Chamber and committees

Our witnesses have already touched on aspects of my question in what has been a really great evidence session so far. I want to ask about the way in which the Scottish Government constructs its budgets. You will be aware of the recommendations of the joint working group between the Parliament and the Government, which resulted in colour coding of some budgets, which Professor Ulph alluded to earlier. How far does that approach now need to deepen within the Scottish Government, so that we get the transparency that you have been describing and clarity on the impact of carbon on certain budget decisions and how that might translate into long-term action? Have you any brief reflections on the Government’s progress on its journey towards carbon proofing its work and its considerations?

I presume that that outturn will also tell us about, say, the public sector’s capacity to deliver on low-carbon infrastructure.

I ask you to hold that thought while I move on to ask David Hawkey and Emily Nurse for their reflections on how we got here—on whether public bodies, the Scottish Government and the civil service could have done things differently on the 2020 target. Did certain policies fall off the cliff, perhaps because they were not being developed fast enough between the setting of the 2019 target and where we have got to today? Your brief reflections on that would be useful. Perhaps David could start.

Do the witnesses from the SFC and the IPPR think that the Scottish Government needs more information in order to devise the first carbon budget? Is any crucial information lacking?

In many ways, it feels like we have been looking at only half the picture. We have been looking at climate and carbon but we have not been looking in sufficient detail at the action, the planning and the fiscal environment to deliver those actions.

Are there any other thoughts on that?

That is useful.

I have a question about open access operators, such as Lumo and Grand Union, which are coming in and utilising space in the rail network. Will those contracts continue?

I absolutely welcome that. I suppose that it is a question of whether we trust the vaping industry, given where it has been and what it has developed into, to work in the spirit of the regulations that are being put in place and to establish a genuine market for rechargeable, reusable vapes that might have a role to play in smoking cessation but which are not more widely available to a market that is huge and growing. I have my doubts that smart people somewhere will not find a way around what is proposed by targeting the price point. People on the boards of vaping companies will be thinking, “Let’s go for the price point—that way, we’ll keep our market alive.” Why would they not do that?

That is great. When will the draft circular economy 2030 route map be finalised? Lorna Slater provided an earlier version of that, which the committee saw in January. It would be useful to know when that whole picture can be finalised and brought forward.

I am curious about how this relates to where we currently are with deposit return schemes. I presume that the EPR regulation also incorporates bottles, cans and glass. I am interested in looking at that and getting your views on it. Do you see there inevitably being a DRS across the UK in the run up to 2028?

I have a brief comment, convener. I am really looking forward to Zero Waste Scotland growing into the role. It has been a long time coming, and I think that it will enable Zero Waste Scotland, as an organisation, to drive forward progress in the circular economy in a way that is fully accountable. I look forward to Zero Waste Scotland attending the committee in the future.