Chamber and committees

There will be a division.

Against

Clark, Katy (West Scotland) (Lab)
Dowey, Sharon (South Scotland) (Con)
Findlay, Russell (West Scotland) (Con)
MacGregor, Fulton (Coatbridge and Chryston) (SNP)
Mackay, Rona (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (SNP)
McNeill, Pauline (Glasgow) (Lab)
Nicoll, Audrey (Aberdeen South and North Kincardine) (SNP)
Swinney, John (Perthshire North) (SNP)

That completes our deliberation of the SSI as well as the committee’s business in public. I thank members and witnesses for their attendance. We now move into private session.

Good morning and welcome to the 13th meeting in 2024 of the Criminal Justice Committee. We have no apologies, and I welcome Christine Grahame MSP to the meeting.

Our first item of business is consideration of a negative instrument. I refer members to paper 1.

I welcome to the meeting Siobhian Brown, the Minister for Victims and Community Safety, and Jim Wilson, licensing team leader, criminal justice division, Scottish Government. I remind everyone that, on 21 February, we discussed the principles of the Scottish Government’s approach to XL bully dogs. Today’s discussion, therefore, should be on the detail of the compensation and exemption scheme set out in the Scottish statutory instrument that we are considering today.

I invite the minister to make an opening statement.

If you can finish asking your question, we will move on.

That is helpful.

Would Christine Grahame like to come in?

Just to confirm, Christine Grahame, would you like to ask any questions at this point?

I will bring you back in.

Would any other members like to come in briefly?

I will backtrack a little, to the matter of planning, which Sarah Boyack highlighted. Does she welcome the proposal for a floating resource of planners and the commitment to halve onshore wind planning timescales?

It is my real pleasure to introduce this members’ business debate on “The Economic Impact of Scotland’s Renewable Energy Sector—2023 Update”. I thank all those colleagues who supported the motion, and I am grateful to those who are taking the time to speak this afternoon.

Before I get into the detail of the report, I will focus some remarks on the north-east, including my constituency of Aberdeen South and North Kincardine; the opportunities that our net zero economy brings to an otherwise cloudy economic picture; and the role of Government in bolstering competitiveness and supporting Scotland’s clean energy transition.

Renewable energy generation is the foundation of any net zero economy. In Scotland, we are fortunate to have a plethora of renewable technologies, including onshore and offshore wind, marine energy, hydro power, solar and clean heat, which will all play a key role in reducing our carbon footprint and supporting our future energy security.

Scotland has set ambitious targets, and challenges exist in delivering those ambitions. However, today is a time—I hope—for us to acknowledge the positive impact that the renewables sector is having on jobs and economic output in Scotland.

Nowhere has the energy transition been more evident than in the north-east. As an Aberdonian, and now as a north-east constituency MSP, I have followed the journey of the energy industry, which was built around oil and gas and is now transitioning to renewables. Hitting the sweet spot between a declining fossil fuel sector and a growing renewables footprint is the challenge that we all face, and we must endeavour to deliver for our planet and our future prosperity.

According to the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit’s report, “The UK’s net zero economy—The scale and geography of the net zero economy in the UK”, which was published last month, Aberdeen remains one of many local economies in Scotland to see a significant proportion of its gross value added attributed to the net zero economy. The city and the wider region continue to host a diverse mix of operators, developers and supply chain businesses that support energy generation activities.

Robert Gordon University has published a series of reports that set out scenarios for how the north-east can continue to exploit its world-class energy ecosystem, and present a range of workforce outcomes that could materialise in the coming years. Its “Powering up the Workforce” report found that the United Kingdom’s offshore energy workforce can increase by up to 50 per cent, from over 150,000 in 2023 to 225,000 by the end of the decade, with new renewable jobs outnumbering oil and gas roles, if a successful transition is achieved, thereby helping to secure Scotland’s world-class energy sector for future generations.

The area of technology and innovation is a fundamental part of our energy transition, and the north-east hosts a wealth of activity in that space. Last week, I was delighted to attend the opening of the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult floating wind innovation centre in my constituency, which is the UK’s first centre that is focused purely on floating offshore wind technology. The National Energy Skills Accelerator has brought north-east academics and industry together to accelerate the upskilling of our existing and future workforce. The Net Zero Technology Centre works with stakeholders to drive technology for a net zero industrial future. Those initiatives demonstrate how Scotland is combining our strengths, bringing creativity together with expertise to support the delivery of a successful energy transition.

I turn to “The Economic Impact of Scotland’s Renewable Energy Sector—2023 Update”, which was commissioned by Scottish Renewables and produced by the Fraser of Allander Institute. The report provides the latest estimates of economic output and job figures for Scotland’s renewables industry and its supply chain. The sector was supporting more than 42,000 full-time jobs in 2021, with offshore wind supporting the most employment: around 15,000 full-time equivalent roles. Onshore wind supported just over 12,000 full-time equivalent roles and renewable heat supported around 7,200. Scotland’s renewables industry supported more than £10.1 billion of output in 2021, with offshore wind understood to contribute output of £4 billion, and onshore wind and hydro power generating £3.4 billion and £1.2 billion respectively.

At this point, I will make a brief observation about the just transition. I recognise that, with the transformation of Scotland’s energy sector over the coming decades, the lives of communities and workers will be directly affected. A truly just transition calls for action on providing green jobs, building community wealth and embedding genuine participation, and I agree with calls for greater clarity on how we are going to measure progress in that regard.

The renewable energy industry currently presents Scottish supply chain companies with the biggest opportunity for business growth. However, that growth depends on enabling a stable and ambitious pipeline of clean energy projects, and will require both the Scottish and UK Governments to collaborate on enabling deployment, including by driving efficiencies and extra resource into our planning and consenting system, maximising Scottish capacity in contracts for difference, building new transmission infrastructure, upgrading our ports and investing in skills. On transmission, I welcome SSE’s investment programme in Scotland, in particular the north of Scotland build-out, which is anticipated to be worth £20 billion alone and will provide lasting economic and social benefits across Scotland.