Chamber and committees

Elliott, do you want to come in?

So you want it to be accessible but at the same time your initial feedback was that you want more detail and credibility, particularly for the energy sector just transition plan. You have recently responded on—we have heard about this today—the need for more information on fuel poverty, ownership of community assets, investment and so on.

The committee is making recommendations and is having an open dialogue with you about your scrutiny and advice role. The challenge is that there is a tendency for the Government put everything but the kitchen sink into a document and to try to capture what we already know, whereas we really want the just transition plan to capture what has to be done differently and in what areas. Would you like to comment on that?

Finally, I come to Professor Skea. There is a lot of international interest in Scotland’s approach to just transition. Is there a danger that if our definition of what the energy strategy needs to cover is too broad, and therefore what the just transition needs to cover is too broad—both on the supply side and the demand side—we might endanger the impact? The point is to have an impact and make changes for communities. Could you give me your reflections on lessons learned and where this will go in the future?

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. I will direct my first question, which is an introductory question, to Dr Gary Fuller and Gavin Thomson. I want to get an understanding of what you consider to be the main sources of air pollution and their impact on human health and the environment, and of how concentrations of pollutants have changed in recent decades. I am sure that you could give a whole lecture on that, Dr Fuller, but it would be helpful if you could just give us a brief introduction.

I turn to Shauna Clarke. I want to ask about Edinburgh’s experience of working with different local authorities or agencies. I represent a constituency that has the biggest number of people of any constituency in the whole of Scotland, and they commute. Clearly, if you are trying to tackle transport and traffic in Edinburgh, that involves looking at the situation not just in Edinburgh but in surrounding areas.

How closely are you aligned with the regional transport partnerships when it comes to the transportation network and reducing traffic into Edinburgh? We are struggling to get basic things such as bus hubs that can take people on the M8 from Whitburn and the M9 from Winchburgh. Those are fairly obvious things. Is there enough co-ordination between the different agencies and those of you who are working on air pollution?

I will come to Stuart Hay first and then go to Gavin Thomson. Are sufficient powers available to local authorities and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to ensure compliance with the existing rules and regulations? Has there been adequate enforcement action to meet legal air quality limit values, or do you agree that having a focus on continuous improvement might be better than focusing completely on whether we enforce compliance with existing rules?

I ask other witnesses to indicate whether they want to come in.

Thank you.

My first question is for Kenny Bisset. Kenny, you said that what worked was working with others. Can you tell us what others you mean and explain how local authorities are working with the Scottish Government and its agencies to deliver CAFS2? What does working with others look like, and with whom would you like to work more?

So that work is really being done internally in Fife Council.

I will move to Dom Callaghan. The previous panel talked about the fact that all types of air pollution cause an issue, not just the types of air pollution for which there are standards and regulations for compliance. Is there a danger that you spend so much time trying to meet the regulations and standards that less emphasis is put on continuous improvement? We probably need to work on continuous improvement of air quality. Do you have views on that?