Chamber and committees

Okay, that is fine. Where we have got to with this is that there is a question about where you draw the line. You could go down to the nth degree but there is perhaps a point where that information does not add as much value in some areas as in other areas.

You have worked within the spirit of the ESS recommendation, you have adopted most of the recommendations, but there is still a question around the sticky scope 3 emissions. I am interested in how much progress you can make in bottoming out that question between 2025 and 2027 and what you can report back to Parliament.

It is clear that some areas—such as bus franchises, which you mentioned—look pretty easy to bottom out in terms of scope 3 emissions. I will add another one, a favourite of mine: road maintenance. I see that Andrew Mortimer is looking at me as I say that, but I think that, with road maintenance, it is fairly easy to understand the data around aggregates and some of the reporting in that sector. Getting verified data in that area that can be included in scope 3 reporting might be low-hanging fruit for councils, and might be easier than, say, doing so in the area of catering, where you have to try to add up all the ingredients, take account of all the suppliers and so on.

I am interested in how much progress we can expect to see in the areas that you think are a bit too hard right now and we need to go back and think again about. Are there some obvious areas that councils are not reporting on at the moment, such as road maintenance? The data around road maintenance is there, and it is quite a big area of carbon emissions and public spend. It would not be too hard to report on that area, and there probably would be some value in having an understanding of the scope 3 emissions, as that could form part of the decision making.

Right—but it is challenging.

Do you think that it is worth doing?

Okay. Jamie McGrandles or Mark Roberts, do you want to come in?

I would like to see the data on that.

Cabinet secretary, you mentioned councils reporting on scope 3 emissions under the different categories. How many councils have reported on franchises? What percentage?

You quoted from a list, I think.

I have two quick questions. One is about the former Prime Minister’s announcement on the phase-out of fossil fuel-powered cars and whether that has had any bearing on UK policy. Is UK policy pretty much predictable, with no changes in the measures that we are talking about today, or has the then PM’s announcement introduced some uncertainty in that regard?

That is a level of detail that will not come out of the bill at the moment. The expectation is for the Climate Change Committee to produce a pathway, which is more high level. Are you saying that there is a need for more detail up front? Obviously, you cannot provide the final plan, but there is a space where there is a need for more detail. Is that what I am getting from the panel? Does anybody want to come back on that point?

It might not be only the Climate Change Committee that raises concerns. You, Environmental Standards Scotland and others might also do that.