Chamber and committees

Before you disappear, cabinet secretary, you have engaged with the committee quite heavily over the past few years on land reform and various other matters. Disappointingly, I did not always get my way on the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, but I—and, I think, the committee—have appreciated how you approached matters when you came before us, which was with great seriousness, but also in a manner that made it easier for us to deal with things. For that, we are extremely grateful, and I have been asked to record our best wishes to you as you move on to your next job.

Cabinet secretary, would you like to respond? You always like to have last words, so perhaps that is appropriate. [Laughter.]

Thank you, cabinet secretary. As you have had the last word, we will briefly suspend the meeting before we move on to the next item of business.

09:18

Meeting suspended.

09:20

On resuming—

Welcome back to this meeting of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee. The next agenda item is consideration of an SSI that has been laid under the negative procedure, which means that it will come into force unless the Parliament agrees a motion to annul it. No such motion has been lodged, and the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee has made no comment on the instrument. Do members have any comments?

Item 5 is consideration of the proposal by the Scottish Government to consent to UK Government legislating in devolved areas, as set out in the UK statutory instrument proposal for the Mandatory Water Efficiency Labelling Regulations 2026. The proposed regulations would introduce a mandatory water efficiency labelling scheme for certain domestic water-using products, such as taps, showers, toilets, washing machines and dishwashers.

The committee’s role is to decide whether it agrees with the Scottish Government’s position on consent. We can express a view both on whether we agree in principle to the UK Government legislating in this area, and on whether we agree with the specific manner in which it proposes to do so. If we are content for consent to be given, I will write to the Scottish Government accordingly. In doing so, the committee also has the option to draw matters to the Government’s attention, pose questions or to ask to be kept updated on particular matters. However, if the committee is not content with the proposals, it may make one of the recommendations that are outlined in the clerk’s note. I will not read those recommendations.

The proposed labelling seems very similar to that used for electricity, including electricity used only for water, and we are used to seeing such signs—A, B, C, D and so on—on machines, so it seems to make sense.

No member has any comments on the proposal, so I will move to the substantive question on the item. Is the committee content that the provision that is set out in the notification should be made in the proposed UK statutory instrument?

Members indicated agreement.

I will ask a very simple question. The instrument talks about “Scottish persons” and the responsibilities of the Scottish Government. What does it mean for policing? Will the Scottish Government be responsible for policing or prosecuting Scottish persons?

Do committee members agree to delegate authority to me, as convener, to approve a draft of the report for publication?

Members indicated agreement.

Is the committee happy to delegate power to me to write to the Government on behalf of the committee to inform it of Sarah Boyack’s comment about monitoring and Mark Ruskell’s comment about the UK‑wide approach to the instrument when we notify it that we have considered the instrument?

Members indicated agreement.

I will now move the meeting into private session.

09:27

Meeting continued in private until 10:34.

We will write to the Scottish Government to that effect.

Agenda item 6 is consideration of a further proposal by the Scottish Government to consent to the UK Government legislating in a devolved area as set out in the UK statutory instrument proposal⁠ for the Green Gas Support Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2026. The proposed regulations amend the green gas support scheme, a UK-wide scheme that provides tariff support for biomethane that is produced via anaerobic digestion and injected into the gas grid.

As with the previous agenda item, the committee’s role is to decide whether it agrees with the Scottish Government’s position on consent. We can express a view on both whether we agree in principle to the UK Government legislating in this area and whether we agree with the specific manner in which it proposes to do so.  If we are content for consent to be given, I will write to the Scottish Government accordingly. In writing to the Scottish Government, the committee has the option to draw matters to the Government’s attention, pose questions or ask to be kept updated. However, if the committee is not content with the proposal, other options are laid out in the clerk’s paper.

As no members wish to make any comments on the proposal, I will move to the substantive question on the item. Is the committee content that the provision that is set out in the notification should be made in the proposed UK statutory instrument?

Members indicated agreement.