Chamber and committees

I do not think that we have disaggregated the data on fuel poverty, and I do not know whether we have disaggregated the broader poverty data, either. I suspect that we have, and I would broadly expect the fuel poverty data to mirror the broader poverty data in its disaggregation. If the disaggregated poverty data were to show that women are experiencing greater levels of poverty, which I believe it does, I would expect that to be mirrored in the fuel poverty element, too. However, I do not think that we have disaggregated data on a gender basis with regard to fuel poverty.

Thank you, convener, and good morning, everyone. The Scottish statutory instrument that you are considering is routine. It concerns the application of the Scotland-specific equalities duties to the new environmental governance body, Environmental Standards Scotland.

As ESS is established as a non-ministerial body—it is part of the Scottish Government Administration, albeit independent of ministers—it is automatically covered by the public sector equality duty in the Equality Act 2010 and there is no need for a separate order to add ESS to the scope of that duty.

The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 will apply the Scotland-specific equality duties to Environmental Standards Scotland by adding it to the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012. Those will require ESS to publish equality outcomes and report on progress towards achieving those; report on the mainstreaming of equality; and publish information on the gender pay gap and equal pay. It is important that ESS is included in the full range of equality duties that are expected of Scottish public bodies.

Committee members will be aware that the Scotland-specific duties are currently under review and that a consultation is on-going on proposed changes to the 2012 regulations. However, it is not reasonable to delay the inclusion of ESS in those duties. ESS will be included with other public bodies in the scope of amendments to the 2012 regulations.

I hope that that provides a useful overview, and I am happy to respond to any questions that the committee may have on the matter.

Given that ScotRail is about to come into public ownership, it will be part of the Scottish Administration and will be covered by the 2010 act. The Minister for Transport is considering any further changes that we might make.

Good morning. I am pleased to give evidence to support the draft affirmative instrument to amend the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020.

The UK emissions trading scheme is a key policy for meeting Scotland’s ambitious emissions targets. The scheme is a cap and trade system that is designed to limit overall emissions in the covered sectors and incentivise cost-effective decarbonisation.

When the scheme was established in January 2021, the legislation dealt exclusively with issues essential to its initiation and continued operation. At the time, ministers from the four Governments agreed to defer implementing some technical and operational aspects that were not immediately essential, with the intention of adding further provisions during the first year of operation. That is the purpose of the affirmative instrument and the negative instrument, which were laid simultaneously in Parliament.

To be clear, the provisions in the affirmative instrument are designed to support the continued smooth operation of the UK ETS and to deliver the existing policy intentions rather than to fundamentally change the way in which it functions or applies in Scotland. In broad terms, the instrument aims to clarify the powers of enforcement that are granted to the regulators—the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, in Scotland’s case—and some of the enforcement actions that are available to them. It also extends enforcement powers to the registry administrator—that is, the Environment Agency.

The instrument makes it an offence to intentionally obstruct a regulator in exercising powers of entry; prevents double counting of excess emissions penalties that apply for some operators; and gives the regulator powers to impose civil penalties on operators that fail to return allowances to which they are not entitled.

Finally, although I am unable to go into specifics today, given the on-going discussions with the other Administrations, I am confident that, in the coming months, we will be in a position to publish a joint consultation to explore further policy reforms to the UK ETS as well as the common framework agreement. At that point, I would be more than happy to return to the committee, should it wish me to, in order to discuss the matter in greater detail.

Thank you for inviting me to give evidence on the net zero, energy and transport portfolio budget for 2022-23.

The portfolio draws together many of the key strands that are required to deliver on the Government’s ambitious and world-leading plans around climate change. The portfolio budget and policy areas will ensure that significant progress is made in delivering the commitments that are embedded in the programme for government and the Bute house agreement, thereby enabling the Scottish Government to successfully meet its statutory climate targets and protect the natural environment, while continuing to support the most vulnerable in society and deliver a safe, accessible and affordable public transport system.

Our ambitious 2022-23 budget requires a sea change in the direction of Government expenditure, with reprioritisation towards programmes that underpin our move to a green agenda and cover all aspects of the portfolio: the natural environment, public transport, active travel, energy and climate change.

In the budget, we are spending more than £3.4 billion on transport, including investment of almost £1.4 billion to maintain, improve and decarbonise Scotland’s rail network, and £414 million to support bus services and their use through concessionary travel schemes, including the extension of free bus travel for young persons aged under 22. We will provide a record level of investment in walking, wheeling and cycling, which is increasing to £150 million—an increase of 30 per cent from the 2021-22 figure.

We are also providing record investment to protect and restore nature, including our peatlands, and to tackle the causes of biodiversity loss. We will continue to support our forestry bodies to deliver on the woodlands creation target, which will see 15,000 hectares of new planting in 2022-23.

We recognise that substantial investment is needed to deliver on our waste and recycling targets, and in this year’s budget we are investing more than £43 million to drive Scotland’s circular economy, which will reduce reliance on scare resources and reduce waste.

