Chamber and committees

You also spoke about community ownership, which brings me to a point about experiences and outcomes. In your initial comments, you or one of your colleagues mentioned Aberdeen Community Energy’s Donside community hydro project, which is community owned and took place long before we even thought of a just transition. How do we capture the knowledge and data that has been gathered by that community and its leaders Sinclair Laing and Jane Fullerton? How do we capture those experiences to allow other communities to achieve their potential and reach their goals, as Donside village has done?

An internship scheme would certainly be worth looking at, without a doubt.

One of the things that has been great about Aberdeen and the north-east is that when we have attracted folk, and students in particular, to come to Aberdeen, many of them stay. I saw that just the other day with regard to the work that X-Academy is doing in matching folk with green jobs, which involves a number of those on the accelerator programme who came here to study and never left.

An internship is a good idea, as you said, but how do we retain and export community knowledge that is accrued from successful projects in order to help other projects become a success? Could we have a scheme to allow folk the freedom to work in that sphere?

I am very pleased to hear that, minister, because a huge amount of the language that is used in some of the legislation is very outdated indeed—and, in fact, insulting to people.

You talked about changes that can be made in primary legislation. Without doubt, the opportunity for that is there as the Government moves forward with the primary legislation required by the Scott review recommendations. I take it that, when it reaches that stage, you will be willing to ensure that whatever comes out of that review is reflected in the regulations that you set in the future, as you expand from your “starting small” proposal.

Where are the other data gaps? You may wish to bring in your colleagues to answer that.

Good. We visited a framing business that day, where Kevin was up to his eyes with work, which was a good thing for him. I imagine, however, that the likes of him, others whom we visited and others across Aberdeen and the north-east are in a similar position, where it is a case of people putting their heads down, getting on with the work and not having enough time. Do you think that local government and other public bodies are missing a trick by not utilising the good offices of the FSB and others to get that communication out there to businesses to get them to think a little differently and take a wee time out, with the information that is supplied, in order to get it right for their futures?

The committee has heard a lot about increasing capacity and modernising our ports and harbours to maximise the opportunity that offshore renewables can give us. The Fraserburgh port has a pretty ambitious expansion plan; Peterhead always has plans; and we have seen the opening of the south harbour at Aberdeen. What part do you see rail playing in the transportation of goods to those ports? How much of the study that you are undertaking is looking at freight and not just passenger movements?

Many discussions today and in other meetings have been about confidence. Mark Munro talked today about the flight of capital. Obviously, we have to recognise that oil and gas still have parts to play in the future in reaching the just transition.

One thing that is disconcerting for folk is the lack of stability. Mr Mutch mentioned decisions to move out of the North Sea basin to west Africa, where some would say that there has not, in the past, been very much stability—certainly not politically.

Some of the obviously disconcerting things for companies that have happened of late have an impact. Let me give an example. The absence of offshore wind in the recent contracts for difference allocations signals that the UK Government has failed to recognise the current market, which is why we have not seen such bids or capital. Does the UK Government need to provide more certainty in order to ensure that capital investment flows into such projects? I ask Mr Munro first.

Okay—thank you.

My next question is for Mr Jack. I am going to go a wee bit back into history. Investment in rail is pretty costly and the assessments that lead to new rail projects can be onerous. You are embarking on some of that work. If we look back to the expected patronage of Laurencekirk station as an example, it transpired that, once the station was open, patronage was—if I remember rightly—77 per cent greater than had been envisaged in any of the assessments. I would argue that that was partly because a bigger car park was put in place than was originally envisaged. We have also seen increased patronage due to changes to timetabling in the north-east. After the timetable changes between Inverurie and Stonehaven, patronage at Inverurie increased by 80 per cent. Would the Formartine to Buchan route have the required patronage to justify the reopening of that railway?

We have heard a lot about the length of time that planning and consenting take here compared with other places. It would be really useful for the committee—there is not enough time today, but I am sure that Mr Mutch of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce in particular can help us with this—to get from businesses an idea of where the real stumbling blocks and barriers are so that we can start to get to grips with them. I do not know whether you have any quick comments to make about planning and consenting, Mr Munro.

If my memory serves me well, it was not until about the mid-1980s that the freight aspect going south from Fraserburgh ceased to operate. You talked about BrewDog and Power Jacks—I am sure that all members of the committee are aware of those two companies—making the move just a wee bit south in order to get the linkages. Do you think that, if a rail freight operation had continued to exist, those companies might have stayed in Fraserburgh because it would have been easier for them to ship their goods?