Chamber and committees

Thank you for bringing me in now, convener. It means that I will have one less question later, because this is a good moment to ask it.

Thank you for setting out your vision. The Climate Change Committee talks about the need for biofuels to be the bridge that you refer to as we move towards a more fully sustainable future. I would like to hear in more detail about how that proposal, the letter from Sharon Graham and the vision that you have set out can feed into project willow. Is project willow entirely separate, or have you been able to influence it? What you are setting out seems to be an eminently reasonable part of that journey, so is it being included or considered?

I am happy to see this SSSI—I mean this SSI; I am thinking of the wrong portfolio. I am glad that the SSI increases the protected minimum amount of earnings. However, given that another parliamentary committee recommended that the amount be increased to £1,000, I am disappointed that the instrument would not increase the minimum to £1,000.

I note that, in a large proportion of cases, the creditors are local authorities, so it is concerning that an equalities assessment has not been done, because council tax is a regressive tax. It is not a progressive tax; we know that it affects those on lower incomes disproportionately. That is all connected to the Scottish Government’s failure to reform council tax in order to make it a more progressive tax. I have concerns about trapping people in a cycle of debt.

I am not proposing a motion to annul, but I wonder whether we could ask the minister to attend the committee so that we can ask some questions.

Since my question is about the just transition, this might be a good moment at which to put it, while we are in flow on that point.

I want to pick a little bit more into what your proposal is for the just transition of Grangemouth, because that is worth opening up. I will set a bit of context. In Scotland, oil and gas jobs have reduced by 40 per cent over the past decade, and unemployment figures are relatively low. The transition is under way. It is not ahead of us but is already happening. None of us wants to see mass job losses. A continuation of that gradual decline, while keeping the employment rate high, is what we all want, I think.

If I understand things correctly—and I hope that you will clarify for me if I have got it wrong—in the vision for repurposing the plant and moving to sustainable fuels, it sounds as though the ask is for the UK and Scottish Governments to step in and provide the investment to create the bridge that we have talked about. That is a specific ask for investment. The Scottish Government and I have certainly challenged the UK Government on not investing enough in the green transition. We have said that it simply has not put enough investment in place. Is that what a just transition means—the Government having to cough up money—or do we need something else as well?

Thank you, convener, but my questions have already been answered, so you are off the hook. You brought me in at good moments.

I am also a member of Unite the union.

It is my final question, and I think that it will be a quick one.

I am thinking about energy consumers when I ask this, but it might be relevant to other consumers, too. With regard to customer service and experience of, say, tariffs and so on, I know that companies are moving to artificial intelligence for a lot of that customer interaction. How does that strike you? Is it an opportunity or a worry?

I have one very quick question—

No, I appreciated it, and your nice summing up at the end.

On the workforce, Petroineos says right on the front of its website that it makes a profit of $30 billion annually and has $6 billion in assets. There is an expectation that, with pockets that deep, the company has the capacity to support workers and the community. How are you meeting those obligations without expecting the public purse to pick up the pieces as the situation falls apart?

I, too, will start with project willow. I think that it is somewhat disingenuous to blame policies that were designed to reduce climate emissions for the current troubles. We are in a climate crisis. Global refinery capacity is going to decline, and older and less efficient refineries are of course going to be at risk. I note that you said in your opening remarks that you knew five years ago that this would need to be looked at.

Petroineos has put £1 billion into the refinery over the past 10 years and has not been able to make it a viable proposition, nor has it been able to start the transition to making it a low-carbon site, even though it identified that idea five years ago. What chance does project willow have of success? The Governments simply do not have the deep pockets that are required, so I have trouble believing that they are the factor that is suddenly going to make this work.

Thank you very much for coming in today. I am very grateful for your work, especially on behalf of vulnerable people.

I notice that you have made a series of recommendations to public and private bodies, both substantial and small. I am particularly interested in your recommendation about reforming tariffs to Ofgem, which I would absolutely support. What is the pattern of take-up in that respect? Do you find that public bodies and Governments are more or less open than private bodies? How effectively are the recommendations taken up? Obviously, you are doing a lot of good work and are making excellent recommendations, but how far do they go?