We are committed to taking strong action to meet the climate challenge and are investing almost £50 million in climate action, including £20 million for the just transition fund to accelerate the development of a transformed and decarbonised economy in the north-east and Moray.

Finally, we will continue to provide significant budget for energy to support heat decarbonisation in order to make our homes and buildings warmer, greener and more energy efficient. That will include increasing funding to help to support the fuel poor through heat transition.

The portfolio’s budget delivers on an ambitious agenda, but it is not without risks, such as the on-going impact of Covid on the public transport system and the uncertainty around demand-led schemes such as the under-22 concessionary travel scheme. However, I reassure the committee that I will continue to reprioritise within my budget not only to meet our legal, statutory and contractual commitments but to achieve value for money against a backdrop of a challenging fiscal position.

I am more than happy to respond to any questions that committee members might have.

On your last question, the answer is no, not necessarily. However, I recognise the pressures that the public sector is facing, not just at central Government level but at local government level, and the particular challenges that that creates for our colleagues in local government.

As the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy set out last week, we have delivered as fair a funding package for local government as we are able to do in the challenging financial environment in which we are operating. However, it is also worth keeping in mind that local authorities have faced financial challenges for a number of years and have been making good progress in tackling climate change by committing to significant reductions in emissions over recent years. I recognise and understand that there will be challenges for them, but that does not necessarily mean that they will not be able to make progress in tackling climate change.

I will pick up on a couple of examples of how local authorities will benefit from investment. Active travel will have a significant benefit in local communities. It will help to tackle congestion in towns and cities across the country. The budget line in that area is increasing substantially to support the roll-out of active travel.

Alongside that, the investment that we are putting into the decarbonisation of heating systems and improving energy efficiency will have a marked improvement on social housing stock, some of which local authorities are responsible for managing. Again, that is an area in which budgets are increasing.

I understand and recognise the challenges that local authorities face, but I do not accept that that means that they will be not able to make progress in tackling some of the climate change challenges that we face. Some of the investments that we are making at a national level will have benefits at a local level as well.

Our commitment is to deliver 250,000 hectares of peatland restoration between now and 2030. We are committed to taking forward around 20,000 hectares of peatland restoration a year on average. In 2020, we announced a 10-year funding package of £250 million to help to support that and deliver that target. This year, the budget provides £23.7 million for peatland restoration, which is an increase of 8 per cent on last year’s budget. Since 2012, we have invested around £30 million.

The 50,000 hectares figure was not taken into account in this year’s budget, because our target is 250,000 hectares between now and 2030. We have asked NatureScot to carry out some analysis of the Climate Change Committee’s proposed figure and to consider other innovative ways in which we could help to expand our existing target in order to address that committee’s suggested target. That work has just been completed and submitted to the Government. We are considering the recommendations, and we will then consider whether we have to make further investment and whether we have to change our approach to peatland restoration.

This year’s budget is based on our target of 250,000 hectares. Pending NatureScot’s recommendations, we will look at whether we need to take further measures to help to extend our target and how we could go about doing that.

The Scottish National Investment Bank does not sit in my portfolio, so I do not know the rationale behind that, what its investment profile is, and what it requires. However, I am more than happy to take that question away and get further details for you.

You may be aware that the Scottish National Investment Bank is going through quite a detailed regulatory process of considering how it can raise private finance. I hope that, in the next couple of years, we will see more private finance being levered into it.

I am not sighted on the specific reasons for that decline, because the Scottish National Investment Bank does not sit directly in my portfolio, but I would be more than happy to write to the committee about that.

A carbon assessment is carried out for the budget and published. That is a statutory requirement for each budget. We also measure our progress against our climate change targets through our climate change update plan and the various portfolio envelopes that need to be progressed to make sure that we are on track for 2030 and 2045. We measure using a combination of the carbon assessment that is carried out for the budget and our monitoring and evaluation process for the climate change update plan.

You will be aware of the work that the Fraser of Allander Institute is carrying out to look at how we can get greater transparency on the contribution that budgets make to meeting our climate change targets. It would be extremely helpful if we had a more robust and effective system to be able to monitor the impact of the budget on our climate change targets. I hope that the work that the Fraser of Allander Institute produces will help us to develop a framework that will give more transparency for the committee and accountability to the Parliament, and give us greater insight into the direct impact of the budget.

Broadly, the update plan and the carbon assessment that is carried out for the budget are the two things that we currently rely on.

That fund does not sit directly in my portfolio; it sits in the finance portfolio. The £20 million is some of the initial allocation to take forward work on developing the action plan that will deliver the transition plan for the north-east and Moray. We have given a commitment to take that forward on a co-production basis, so local stakeholders will be able to shape how the funding is used. Some of the money will initially help to carry out that work. How the money will then be allocated and utilised will be informed by the co-production work and the input from local stakeholders on how that will be shaped. I expect the details of that to be set out in the next financial year.