Chamber and committees

The problem is that Mr Johnson says that the oil and gas industries make massive profits, but 75 per cent of those profits end up in the Treasury’s coffers. He must remember that. The oil and gas sector is also the biggest investor in the renewables industry, so the more we take from oil and gas sector profits the less they will have to invest in renewables. That money has to come from somewhere.

Everyone knows that we will require not just the oil and gas sector for decades to come, but the petrochemical industry in general. As Murdo Fraser said, this is not just about fuel, much as we will still require that. North Sea oil and gas are essential in the development of many products that we use daily and may not even notice. The national health service could not function without the petrochemical industry, which is involved in medicines, clothing, soap, fertiliser, rubber, paints and so on—products that are important in almost all areas of modern society. The SNP and Labour do not seem to recognise the damage that their approach is doing to the Scottish economy.

We all know that we must transition away from oil and gas, but all that we have had from the SNP and Labour so far is virtue signalling that undermines the oil and gas sector before we are able to transition. Scotland’s 2045 target is fine, but what is needed from the Scottish and UK Governments is a long-term commitment to targets based on a consistent framework that businesses, communities and education can rely on. We must understand the investment that will be needed from both the public purse and the private sector but that is, so far, unquantified.

As I have said here many times, we must also understand the skills required to make the transition and ensure that the educational environment is able to meet that requirement. If business and the workforce are to make the transition, they need something to transition to—if we create the economic opportunities, business will move to fill them. The Scottish Government should not be cutting spending on employability, an issue that was raised as an extreme concern in the committee’s report. That is the exact opposite of the message that businesses need to hear. As Murdo Fraser said, we have also seen a reduction in apprenticeships.

We can all agree that Scotland has a huge opportunity in the renewable sector, but the transition will not happen just because we will it to. It will require more than targets and Government strategies. It will require consistency of approach and the alignment of all portfolios, from economy to education and energy to industry.

School meals are a crucial way to offer the balanced nutrition that is so important in tackling hunger, malnutrition and issues relating to behaviour, attainment and physical and mental health. Does the cabinet secretary believe that the current nutritional standards are sufficiently high to meet those criteria?

To ask the First Minister, in light of the recent reports of an increase in alcohol-related deaths in Scotland, what steps the Scottish Government is taking to reduce excessive drinking. (S6F-03420)

Whether we agree with the effectiveness of minimum unit pricing or not, we will agree that it will certainly not be a silver bullet. Many people who are caught in excessive drinking or addiction are self-medicating to counter other traumas. If we are to effectively tackle the scourge of that addiction in Scotland, we need to not only recognise the right to recovery that is advocated by the Scottish Conservatives but work to prevent others from falling into addiction.

Does the First Minister recognise that community activities such as music and drama, and activities provided by youth clubs, sports clubs, the scouts, the guides and all the similar great organisations can also be positive alternative forms of self-medication? If he does, does he further recognise that reducing access to such activities in schools and the community, closing facilities and squeezing third sector funding makes preventing addiction that much more difficult?

I will be concise, as always.

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that school meals meet or exceed existing nutritional standards. (S6O-03812)

Will the member take an intervention?

I thank my fellow committee members, all the committee clerks and the Scottish Parliament information centre for their work in developing the reports on what I think was very important inquiry. I also thank those who took part in the evidence sessions in Aberdeen and in Parliament. The wide range of opinions and experiences that we heard have, I believe, led to a very detailed piece of work that should help to inform the Scottish Government’s approach to a just transition.

It has been a very interesting and, in the main, a very well-informed debate. Importantly, there has been consensus on the need to transition away from reliance on fossil fuels to the use of more sustainable, green forms of energy, and on the fact that the 2050 UK target and the 2045 Scottish target are universally accepted across the Parliament. Moreover, I think that the need for a transition was accepted in the committee meetings by all sectors.

However, the industry and the wider public want clarity from the Scottish Government—clarity of direction and clarity of investment. Business will adapt to a coherent long-term strategy. To me, that is the most important element of the reports, because, time and again, we heard the exact opposite—there is no clarity. It is not clear what level of funding the Scottish Government will commit, how it will be possible to access that funding or who will be eligible. We heard that continual delays in the production of Scottish Government strategies, such as the energy strategy, the just transition plan and the updated climate change plan, have an economic impact on business, investor confidence and community action.

Furthermore, the committee noted that there was a lack of clarity on the investment that will be needed to achieve a just transition. That lack of a coherent strategy could not be more apparent than it is in the approach of demonising the oil and gas sector, which, incidentally, is a major investor in the renewable energy sector. That is investment that the Scottish Government could not possibly replace.

As my colleagues Murdo Fraser and Stephen Kerr highlighted, the Scottish Government is flip-flopping and trying desperately to play both sides and is failing miserably. The Labour Party is taking a disastrous approach to the oil and gas sector by wanting to increase the windfall tax from a whopping 75 per cent to 78 per cent, which will inevitably result in less capital investment.

As OEUK stated, the reduction in capital investment could be as much as £12 billion. How on earth will the reckless approaches to the oil and gas sector by both the SNP and Labour engender confidence in a just transition? It is time that a little business acumen was introduced into the front benches, instead of endless empty targets and political point scoring.

Willie Coffey highlighted some of the fantastic small and artisan producers that we have in East Ayrshire, and we have such producers across Scotland. The cabinet secretary mentioned the amazing support from our wholesalers. However, what can the Scottish Government do to help those businesses to scale up and ensure that they have access to supermarket shelves?

One of the biggest problems in the NHS in relation to capital projects is that we still do not have a basic technology platform that enables countrywide adoption of artificial intelligence and technology.

What is the Scottish Government doing to enable swift adoption of technology and to give healthcare professionals the tools that they need to tackle the backlog?