd, which Carnegie UK picked up on in its report on the commissioner’s work.

It comes back to sharing best practice, and to guidance. Having effective guidance is important, because we cannot put it all in legislation, and things change over time. It is about making sure that functions are actually implemented; it is also about what more public bodies could do.

One or two of the organisations that submitted evidence to me when I was looking at introducing the bill and which have given evidence to the committee talked about examples such as how procurement decisions are taken, which could potentially ignore sustainable development principles. The bill pushes that further up the agenda, so that it becomes about what public sector organisations do and how they invest their money—for example, if they are contracting functions out to somebody else to do that work for them.

Some people have suggested that I should amend the bill. However, I have kept it tight; we cannot have a member’s bill that is extensive and goes on forever, so I focused on three elements. If the committee feels that the aspect that you mention is important, I could certainly look at that before stage 2, if the bill was to get to that point.

Part of the guidance could be to get people to think about how they frame the procurement process—what their ambitions are and what criteria lead them to award contracts. Guidance could be useful for that kind of thing. That function and the decision making by public bodies are part of the duty. Good guidance, collective and shared knowledge, and good practice could start to change views. You are right that stage 1 of the Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill is coming up this afternoon and that we have the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. We need to think about pulling together best practice and pushing that further up the agenda. Just the guidance and wider support could help local authorities or public sector organisations. As I mentioned, if they are under pressure, practical support could be critical.

Can you speak up slightly, convener? I do not know whether it is just because I have a bad cold or whether it is to do with the sound levels in the room, but I am struggling to hear.

Is that a legal question that you would like to come in on, Caroline?

That is a very good question. I ask Roz Thomson to respond to that. Roz, who is part of the team, has been very helpful in pulling this together.