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I am looking at the detail that we have been provided with on SAF production across the UK. From what I can see in the papers that the Royal Aeronautical Society has provided, around 19 sites across the UK where SAF production or development is taking place have been given support through the UK Government’s advanced fuels fund. Despite what you have said about what you think will be the likely model of production, particularly in the earlier stages—that is, modular and probably smaller scale—and despite Scotland’s natural attributes, it appears from this data that only one site in Scotland has secured funding from the UK Government’s advanced fuels fund. It is the one in Orkney that you mentioned earlier. Why do you think that that is the case?

That was helpful, because it brings me on to my next question. Do you think that the UK Government’s advanced fuels fund and the way in which it is being allocated properly reflect the way in which the SAF sector is likely to develop over the next 10 to 20 years?

I have a quick question about project willow in Grangemouth, which the witnesses will be aware of. It has two potential SAF projects, project 6 and project 8. Project 6 is on HEFA and project 8 is on e-methanol and methanol to jet. It is suggested that the HEFA project could be operational by 2032 and project 8 by 2035. Are the timelines that have been suggested for those projects and project willow reasonable, or are they optimistic?

It was suggested in our previous evidence session that 2035 is optimistic, but you think that it is probably broadly in line.

That is helpful. It will be useful for the committee to be kept up to date on where progress has been made and on the potential risks and issues that might arise, given that it is a live issue.

Let us turn to the question of where we are with the public performance measure. The annualised target is 92.5 per cent, which it has been for quite an extended period of time. As yet, ScotRail has not been able to achieve that percentage. From what I can see, the annualised figure is sitting at just under 90 per cent—although the periodic figure is slightly better for the past four weeks. We have not seen a significant improvement on the PPM. We are broadly in line with where it was in 2008, 2009 and 2010, and that was still below the target. What are the principal inhibitors to our achieving the annualised 92.5 per cent PPM figure?

Good morning. I want to ask about the A9, although my question applies to any of the Government’s major transport infrastructure projects. We all recognise that good and effective transport infrastructure is critical to our economy. However, I am interested in how we use major infrastructure projects such as the A9 works to drive wider economic growth. My question is not so much about what the infrastructure itself provides; it is about how, if we are investing—around £3.7 billion in April 2023 prices to dual the A9, for example—we can ensure, through the procurement process and the way in which the funds are disbursed, that as much of the investment as possible goes into supporting economic growth, whether that is in the Highland region or across Scotland as a whole. How do we go about doing that?

How does Transport Scotland specify that in its procurement process? How does it ensure that local businesses are able to maximise the potential benefit that comes from the huge investment in transport infrastructure? Are we in a position to demonstrate that? I am familiar with some of this, but is there a way in which Transport Scotland can document and demonstrate the benefit that is coming from, for example, dualling the Tomatin to Moy section? I think that Balfour Beatty has the contract for that project. Can Transport Scotland demonstrate how much Balfour Beatty, through the procurement process, is maximising the benefit to the local supply chain?

That would be helpful. Thanks.

Given that Mr Reeve is here today, I want to turn to rail and the performance of ScotRail and Network Rail. I was struck by the recent figures that show that ScotRail had the lowest train cancellation rates in the UK in 2024-25, with an average of only 2 per cent of stops being cancelled compared with the UK average of 3.3 per cent. Do we know why ScotRail’s performance has improved in that area and why its cancellations are the lowest in the UK?

I will follow up on the issue around Ardrossan harbour and Peel Ports’s behaviour. It is clearly seeking to get as much taxpayer money as it can for an asset that it has invested nothing in for the past couple of decades, beyond the odd essential bit of work.

Can the cabinet secretary inform the committee whether Peel Ports provided CMAL with full access to the data bank for the port, in order to ensure that any sale of the asset is a clean sale, with no small bits of ransom strip being held by Peel Ports for it to return to in order to try to get more taxpayer money out of us at a later date?