Chamber and committees

My final ask of the minister is: will the Scottish Government fulfil that pledge, or will it be just another empty promise?

On Tuesday, the Scottish Government released the outline business case for a publicly owned energy company, two years after it was written. The business case highlights that a publicly owned energy company would produce annual savings for customers. Age Scotland recently revealed that eight in 10 older people were greatly concerned about paying their energy bills. With nearly 30 per cent of pensioner households in Scotland living in fuel poverty, does the cabinet secretary not think that it is time for the Scottish Government to fulfil its promise to deliver a publicly owned energy company?

I have a question for Terry A’Hearn on the role of public bodies in tackling the climate and nature emergencies. A coalition of wildlife campaigners highlighted a 40 per cent reduction in funding for Scotland’s public environmental bodies, including SEPA, between 2010 and 2019. How have those cuts impacted on SEPA’s ability to respond to the climate and nature emergencies, and what impact have they had on staffing and SEPA’s capability to undertake investigations and enforce actions?

Rachel Shucksmith, the Shetland spatial plan is held up as an example of good practice. One aspect of that is that scallop dredgers are all fitted with tracking devices. Is that tracking a good thing? Should it be rolled out to the rest of Scotland’s inshore fisheries? Should the Scottish Government consider delegating powers for the local management of other inshore fisheries?

I have one more follow-up on reporting the entanglements. Do you think that monitoring and recording could be delivered through the use of remote electronic monitoring equipment on the larger boats—on trawlers?

I have a couple of questions, but I do not know whether we can write to ministers or, indeed, how the process works. I note that the instrument

“Increases the amount of seabass that can be landed as bycatch”,

and I seek some clarification on that increase. Secondly, I have some questions about the fact that it

“Revokes a closed season for fishing sandeels”.

Good morning. I have two questions. We have spoken about solutions to marine animal entanglements and the sustainability of current fishing practices. Does the Scottish Entanglement Alliance have a view on the relative sustainability of creeling over trawling if they take place in the same area of inshore waters?

I have one question for Danny Renton, now that we have him back. A couple of weeks ago, the committee heard about the lack of commercially viable white-fish stocks on the west coast. It is great that Seawilding is working to recover inshore ecosystems and to provide better nursery grounds for fish species, but that is restricted to the project at one specific loch. What should be done to recover cod and herring stocks on the wider west coast?

Would it improve the reporting and monitoring of incidents if larger boats were fitted with electronic monitoring equipment?

Do you think that the tracking is a good thing? It sounds as though you do.