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It will be out by the end of this year—I cannot be any more precise than that.

However, we also have our hydrogen investment proposition, which I published last week and launched at our hydrogen supply chain event for stakeholders in Edinburgh. The proposition is quite important, because a lot of the initial investment and opportunities around hydrogen will be driven largely by export potential rather than by domestic demand. There is huge interest in Scotland’s capability to produce large quantities of green hydrogen not just for our own domestic consumption but for export potential. The UK Government has an objective of producing 5GW between now and 2030; Scotland alone is looking to do 5GW, and there is a lot of interest from mainland European countries that will need to import green hydrogen and are therefore looking at import opportunities.

The investment proposition and supply chain event were important in starting to set out Scotland’s potential opportunity with regard to manufacturing and producing green hydrogen for our own needs and for export. We published the proposition last week, and I will publish the action plan by the end of this year. I cannot give you a specific date, but it will certainly be by the end of the year.

I can imagine the reaction that placing more duties on local authorities would receive. However, I think that it is a fair point. A lot of what local authorities are focused on is their direct corporate responsibility in looking to decarbonise and change their processes to make them less carbon intensive, whatever that may be. Is there a need for us to get them to think a bit wider than that? There are some local authorities that are better at it than others. If you look at some of the things that some local authorities are doing around transport issues, for example in active travel, EV charging infrastructure and the 20-minute neighbourhoods—all those things have a positive effect in the community. They are not direct corporate matters, but they have wider community and environmental benefits.

There is a fair amount being taken forward by local authorities that goes beyond just their direct corporate buildings and vehicles, but I think that there is a fair challenge there in questioning whether there is more that we could get local authorities to do. I am a bit hesitant to put more statutory targets around them at this stage, given the new statutory targets that come in in two months’ time on their own reductions targets.

We have the regional partnerships for transport planning, and taking that forward is then down to individual local authorities. Some local authorities are more proactive and better than others at pursuing transport planning. Is there more? We gave a commitment to review in this parliamentary session the structure for transport planning and to look at whether it is the optimal model to take forward. We want to do that co-productively with local authorities to make sure that the structure that we put in place reflects what they believe is the best approach, alongside what we are trying to achieve with transport planning. I would say that the model that we have now is maybe the optimal model, but there is scope for us to look at how we can improve it. Some local authorities are making good progress.

Through a combination of the bill proposals and our waste route map consultation, which closed just last month, we have set out some of the measures that we look to take forward to tackle the issue that Ms Lennon has raised. Those look at how we can transition much more effectively to a circular economy, how to increase reuse and recycling rates and how to modernise and improve the way in which waste and recycling services are provided.

Our approach will be a combination of the route map, which we will take forward with local authorities to help to drive forward improvements in waste management and recycling, and the circular economy bill, through which we will look at putting in place statutory provisions on targets and approaches that should be taken to help to reduce waste and increase recycling rates.

There is a requirement on local authorities, as part of the procurement process, to consider how they can ensure that they are taking an approach that is in line with our net zero ambitions and the requirements on them to meet net zero. Can we try to do more? I see companies becoming increasingly mindful in recognising their carbon footprint or contribution to tackling climate change. Some of that is feeding through into the procurement process, in which they are highlighting that they can do things much more efficiently and effectively. However, procurement has an important part to play in helping to encourage more of that, and local authorities, particularly in relation to their contracts, have an important role in helping to ensure that that happens.

I am not sure whether we make specific requirements on procurement as part of the circular economy bill as it is proposed at the moment, but I am more than happy to check that.

We are looking at whether it would go beyond that time. Part of that would be into any financial settlement for the next financial year, which starts in April next year, which is why it goes up to March 2023.

I am not entirely sure where that stands with regard to the emergency budget review. However, what comes into ScotWind might well be way in excess of what the Crown Estate had been expecting and it might well be that the level that you have indicated is not necessary.

You raise an important issue, which is the need to make sure that we do more to help to educate people and ensure that the information is available. As you are aware, a variety of schemes presently operate. Home Energy Scotland is the main point of contact for impartial advice and information as it stands now. There is a single point of contact to get the information and advice that individual households may be looking for.

Of course, we are also taking forward the development of our national public energy agency, which will have a clear role in helping to support decarbonisation and energy efficiency work, in making sure that there is a much more consistent approach across the country, and in bringing together a range of stakeholders engaged in this process.

Home Energy Scotland is the main point of contact for independent advice, but I expect that, as we take forward the development of our public energy agency, it will have a clear role in helping to support households and giving advice and information, as well as helping to co-ordinate the development of heat decarbonisation across local authorities, public sector organisations and the private housing sector.

There is no set formula to say, “This is how you should do it and you should have a net zero forum or you have to have a local citizens assembly”. They all have a role to play. It is for individual local authorities to deploy those options in a way that they think will best reflect their local community. The challenge is how you reach out to engage people who might not necessarily engage in the normal processes that local authorities have, through community councils, area forums and so on. I can think of it based only on my constituency. There is a challenge in trying to get people to engage in some of the wider consultation exercises that the local authority undertakes.

The key thing that I often hear from constituents is that they feel at times that some of the engagement is tokenistic, that they are going through a process and there is a preconceived view on what the outcome will be and it does not matter what the community has to say about it or what their feedback is on what will happen. I do not think that is necessarily always the case, but there are times when communities feel that that is the case. That can make folk feel quite disengaged and disempowered and as though it is not a worthwhile exercise.

The key thing for local authorities is that, whatever engagement structure they put in place, there is clear cause and effect and they can demonstrate that to communities. If they say, “This is the issue that we are trying to address. These are options that we are considering. We are looking for your views and your feedback on those,” then they should be able to demonstrate how that feedback and engagement has had an impact on the decision that has been arrived at. That engagement in communicating with local communities is important to make people feel as though they have had a valuable input to the process and that it has had an impact on the outcome. That is about demonstrating how the process affected the final decision that has been made. It is a challenge that lots of local authorities face in trying to engage people and wider stakeholders in the process.

There are a number of things that sit alongside the new deal and those are the statutory requirements that local authorities have. They have gone from having had to “have regard to” tackling climate change to setting out plans on how they intend to achieve net zero and tackle climate change and now also setting out targets for when they expect to decarbonise particular local government responsibilities. There is a regulatory framework that clearly requires local authorities to set out the actions that they are taking and the date when they expect to achieve net zero in different areas of their responsibility. That combination of partnership through the new deal and the regulatory framework gives me confidence that it will ensure that net zero is a central part of the thinking.

In fairness—you may have heard this in your evidence—it is very clear to me from my discussions with colleagues in local government that net zero is a high priority for them. The way in which they go about it is different in different local authorities, for good reason very often, but I am confident that the regulatory framework can help to drive it forward.