Chamber and committees

Public service reform absolutely means cutting through bureaucratic structures and getting on with delivery—that is at the heart of the programme. I am not familiar with the specific examples that the member raises—he might want to take them up with the relevant cabinet secretary—but I can reassure him that, where there are barriers to public service delivery, this programme is about cutting through them in order to deliver for the citizen.

As set out in the programme for government, we will engage in an intensive dialogue over the next three months with partners in local government, members across Parliament and stakeholders, including representatives from local communities, to reach a clear, shared direction about the future of local governance in Scotland. As part of that engagement, we will consider which functions and responsibilities might be better delivered at a regional level, and which powers and resources should sit closer to communities. Through my engagement with representatives of local government, including a meeting this morning, I have made that point. I look forward to people coming forward with suggestions about which powers they and others may feel would be better delivered at a regional or community level.

I am grateful for the opportunity to close this debate on AI data centres. Like many members, I thank Graham Simpson for bringing the motion before the Parliament, and I genuinely thank members from across the chamber for their contributions and for highlighting the range of views that exist on this important issue—although, as Murdo Fraser and other members have said, there has been a lot of unanimity around the chamber on the issue.

The debate touches on a challenge that many countries are now facing: how to harness the opportunities that are presented by artificial intelligence and the digital economy in a way that is sustainable and responsible and, very importantly, that commands public confidence.

Data centres have been designated by the UK Government as critical national infrastructure, given the role that they play in supporting the digital services that businesses, public bodies and citizens rely on every day. They underpin cloud computing, innovation and research, and, increasingly, the development and deployment of potentially transformative artificial intelligence technologies.

We of course want Scotland to be a place where investment can flourish, high-quality jobs can be created and the benefits of innovation can be realised. Equally, we want development to take place in a way that respects communities, protects the environment and supports our climate ambitions. Those objectives are not mutually exclusive.

I will come on to cover that in my remarks.

By law, all planning applications must be determined in accordance with the statutory development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. In Scotland, the statutory development plan comprises national planning framework 4 and the relevant local development plan. NPF4 makes it clear that

“significant weight”

is to

“be given to the global climate and nature crises”

when considering all development proposals, and that

“lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions”

should be minimised

“as far as possible.”

Planning authorities have a duty to consider the environmental impacts of all planning applications, and those are informed by site-specific assessments, environmental impact assessments and advice from key agencies, including the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Scottish Water, where relevant.

To support strategic monitoring of the pipeline of applications and the implications for wider infrastructure, the Minister for Public Finance has issued a planning direction requiring planning authorities to notify Scottish ministers of new data centre applications exceeding 50MW power capacity within seven days of validation.

Ministers have been clear that we must secure public benefits from this type of major investment in development, and that the voices of communities that host data centres will be central to any considerations on those centres.

I am just concluding.

We recognise concerns that members have raised around the absence of an explicit definition of green data centres in NPF4. We have previously set out key factors for planning authorities to take into account when considering this matter, and the First Minister has made it clear that the Scottish Government is giving active consideration to further planning guidance in order to balance the rapid expansion of hyperscale data centre proposals with national energy and climate goals, which are vital to our future prosperity.

In the chamber today, the First Minister made it clear that Cabinet has considered the issue over the summer, resulting in the changes already made by the Minister for Public Finance, and that Cabinet is continuing to consider these issues to ensure that we have in place the proper and effective regime to ensure that communities can be protected and that a proper assessment of applications can be made.

The Scottish Government believes that economic growth and environmental responsibility must go hand in hand. Scotland has ambitious climate commitments, and we expect all sectors to play their part in supporting the transition to a net zero economy.

I thank members again for their contributions and look forward to continued engagement on these matters in the months ahead.

I will come on to cover that point in my remarks.

With those objectives in mind, we have in our programme for government committed to publish a strategic approach to attracting and securing responsible green data centre investment, with clear expectations around environmental sustainability, resource use, community benefit and the economic and strategic value that these developments should deliver.

The Scottish Government is committed to developing AI Scotland as a flagship programme that builds public trust and confidence in AI and provides a distinct national voice on the economic and societal questions that AI raises. That will help to support sustainable growth and strengthen public services, while ensuring that Scotland remains competitive in an ever-evolving global landscape. All interventions delivered under the AI Scotland banner will reflect the Scottish Government’s commitment to responsible and ethical AI, and we are committed to establishing our future jobs panel to report on the impacts that AI may have on Scotland’s skills and future workforce as the technology develops.

