Chamber and committees

The just transition partnership told us that it was concerned about lack of transparency around the funding of projects. It raised concerns that there were no mechanisms for accountability to the representative bodies of the people of the area: the local authorities. Do you accept that that is a valid criticism?

I have just one more question for Fergus Mutch. I do not know whether you saw the breaking news this morning. It looks as though the oil refinery at Grangemouth is likely to close by spring 2025. That would be a huge blow to Scotland’s industrial base. It currently accounts for 4 per cent of national gross domestic product and 8 per cent of our manufacturing base. Clearly, that will have a knock-on impact on the north-east economy. I appreciate that the news has just broken, but do you have any reflections on the impact that it will have on the businesses of your members and on the wider just transition debate?

My declaration relates to item 4 on the agenda. As a member of the cross-party group on building bridges with Israel, I visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories in 2018. The cost of that was met by the embassy of Israel in the United Kingdom.

I have some questions on the just transition fund. I will initially go to Mr Munro from the Scottish National Investment Bank. When the Scottish Government set up SNIB, a £2 billion fund was proposed to be paid over a number of years, and the just transition fund is £500 million. To be clear, is the £500 million additional to the £2 billion?

I am concerned, minister, that you are founding your arguments on a statement in your legislative consent memorandum that is not sustainable, but let us move on to the substance of the issue, if we can.

There are many repressive regimes in the world. There are many countries in the middle east, for example, that have terrible track records when it comes to the rights of women, the LGBT community and religious minorities and that repress free speech. Countries such as Iran are particular examples of that, and countries such as China have deplorable human rights records. Are you aware of any campaigns to boycott, divest and sanction many of those countries?

Which one?

Right. I am just trying to get some precision on the dates that you are referring to.

Thank you, convener. Yes, I have a particular interest in fly-tipping. I have a member’s bill in preparation on the issue and I welcome in particular section 10 of the bill, which places an enhanced duty of care on the householder.

I will ask two questions, convener, but I will ask them at the same time, if that is all right. A lot of the questions that I would have asked have already been covered.

I will direct my first question to Councillor Macgregor from COSLA. Fixed penalty notices currently sit at £200, and I think that we all accept that is nowhere near the level that it needs to be to act as a deterrent. In its strategy—although it is not in the bill—the Scottish Government is suggesting increasing the penalty to £500. Is that enough, and is there some mechanism whereby the money raised could be recycled into greater enforcement? How practical is it to try to ring fence money raised from fixed penalty notices to deal with the resource issue?

My second question goes back to what Drew Murdoch was just saying. When I ran my consultation on fly-tipping, one of the biggest issues that people raised with me was how restrictions on access to recycling centres were one of the drivers of fly-tipping. We have seen councils, usually because of budgetary conditions, reducing opening hours in recycling centres, closing them entirely or introducing queuing or appointment systems. That is not in any way an excuse for people fly-tipping, but you can see why—human nature being what it is—if you make it more difficult for people to legally dispose of material, they are more likely to fly-tip. To what extent is that a factor?

Good morning, panel. I have a particular interest in fly-tipping, on which I am preparing a member’s bill. I very much welcome section 10, on the enhanced duty on householders; that is good progress.

I have three fly-tipping questions on which I would like your view; I will ask them together. First, we know that fly-tipping is serious and that it is as much an urban issue as it is a rural issue. There is concern about the level of fixed-penalty notices, which is currently set at £200. There is nothing in the bill suggesting that that should be increased, but the Scottish Government’s fly-tipping strategy, published in June, suggested increasing the fixed penalty to £500. I am interested to get your views on whether that would be a sufficient deterrent or not.

Secondly, when I ran my consultation on fly-tipping, people responded very strongly that the more barriers we put in the way of the legal disposal of waste, the more we were likely to drive up rates of fly-tipping. If councils are, for example, reducing access to recycling centres, as many are currently doing due to budgetary issues, will that see more fly-tipping? I would be interested in your views on that.

Thirdly, and lastly, is there anything that is not in the bill that would be useful to you when it comes to trying to address the problem of fly-tipping?

Thank you.