Chamber and committees

I have a final question, which arises from the deputy convener’s earlier question. The remit of the CIS will be, as the Government says, to help councils reach

“net zero and to embed climate impact”

in decision making. We have just heard about the importance of private capital to enable that. Do you anticipate that the CIS remit will also be about helping to leverage private capital?

Good morning, panel. The committee felt that it would help to bolster co-ordination and the provision of skills if we had what is being called a climate intelligence service. We have heard from the Government that it is in active discussions with COSLA and the Improvement Service around establishing the CIS and that it plans to establish the service later this year. When is it likely to be operational, where will it be located and how will local authorities draw on the facilities available?

Gail Macgregor correctly predicted my follow-up question, which is on cost. You said that the Scottish Government will fund 50 per cent of the cost of setting up the service. Do we know how much it will cost to set up and what the on-going running costs will be? You said that the Scottish Government will fund 50 per cent of the set-up costs, but who will fund the other 50 per cent and who will fund the on-going costs?

I want to be clear about who will do this operationally. To go back to my earlier question, will the service be based in Edinburgh and who will staff it? Will there be new posts that you will recruit for, or will people be transferred from other council areas?

I will press you, cabinet secretary. What is your view? You are the cabinet secretary. Should there be—

Thank you.

I have a final question—

Will it be this year?

I will stick with the energy strategy. Cabinet secretary, you have inherited a draft energy strategy that sets a presumption against North Sea oil and gas. Earlier on, Ragne Low conceded that there is no plan underlying that at the moment for how to deliver that or to mitigate the consequences of that decision.

The context of my question is a report that is out today that shows that an overwhelming majority of people think that the UK should meet its oil and gas demand from domestic production rather than import it. What is your view, cabinet secretary? Do you think that there should be no new exploration and production in the North Sea?

You have talked about potential. I ask you again, cabinet secretary: when will that potential be realised such that the renewables that you have discussed take over the production of base-load?