I am clear that Scotland’s planning system will have a vital role to play in considering applications, harnessing economic opportunities and finding solutions that align with our climate goals. I recognise that communities have questions about the potential impact of large-scale development proposals.

I indicated that we are taking forward a strategy to consider all those issues, and the point about date centres being critical national infrastructure is clear.

Graham Simpson’s motion refers to proposals in a number of specific locations. As members will appreciate, it would not be appropriate for me to discuss or comment on the planning merits of any of the individual development proposals. It is imperative to avoid prejudice to future planning decisions and to maintain the integrity of our planning system.

The Scottish Government and planning authorities must ensure that decisions are taken fairly and transparently, and I have listened to members’ general points and concerns about hyperscale data centres, including on potential water use, energy demand, the use of back-up diesel or gas generation, air quality, land use, and cumulative impacts. People rightly expect those matters to be considered carefully and transparently through our planning and regulatory systems, and there are statutory processes that must be followed for all development proposals.

This has been an interesting and reflective debate, so I will cover some of the speeches before I embark on the main substance of my remarks.

It is interesting to reflect back on the manifestos from Reform and the Conservatives. Reform’s manifesto stated that it would

“Shut down the Quangos and return their powers to democratically elected ministers”,

which is the complete opposite of what Helen McDade proposed today. Meanwhile, the Conservatives’ manifesto stated that they would

“reduce bureaucracy and improve productivity within our NHS”,

reduce

“the number of quangos by at least a quarter”,

and

“tackle Scotland’s cluttered quango landscape.”

We are taking forward those steps at pace and with substance. What we announced yesterday is not far away from taking that quarter of quangos out of the landscape, and there is still a long way to go with regard to consolidating public bodies.

Kayleigh Kinross-O’Neill and Adam Harley made important points about the impact on service delivery and how the changes that we are making will translate into supporting that. They are right that the purpose of the changes that we are implementing in health and more widely is to improve service delivery. It is about getting money to the front line, making best use of capacity across the whole system and removing silos that stop effective delivery. David Linden and Dawn Black highlighted examples of where that is currently the case—where individuals do not get the service that they should because of the bureaucratic hurdles that are in the way.

Murdo Fraser made a constructive contribution. He talked initially about how we will bridge the fiscal gap and he proceeded to give us a long list of areas that would help to do so. He is right that there are many places where we can save money and improve service delivery at the same time, which is exactly what the PSR programme is about—it is about closing the gap by improving services and making them more efficient, using many of the interventions that he talked about.

Lorna Slater’s speech was helpful and constructive. It highlighted the need for change in local government and the centrality of empowering local communities, which is core to the empowerment agenda that sits at the heart of our public service reform work. She also highlighted a range of opportunities across public bodies, which I do not have time to cover now, but I look forward to engaging with the Greens on that wider agenda in a constructive way. We will find many other opportunities to improve services and make them more efficient in order to get money to the front line.

Lloyd Melville made a hugely important point about public services being fit for the future and also laying the foundation for the independent state that we are working to deliver.

Joe Fagan’s speech was, in the most part, constructive. He made a point about rewiring the state and said that reform is not just about the structures, which I understand. The programme is also about rewiring how money flows through the system and how we do budgeting, particularly preventative budgeting. It is about rewiring how data flows through the system to ensure that it is joined up and used more effectively, and it is about rewiring culture, which relates to how people look at the programme and provide leadership across it.

In all those regards, it is important to recognise that rewiring the state is a broad issue. This Government is very much in the business of rewiring the state. Our public service reform programme underpins the Government’s priorities, which are driving economic growth, eradicating child poverty and tackling the climate crisis.

Most of us recognise how critical public services are to the type of Scotland that we want to be. We want to deliver a fairer future that gives everyone the opportunity to flourish, while recognising and dealing with the democratic and fiscal challenges that we face. Public services are an asset and an investment in that future, and we must invest wisely and take the bold choices that the Government has taken this week, and will continue to take, to protect service delivery in the here and now and ensure fiscal sustainability for the future.

