Chamber and committees

One of the messages that come through clearly from both reports that we are talking about today is that we need to avoid a gap in the coming on stream of offshore wind jobs and in addressing the issues that have been caused by the decline of the North Sea basin, as I mentioned.

In the areas for which the Scottish Government has responsibility, everything that we are doing—from the investment in the north-east that I mentioned to working consistently with offshore wind developers—will contribute to minimising the gap and addressing the real issues to which the two reports point.

My understanding is that the college money has just recently been approved. The member makes an important point about skills and the transfer of skills. The Scottish Government certainly recognises the critical importance of providing the current and future workforce with the lifelong skills that they need.

The recently published 2024 “Green Jobs Barometer” shows that

“Scotland continues to lead the way in the creation of green jobs, with new data showing the number of”

such green jobs

“advertised has tripled since 2021.”

We will continue to work on areas such as the skills passport, which I mentioned, and on areas with the UK Government, to ensure that we have in our workforce the skills that we need for the future.

It would be ungallant to try to work out what the member’s age would be in that scenario, were I to accept the premise of the question, but I do not accept the scenario or the premise. The commitment of up to £500 million over this period has been given. Our track record in providing other investment, such as the £125 million for Aberdeen and that area, shows that our commitment is real.

The just transition to net zero is clearly a huge economic and social opportunity, not just for the north-east—which we have quite rightly been focusing on today—but for Scotland as a whole. Communities are uniquely placed to play a critical role in shaping and driving forward that transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy.

That is why the Scottish Government has committed up to £6 million of funding this year for our network of 24 climate action hubs. We are delighted to see the impact that the hubs are having in enabling communities to make positive changes for a more sustainable and resilient future.

Additionally, the just transition fund for the north-east and Moray has, so far, allocated £75 million to supporting projects and communities across the region to create jobs, support innovation and secure the highly skilled workforce of the future that, throughout this debate, we have rightly pointed to.

Fergus Ewing will appreciate that nobody in the chamber is disputing the enormity of the problem for any individual or family in the north-east of Scotland who is facing the kind of situation that he describes. I do not want to minimise that in any shape or form.

Fergus Ewing is well aware that the Scottish Government has no role in the consents process, other than that we believe that they should be subjected to not only economic but environmental tests.

I think that Fergus Ewing and I are in agreement on the windfall tax: the point is passing at which it could be described as a windfall tax or at which its current level could be described as such. The Scottish Government has made it clear that the UK Government needs to clarify its position on that now.

I am not sure what kind of conversations Mercedes Villalba is having with industry, the workforce or, for that matter, her constituents in the north-east of Scotland. All I can say is that I receive regular representations about the levy and the fact that it constrains much-needed investment not only in the oil and gas industry but in decommissioning work.

The Scottish Government seeks to work with the UK Government on future reforms of the planning system to ensure that communities are consulted at an earlier stage.

The Scottish Government remains firmly committed to growing community and locally owned energy in Scotland, helping our communities to develop energy projects and supporting Scotland’s progress towards net zero.

I absolutely accept the importance of the issue that he raises about constraint payments. I am sure that he will agree that the authorities at UK level need to be involved in the debate that he has just raised, because it relates to issues that are all reserved.

I thank members for their contributions to a vitally important debate. As other members have mentioned, it has been a debate on which there is a great deal of common ground across the chamber. There was much of that in evidence today, both in the summing-up speeches that we have just heard and throughout.

As we have heard, communities are crucial in our transition to net zero and they must receive the benefits of our renewables revolution. I will begin by trying to answer a question from Christine Grahame, who asked how many communities have bought shares in a wind farm. The picture as at December 2024 was that there were 140 installations in Scotland where shared ownership was either in place or under discussion. The Scottish Government is committed to growing that number and to growing the community energy sector in Scotland, as demonstrated by the community energy generation growth fund. There are many opportunities to be seized, and there is huge potential for communities to own—

The member has acknowledged that that particular target may not be achievable overnight, but the evidence that we gather will, I believe, ensure that our community benefit targets and arrangements are sustainable, meaningful and ambitious, and that they will help to support our just and fair transition to net zero.

I will add to that point something that is perhaps relevant to the member’s question and which takes us back to my earlier comment. The First Minister has asked officials to take forward with stakeholders other opportunities—created by repowering—for communities.

The Scottish Government cannot do all that work alone. We must work with our stakeholders, developers, communities and, as I alluded to, the UK Government, to make progress.