Chamber and committees

Good morning, cabinet secretary. I am aware and appreciate that, compared with other portfolios, your budget is more subject to market conditions that are outwith your control.

Bearing in mind my previous remarks that market conditions have more of an impact on your portfolio than others, and sticking on green hydrogen, one issue is how we in Scotland benefit from the potential jobs. Will your budget be allocated for attracting inward investment, depending on market conditions—obviously, we have European and other competition—or will you allocate funding to help Scotland-based companies to produce hydrogen in order to secure jobs as part of the just transition from the traditional energy sector?

That is very helpful for the wider context of the committee’s work.

My final question is on budget. Given green hydrogen production’s reliance on offshore and onshore wind, is it fair to say that spending on the enablers for your hydrogen strategy to be effective is not within your budget? The prohibitors could be skills, planning consent—as you have talked about—and domestic company development, so that Scottish companies can develop capacity. Those areas lie in the economy portfolio. What confidence do you have that the priorities are there for that spend to enable the energy generation that we have talked about? I suspect that those budgets are under more pressure than your budget.

I will stay with you, Claire. What opportunities do you see in the draft energy strategy and just transition plan, which was published yesterday? You talked about issues for SMEs. Perhaps the committee needs to consider those, given our focus on the just transition. It will be really helpful if you give us your initial reaction to the strategy.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. I will cover the outlook for investment for businesses, looking at current constraints, but also at what you see as opportunities.

I will stay with Jon O’Sullivan from EDF for now. There are issues around the UK autumn statement, the latest support for businesses in energy, and yesterday’s announcement on business support for energy in particular. I do not know the implications of energy use for you as energy companies yourselves. It would be helpful to get a sense of that—or do you more see the knock-on cost impact in the supply chain? What are the current constraints around business investment for you as a company?

I will put this question to Jonny Clark. Are there any direct impacts of the increasing energy costs and so on for you as a company, or are they more from the supply chain?

That is interesting. We are also looking at different sectors, such as hospitality, where there is a different impact.

I will put this question to Claire, before I move on to opportunities. Based on your membership, what is the current status of constraints in relation to investment?

Thank you. James, do you want to comment? Have you had a chance to reflect on the draft energy strategy and just transition plan that was published yesterday? I want to give you an opportunity to talk about investment outlook opportunities and anything that you want to pick up on in relation to current investment constraints for your business.

I know that my colleagues want to cover more skills and training issues. If it is okay with you, convener, I will ask Jonny Clark to comment on the energy strategy. Jonny, is there anything that you want to say about the investment outlook and what comes through on that in the strategy?

Finally, I ask Jon O’Sullivan to reflect on the opportunities for investment, perhaps informed by the energy strategy, if he has had a chance to look at it.