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Cabinet secretary, you will be aware that we are conducting an inquiry into the scale, shape and importance of local government in delivering net zero. We have heard evidence from local government about how it is working with the private sector and about local authorities’ concerns about their budgets.

Much of your portfolio budget will end up going to local government, and it will probably be used in three different ways. First, local authorities will distribute money on behalf of the Scottish Government. Secondly, they will bid for funds to carry out net zero projects that are directed by the Scottish Government. Thirdly—I am not sure whether this exists—discretionary funding for net zero projects might be given to local authorities to do what they think is best for their area.

I am not suggesting that you can answer this question off the top of your head—although I would welcome it if you can. Can you give us an indication of how much of your budget sits in those three areas? It would be helpful if your officials worked with the committee to get a sense of how much of the budget is going to local government in those ways. Ideally, we would like to know that for the coming year but, if you cannot say that, perhaps you could tell us about the current year. Is that possible? It would involve some work, but it would be helpful because of the importance of local government in meeting net zero targets.

Will you give us an assessment of where the constraints are for inward supply of food to Scotland? Bearing in mind Brexit and the Covid constraints, what is the Government’s current take on that?

I will pursue the issue a bit more. Supply chain development brings resilience as well as opportunity. With regard to the Government’s activity, will you share with the committee how much of a step change you think there is across the public sector in embedding the importance of supply chain development across other departments, as well as your own? For example, will you share more about supporting the supply chain development in the NHS?

Are there also private sector opportunities, such as for heat pumps in relation to net zero? To what extent do such opportunities exist, and do you think that our agencies are geared up to keep a laser-like focus on supply chain development?

I know that it is virtual, but I can feel your passion there. When we started our inquiry, there were real constraints on around supermarkets and food supply, so I would appreciate your take on where things currently stand in relation to the resilience of our food supply.

You also talked about carbon miles and what powers we have in Scotland to make that part of any public sector contract. Globally, there are movements in that direction, but it would have implications for food and drink in particular. I am interested in that.

I thank you for your note on the construction supply chain. Cement has come up a number of times. The enormous amount of energy that is required for cement production has implications for net zero, so innovation would be needed. The constraints in the construction supply chain during the past year are another reason why we need resilience in that regard.

Perhaps you can talk about those products: food and drink, and cement. You already mentioned timber, but if you want to add anything on that, you can do so.

I have a separate question, convener. Do you want to bring in Mark Ruskell on this issue, or can I move on?

We have heard about the importance of speed and scale in collaboration between the public sector, councils and private companies when it comes to co-investment in net zero schemes. The committee has heard that that will be key to delivering net zero. At the same time, the Economy and Fair Work Committee has heard about potential risk aversion in councils as a result of the centralising Subsidy Control Bill, which is going through Westminster. We need subsidy control, but we also need to ensure that the pace, ambition and clarity, as has been mentioned, and what can be delivered in local areas—[Inaudible.]—developed by the Scottish Government. That would be helpful in pushing ahead with the collaboration and co-investment of councils and businesses in net zero schemes at the speed and scale that we need.

I put that first of all to Tracy Black and then to Barry McCulloch.

Tim, I am very interested in what you said about looking at this from a systems point of view and not looking just at the separate sectors. Heat in buildings and the role of councils are the focus of a lot of our interest, but your point about the importance of looking at energy production and distribution as a package, as well as looking at what is useful in houses, is an interesting one. Is that the area that you were thinking about?

I will also ask my other question now, because I am conscious of the time. Will you talk about pension fund investment? People have said that the local authority pension funds could and should be investing in this area. What needs to change in order to encourage that? Is there a danger that the easier option is carbon offsetting and natural capital investment, as opposed to developing a partnership for decarbonisation?

Thank you; it would be good to hear back from you on that.

Barry, it would be good to hear from you with regard to small businesses that might be doing joint projects with councils that involve some kind of subsidy or incentive from the council. How do we avoid risk aversion for competition and subsidy issues?

Thank you.

Thank you. I am conscious of the time, so I will move on to Sandy Begbie. You were talking about potential equity release products and packages. You could perhaps see a mortgage modification product in the private sector, but in the public sector, when looking at local authorities and the securitisation of assets, are you looking at some kind of—dare I say it—private sector share in publicly owned stock? That would be a massive change for many local authorities, but do you see a risk-based approach on a city deal basis as a potential solution? Sandy, do you have any comments on that or on pensions?