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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 3 July 2025
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Displaying 2999 contributions

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Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Appointment of the Chair of Environmental Standards Scotland

Meeting date: 18 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

Would you say that the resources that you currently have as an organisation are adequate?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 18 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

I will move on to lotting. I understand the interaction between the two things, but there is a concern that new owners could just combine land that has been lotted under a ministerial decision. Concern was raised around natural capital projects, with major investors perhaps seeing small parcels of land and deciding to buy them. What is your answer to that concern?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Appointment of the Chair of Environmental Standards Scotland

Meeting date: 18 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

Thank you.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 18 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

However, if good practice has been stuck to, you would not envisage that being part of a compensation claim.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 18 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

Do you believe that that issue has been largely resolved or is in the process of being resolved and that a legislative change is therefore not required?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 18 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

Yes, I am content to agree to it. We are where we are. However, there is a risk of the regulation having to be brought back again, for the Government to amend the amendment on the basis of there having been another international conversation. It seems like a bit of a waste of time.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Appointment of the Chair of Environmental Standards Scotland

Meeting date: 18 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

I was struck by your initial comments, Richard, about the big challenges in making sure that there is a climate change plan that delivers for Scotland’s potential role under the proposed natural environment bill and around unanswered questions about environmental governance. However, there is a whole range of other issues as well. You mentioned seal scarers in fish farms, and the whole raft of regulatory reform analysis that Environmental Standards Scotland performs.

How challenging is that landscape at the moment? Week in, week out, I come across demands for reform of regulation and questions about enforcement. Most recently, we heard about the treatment of battery waste at recycling centres, which is an issue that raises questions about whether the regulations are adequate.

In a landscape in which there is such a strong demand for ESS’s services, how do you equip the organisation to deal with the breadth of that demand, to analyse whether regulations are being enforced appropriately and to consider whether they are fit for purpose in the first place?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 18 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

I have a final question. The committee has been looking at the bill for quite some time, during which other legislation has been progressing through Parliament, including the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024. Is the bill also an opportunity to address some loopholes and issues in other acts that relate to land use? In particular, there are concerns about a loophole in the aforementioned act in relation to the area that is subject to grouse moor licensing. Clearly, some such issues were not foreseen when the bill was drafted. Given that we are in the last year of the parliamentary session, is the cabinet secretary considering whether the bill would be an appropriate vehicle to try and tidy up anything that exists in that space? [Laughter.]

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 18 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

Okay.

Meeting of the Parliament

Great British Energy Bill

Meeting date: 6 February 2025

Mark Ruskell

Scottish Greens will back the legislative consent motion at decision time, but I want to sound a note of caution, because we have come through a period in which devolution in Scotland and Wales faced unprecedented attacks from the previous Westminster Government. Intergovernmental ways of working in the UK are still largely based on precedent and good will, rather than being codified in legislation as they are in most other countries that have a devolved context. Ways of working that are based on principles of respect, such as the Sewel convention, have been seriously undermined and contested in recent years to a point where they have become almost meaningless.

In the context of the Great British Energy Bill, I welcome the changes that the Scottish Government has secured to embed a more consultative approach between the Administrations, but there is still a danger of overreach from a future Westminster Government. There will be a role for this Parliament to bring transparency to those relationships, and the convener of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee made some important points about the role of the committees in that.

When we reflect on the evidence that the committee received, there is clearly a sense that the Labour Government is working more collaboratively with Scottish ministers, which is very welcome. However, despite all the bluster from Anas Sarwar at First Minister’s question time today, when I asked Michael Shanks at committee about the role of GB Energy in promoting nuclear projects, he sounded pretty reasonable. He said:

“Clearly, we have a political difference on nuclear”.

He went on:

“there are no plans and there will be no engagement on that issue, because it is clear that the Scottish Government would block those applications.

That is the legitimate position that the Scottish Government has taken on that planning matter, and I do not think that there is a confrontation or a conflict on that.”—[Official Report, Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, 21 January 2025; c 53.]

That was real clarity—no new nuclear in Scotland. That is what Labour head office says, and that is probably the best news that Labour back benchers have had all week.

However, Stephen Kerr raised a valid question, because it is still not really clear what GB Energy will do in Scotland, how many jobs it will create and how long it will take to do that. I take on board Sarah Boyack’s point that it is early days, but I note for clarity that there is a huge record of success in the development of renewable energy in Scotland, which is bringing down bills and keeping the lights on across the UK. For example, the onshore wind sector deal, which the Greens were proud to work on with SNP ministers during our time in government, is now starting to help to double the generation capacity from onshore wind in Scotland by 2030. With that will come opportunities for community benefit and community ownership, and that is real energy security.