This week, the Government has shown that it will make the bold choices that are necessary and will ensure that the services that people need are improved and made sustainable. The sustainability of those services is not the same as the sustainability of corporate structures. Public service reform is about changing how services operate to fit round the people who use them, rather than expecting people to fit round the boundaries of individual organisations.

The PSR strategy that we published last year is our blueprint and foundation for change. I have always been clear that empowerment is core to that agenda. That involves recognising the strengths of people and places across Scotland, empowering the front line to deliver for service users and empowering public service workers to come forward and offer suggestions about how things can be done better, as they have the best perspective and the best ideas in that regard. We need to design services with communities and ensure that they are focused on what is important to people. Outcomes improve when solutions are tailored to local needs and circumstances.

Building on our democracy matters work, we will deliver greater empowerment of communities so that people can better influence local decision making. In many cases, some decisions will best be taken by members of communities in the places that they live in and call home.

At the same time, we have a huge opportunity to empower regions by building on the existing work of regional economic partnerships to act at a more strategic level to drive growth across Scotland. I recognise the importance of ensuring that the approaches that we take are tailored to Scotland’s regional and community strengths and reflect our unique geographies. That will include working with our island communities and authorities to deliver single authority models that suit their needs.

Fundamentally, this process is about ensuring that the right decisions are made at the right level—whether national, regional or community—to deliver for people. We will change the governance of Scotland to get that right. The programme for government sets out our intention to engage over the coming months in intensive dialogue with local government, the Parliament, trade unions, public sector partners and third sector partners to agree a shared direction for reform of local governance in Scotland.

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Care has already set out the opportunity that the reform of health boards offers and her focus on prevention. Considerable work is being done to support and enable prevention by driving preventative budgeting, to invest early, to address challenges earlier and with greater effectiveness, and to ensure that we realise the profound benefits of better lives, less pressure on services and enhanced fiscal sustainability.

Of course, as many members have said, health and social care are closely linked. The proposed change provides us with a new opportunity to reform social care so that it is consistent and high quality right across the country.

As I set out in the PSR strategy, partnership is key, but partnership is not code for slow. We need to move at pace, but we need to work with our partners across the landscape. We are proposing a clear and robust set of changes in public bodies, including in health, and we have set out a clear direction of travel for regions and communities. In the coming three months, we will engage with local authorities, trade unions and others to agree the future of local governance and of social care. The process of starting to implement changes to the public body landscape will be underpinned by our year 1 public service renewal bill.

In the public service reform strategy, I also set out our commitment to ensuring the right delivery landscape. The current landscape across public bodies and Government is cluttered and there are areas of overlap. We will not shy away from the fiscal challenges and the need to drive efficiency at every opportunity.

Change is necessary. To help us to meet the climate, nature and economic challenges that we will face over the next 20 years, we will establish a new integrated environment body that will take on the functions of SEPA, NatureScot, Zero Waste Scotland and, potentially, Scottish Forestry. It was very helpful to hear Lorna Slater’s perspective on that, and I look forward to engaging with her on the detail of it.

I do not see that as the only list. It is just the start. We will undertake the work that is required to make changes right across the public body landscape, and we will identify more opportunities as they arise and will bring in other relevant bodies as we develop the programme.

All the proposals need to be considered in that regard. That is why we will engage with partners to understand what the optimal solution is. It does not mean that we will not change, or that we do not recognise the need to do so at pace. However, we will consider all the issues that are raised by partners as we take forward what is a long list of potential improvements across the landscape. I think that everybody would agree that the landscape that we have at the moment is not optimal for delivering efficient, fiscally sustainable public services for our citizens.

I have set out the foundations that need to be in place to drive change through our strategy. First among those is leadership and culture change. I will publish a leadership statement shortly, developed in collaboration with colleagues across public services. To deliver our ambitions, we must work together to build a stronger and more coherent approach to leadership, to enable and support the collaborative leadership that drives prevention, strengthens place-based working and delivers reform across boundaries. I have been struck by the willingness of colleagues across the chamber, local government, the third sector, public bodies and beyond to engage with that approach.

We have a huge opportunity, and a responsibility, in this Parliament to make decisions now, to fundamentally change our system of public services to improve people’s lives. As we deliver those changes, people will see improvement in their public services and their lives. Services will be fit for today and for the future. We will deploy new technology, change our ways of working and make sure that those services are more accessible and more responsive.

Will the member take an intervention?