Chamber and committees

In recent times, we have seen some controversy with information sharing or companies taking over information completely and utterly, including the national health service south of the border using the US company Palantir for patient medical information. If we were to consent to the motion on the LCM, what impact would that have on medical data sharing and the involvement of large companies in such data?

There was a lot of opposition.

My first question is for Mr Duncan, who talked a fair bit about the fact that there seems to be a lack of communication with smaller businesses about the just transition. He and I had the pleasure of visiting businesses in Rosemount a fair while ago—it was maybe over a year ago—and top of the agenda for those businesses at that point was the cost of energy.

Mr Duncan, you also talked about possible funding changes. On the point about communication, do you think that we need to get it across to businesses that the just transition and the changes that we are going to make can play a part in reducing energy costs, which were causing them a great amount of grief when we visited them? That grief is probably greater now.

Thank you. You are saying that such sharing is on a positive basis and that folk have to give consent, but would it be possible, using regulation, to change that, or would that require primary legislative change? I will tell you what I am driving at. The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee highlighted the fact that

“it remains the case that the Secretary of State may make regulations within the devolved competence, acting alone. There is no requirement for the Secretary of State to obtain consent or to consult with the Scottish Ministers before exercising the power.”

Could that positive aspect of folk consenting to data sharing be changed using regulation, or would that require primary legislative change to turn all of that on its head?

Since 1952.

Does Mr O’Hara have comments?

You believe that the railway is important to gain modal shift. I am going to go back into history again. It is a fair time since the Formartine to Buchan line closed, but it closed to passengers before it closed to freight.

We got the survey from Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce on, I think, Monday. I have not had time to read it all yet, but I am sure that it will make interesting reading for us all. Thank you.

Grand. I have a quick final question, convener.

What work has been done in co-operation with you both on the positive or negative impact—I suspect that it would be positive—of the reopening of railway stations in the north-east and beyond, or even of the timetabling changes that I mentioned? Has the FSB done any studies of the reopenings at Kintore and Laurencekirk, for example? Might that work be something that your organisations could do in collaboration to see what benefits there are from the reopening of stations, and any disbenefits?