Chamber and committees

I look forward to hearing what the cabinet secretary has to say about the amendments before I decide whether to move mine. However, the aim of amendment 119 is simply to ensure effective consultation with those impacted or affected by the rural support plan. In order for the plan to deliver the desired outcomes, there needs to be effective discussion and consultation in advance of its publication and in advance of subsequent amendments to the plan.

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how the NHS supports the health of rural and islands communities through regular visits from consultants. (S6O-03401)

What steps is the Scottish Government taking to deal with the threat that is posed to Scotland’s bees by the parasitic Varroa mite?

My constituents in Uist are concerned that recent flight timetabling is understood to have prevented some visits by consultants from Raigmore hospital in Inverness. Can the minister indicate what can be done to ensure that the timetabling of transport links is harmonised, giving due consideration to the needs of island communities, to ensure that the level of healthcare to which islanders should be entitled is not detrimentally affected?

I thank Tess White for securing the debate. Whether we always realise that energy infrastructure affects every one of us, people in rural constituencies such as mine probably realise it more than most.

To achieve the net zero emission targets of the UK and Scottish Governments by 2050 and 2045, respectively, the independent Climate Change Committee has forecast that a doubling of electricity supply will be required to meet demand. Naturally, that will require extensive improvements to and expansion of our existing electricity infrastructure.

As other members have accurately pointed out, the Scottish Government faces limitations in reforming energy policy, as that is a matter that is reserved to the UK Government. I will give an example of that. Outdated transmission charges result in higher electricity costs for residents of northern Scotland, despite the fact that renewable energy sources are based there.

The UK Government’s wider lack of adequate regulation leads to wider problems for rural and island areas. For instance, a constituent of mine was recently told by Octopus Energy that it had not encountered the island’s postcode before, and that fitting a new meter could therefore take several years.

To return to the matter that we are debating today, I believe that there needs to be a greater understanding of how critical existing and planned infrastructure updates are to ensuring the safe and reliable transmission of electricity across Scotland.

I wish to focus on one particular project, which I understand has provoked debate along its route, to offer a different, more westerly perspective. Electricity for the whole of my constituency, the Western Isles, is currently supplied by two subsea cables from the north of Skye. Significant sections of the electricity line between Fort Augustus and Skye were built more than 70 years ago. Those sections are fast approaching the end of their operational life, as is demonstrated by three major faults suffered on the line during the past year.

The recent total failure of the cable between Skye and Harris resulted in 20,000 people in Lewis and Harris having to rely on a 70-year-old diesel-fired power station in Stornoway for several months. That was obviously far from ideal from an emissions perspective, and it has caused some anxiety about future sustainability. I should point out that the existing overhead line between Fort Augustus and Skye is a single circuit, with no back-up transmission circuits in the event of a fault. I have to register the view of many island constituents that a double-circuit replacement there would greatly strengthen network resilience and reliability.

One point that has been made very well is that community input is absolutely essential for infrastructure projects such as overhead lines. Listening to and addressing local concerns should be prioritised, not treated as an afterthought or as a tick-box exercise. When people work well together, important improvements can be made to proposals. I understand that, as a direct result of stakeholder feedback, SSEN is now planning—I hope—to underground some sections of the Fort Augustus to Skye line in the area around the iconic Cuillin mountain ranges.

As we move towards our net zero aims, we must look to do what is right for Scotland’s future generations. Communities must be listened to, and we must upgrade and expand our energy infrastructure so that it is fit for the years ahead. Those two aims need not be, and indeed should not be, in opposition to one another.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I understand that, earlier this afternoon, Maurice Golden suggested that I had misled the chamber by pointing to the higher electricity transmission charges that are faced in the north of Scotland. With your permission, I seek to put on the record that my comments were based on a statement by the director of business planning at Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, who, in February 2021, said:

“Transmission use of system charges are indeed many, many times higher in the north of Scotland than elsewhere in GB.”

I suggest that, rather than making accusations, Mr Golden might want to take his point up with SSEN, although I have nothing to indicate that SSEN is wrong.

I do not claim to know whether an engineer would be required, but one of the issues that has been raised with me is that fishermen in my constituency understand that the approved supplier is in Aberdeen. Is that the case? Has the situation been island proofed, given the complications and potentially costly delays that might be involved if somebody in Barra or Tiree has to deal with someone in Aberdeen?

I do not want to get this wrong, but I would be surprised if such engineers exist in the islands. They may do, and I do not want to do them a disservice, but have you checked that those people exist?

You have. Okay. Thank you.

You have touched on this already, but will you say a bit more about the use of that data? Will it enable you to help with the situation that fishermen face by improving the data that is available to the Government and, therefore, its policy? I realise that you cannot foresee the future, but can you mention some of the ways in which the Government feels that this might be beneficial to fishermen?