Seòmar agus comataidhean

Good morning. The focus on transformation and change means that you want to do things differently. There is a focus on the entrepreneurial aspect as well as on the need to be streamlined and focused on delivery. One of the things that is mentioned in the entrepreneurship section of the strategy is expansion to all sectors of the tech-scaler model. That model comes with a cost. Expanding it to all sectors will mean that it is not necessarily streamlined or focused, but it will have a cost, which will mean that other things will not happen unless you have additional budget. Will you unpack some of that thinking for us?

I am sure that, at some point, the committee will have to focus on what is not going to be done.

I will move on to questions about resilience in supply chains. “Delivering Economic Prosperity” is a 10-year transformational strategy. However, we are dealing, and will continue to deal, with the consequences of Brexit. We are still living through a pandemic. International security issues and the war in Ukraine will also have global economic consequences. Therefore, a resilient supply chain is more important than ever.

You focused your earlier remarks on ScotWind and the supply chain for new and developing industries. However, during the 10 years of the strategy, an important focus will remain on resilience in the bread-and-butter industries—our foundational economy. I refer to food and drink, engineering and construction, for example. What measures in the strategy will enable Scotland to build a more resilient supply chain overall to help us to ensure that we have economic security?

The committee has heard that, as we go through the various stages of the coronavirus pandemic, the rail industry will have to understand passenger needs better and flex services accordingly. How will you create a railway that is focused on meeting the current needs of rail passengers—I might add that one can only just get a seat on the Linlithgow to Edinburgh rush-hour trains, so already passengers are coming back on to that line—and how will you adapt to the needs of people who could travel by rail but are choosing not to? You talked about the current situation, with more people travelling at the weekends and so on, but we need a step change. How are you planning to attract more people, including those who could use rail but are not doing so, to the railways? I suspect that price might well be an issue.

The committee might want to take that matter further as the situation develops.

Minister, as you will be aware, the committee is interested in both continuity and the opportunity for change. Given that Network Rail is going to be subsumed by Great British Railways, can you update us on discussions between the UK and the Scottish Governments on the development of GBR and how it will operate in Scotland? What responsibility and powers will Scottish ministers have? Clearly, when it comes to the interaction between the new ScotRail and Network Rail on, say, new lines or even new stations to help get commuters out of their cars and on to rail, that relationship will be very important. What continuity and what potential change will there be in that relationship?

You have talked a lot about the return to rail, but I also asked about new passengers and people who could use the railway but are not currently doing so.

Decarbonisation is a key part of the future of the newly publicly owned and controlled railways. Will you give us more detail on implementation of the “Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan”, and on delivery of individual schemes and their likely budgets? I am interested in particular in what you are planning in relation to battery power, which you mentioned earlier. Also, is there any interest in a move to hydrogen at some point?

First, recognising the scale and the speed of the public’s response to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal, I think that they would like to know where the funding is spent geographically. I have been struck by the number of women and children who are fleeing. What is happening for children in particular? I think that Madara Hettiarachchi might be able to answer that question.

I have no interests to declare.

If reports from the BBC are accurate, this looks like a process change to online processing of a remaining restricted rule base for who can come here. Scotland has a specific interest in seasonal workers, but unless it changes them today, the rules that are applied by the UK Government would mean that families of seasonal workers could not come here. Under the very narrow limits of the current provisions, immediate family can come but not if you are a seasonal worker. In your discussions with the Home Office, which I expect should be today—I expect the Home Office to give respect to the Scottish Government and speak to you today—could you specifically raise that issue of, for example, children not being able to come to meet their parents who are seasonal workers here in Scotland? We should press on that specific point to get that change.