Chamber and committees

I will come back to Professor Skea on the financing issue that Gordon MacDonald raised. Previous witnesses have discussed the difficulty of raising the required capital as being a major barrier to a just transition, and have cited lack of policy certainty and investable propositions as being other main barriers.

In your letter to the Government, you talked about the need for deliverable plans, and in the response to the draft report you talked about the need for private finance and being clear about just transition opportunities. Do you want to say a wee bit more about that? Could you relate that to Grangemouth and where financial leverage could come from?

We visited the Ineos site and had a positive discussion with Ineos about the future of the site and various commitments that have been made. Some of that is dependent on the Acorn project and other commitments that are being made. On the financing of changes at the Ineos site and the money that needs to be drawn down into the community, what do you see as being the barriers to raising the type of investment that is needed, and how do we overcome those?

That brings us to the end of the evidence session. I thank the witnesses for their time this morning; it is much appreciated. I now move the meeting into private session.

Finally, you acknowledged that net zero has been moved to a Cabinet position, but energy has gone to a different cabinet secretary, so there has been a division of those two responsibilities. Is that a strength? Do you anticipate that that will help to build consensus in the Cabinet, or do you see that creating tensions?

The inquiry is into a just transition for the Grangemouth area, which is a recognition that the major petrochemical site in Grangemouth has a big impact on our climate targets and our emissions. Is Bankers for Net Zero involved in that area? Is it more focused on SMEs, or is it looking at the bigger challenges that we have with industry?

Thank you very much for your evidence this morning. It is much appreciated.

It is a draft plan so there will be a consultation phase following the publication of the plan. Heather Buchanan, what statements would you like to see in the draft plan?

I have a similar question around the draft plan for James Close. We have heard about the Grangemouth future industry board during our inquiry. That largely comprises public bodies that have been brought together to co-ordinate things. Last week, Scottish Enterprise, when we asked how GFIB ensures collaboration with the private sector as well as the public sector, said that that former aspect could be reviewed.

What are your views on the draft plan? What would you like to see in it? Have you, or any of the other witnesses, had any engagement with the Grangemouth future industry board?

I invite Ben Howarth to respond to the question. I will then bring in Michelle Thomson, who has an interest in some of the issues that have been raised, followed by Colin Beattie.

Ben, my initial question was around the appetite for green finance in Scotland. How do you see the picture developing in Scotland?

Following COP26, there were lots of investment opportunities and lots of talk about what we would do next, but those things have not been realised as much as you would like. What has been worst: what is happening in Ukraine, other external factors, a lack of commitment or a lack of leadership? What would you say are the barriers where we are not seeing things happen at the pace that we would like to see?

Good morning and welcome to the ninth meeting in 2023 of the Economy and Fair Work Committee. Under item 1, I ask members to agree to take consideration of the evidence received for our work on the disability employment gap and next steps in private at future meetings.

Members indicated agreement.