Chamber and committees

I have a question for Ian Hill to finish off. Given the need to increase the number of people working in the sector, does a bit of work need to be done to raise awareness among and understanding of the public and private sector workforce in the net zero environment and the opportunities in that respect? Perhaps we are not doing enough to highlight those things.

Good morning, Mr Hebblethwaite. You say that the new regime has not changed the rate of pay, but what is important is how much is in someone’s take-home pay at the end of the month, which has significantly changed. I think that the people who have been affected would vehemently disagree with you.

The deputy convener made the point that, when the annual accounts were signed on 10 December 2021, you must have been a viable business, because it is, of course, illegal to trade insolvent. Three months later, you are asking us to accept that P&O got into such a financial crisis in that time that you had to let 800 staff go. Is that what you are asking us to accept?

I have no relevant interests to declare.

I think that you will find that, when you break the law, that is illegal.

I am sorry, Mr Hebblethwaite, but I cannot accept that you did not consider all eventualities. You must have known that what you are about to do would have significant pushback. Time will tell what outcome you are driving for, but I do not believe that you thought that it would be acceptable.

Perhaps I can bring in Grant Tierney to answer my question and also talk about the financing of net zero. Does all of that lie with the private sector? Where does the public sector sit with regard to financing the upskilling of the workforce?

In international businesses of the size of P&O Ferries, it is not unusual for finances to swing from positive to negative in the numbers that you suggest. I go back again to the point that you could not trade insolvent so, in December 2021, P&O was a viable business. Why has it collapsed so much in three months?

Which is illegal.

Good morning, panel. Ian Hughes’s reply to my colleague Jackie Dunbar’s question raises an issue for me. The Edinburgh Climate Change Institute has highlighted a skills gap in relation to the financing of green projects, suggesting that there is perhaps a lack of skills with regard to developing business cases. Would you comment on that, Mr Hughes? Given that most of the finance in that respect would be cascaded through local authorities, do you think that we need to examine that area?

That was helpful, Mr Hughes. From what you are saying, new skills are required and are being developed, and we are learning as we go on the net zero agenda. Is there enough interaction between the private and public sectors to ensure that the outcomes will be as we would want them to be?

Thank you.

I have a question for Martyn Raine. Given that the retrofitting of homes has been mentioned, I might as well use it as an example. The Scottish Government has set a target of retrofitting a million homes with heat pumps between 2025 and 2030—or 200,000 heat pumps per year. I suppose that that reflects how much workforce demand will increase as a result of that activity. Are enough resources in place to ensure that we have an upskilled workforce to allow us to reach such targets?