Seòmar agus comataidhean

This year, I want to reflect on the first couple of years of the just transition fund and the wider policy, because we need the support of the UK Government and our local government in Scotland. I am impressed by how the just transition is increasingly reflected in decisions, particularly in Scotland. The growth deals are probably one of the more positive examples of the Scottish and UK Governments co-operating and working together. They are a good example of the innovative projects that are emerging in the just transition/net zero space and the innovation space that are being funded jointly by the UK and Scottish Governments. There is a lot more joining up to do in Scotland.

The first point to make is that, if any MSP or party in Parliament believes that the budget needs to be amended, there is a draft budget before Parliament and they can use the opportunity to make proposals, if they can explain where the alternative resources will come from to increase any particular budget.

The financial environment is very tight just now and I cannot sit here and give guarantees about substantial increases in such funds at the moment, but I can say that there has been an increase in the number of apprenticeships for green industries and so on.

The member referred to the overall picture, but I am talking about this particular agenda. Things are going in the right direction. We have invested in a lot of really good training and skills initiatives through the just transition fund and, indeed, the special fund that was set up for that purpose in the past few years. We have the energy transition fund and also the training fund. A lot of good initiatives are under way in Scotland that are being supported by the public purse.

I am happy to look at the specific issue of employees paying for their own training and to come back to the committee on that point, if that is helpful.

The challenge is clearly that we need the transformational projects to be up and running as quickly as possible. They need to be under way, whether they are offshore or the many onshore projects that are being considered—carbon capture and storage plans and so on.

The UK Government also has a big role to play in this; it is not all in the hands of the Scottish Government. We need the UK Government to put its shoulder to the wheel and do everything that it can to ensure that the carbon capture and storage plans are moving forward at pace. We finally got over the hurdle of the Acorn project getting the go-ahead. It took a long time to get there—far too long—and tens of thousands of jobs will be created through that alone.

The wider economic environment is also a challenge at a time of high interest rates, which of course have an impact on decisions to invest in new capital projects and pipeline projects and the pace at which they can be brought forward. That is all influenced by the wider macroeconomic environment. Again, that is not just for the Scottish Government; it is a UK Government issue. Those are the kinds of challenges that we are facing.

It is important to make a couple of points to the committee about the jobs environment. First, Scotland is leading in virtually all the league tables across the UK for the creation of green jobs. We are ahead, whether it is in PWC or Ernst & Young’s analyses or various other analyses that are being carried out. We are consistently creating and advertising more green jobs in Scotland than any other part of the UK.

A green jobs revolution is therefore under way in Scotland, and we should appreciate that. I know that some people want it to go faster, and I understand that we need to do more. Independent research carried out by the University of Warwick at the behest of Skills Development Scotland said that up to 100,000 new green jobs were being created in Scotland. The recent Fraser of Allander Institute report, commissioned by Scottish Renewables, said that there are now—I am just trying to remember the figure—42,000 full-time equivalent jobs in renewables in Scotland. Other figures are often cited, but that is the latest one. It is all going in the right direction. Tens of thousands of new jobs are being created in Scotland in green sectors.

There is another aspect that we will have to get to the bottom of. I often visit businesses in north-east Scotland, particularly in Aberdeen, that are counted as oil and gas companies but are doing 50 per cent to 70 per cent of their work on renewables. We have to work with the Office for National Statistics and other authorities to make sure that the statistics that they design and collect are more accurate. When I go to a company that is classed as “engineering” or “oil and gas”, I find it ironic that it is working on renewables. We have to capture that, because it is part of the renewables and the green jobs revolution that is happening in Scotland.

Yes. We are determined to take stock of many elements of the fund this year. You have covered a few of them. Once the committee issues its inquiry report, there will be helpful information or ideas in that to assist us. You have raised issues today on, for example, communication and how we report that I want to take away and sort out this year.

I am happy to write to the committee with some of the timelines. On the broad context, we have said that, by the summer, we will publish the final document for the energy strategy and just transition plan. Also in 2024, we will begin work to put in place the framework for how we will take forward regional just transition plans for Scotland. That will obviously take some time, but we are beginning the work this year on the framework for doing that.

On the sectoral plans, the consultation has taken place for the three plans that are under way. I ask Catriona Laing to give the latest estimate of when they will be available.

That is a good point, and I recognise that issue. We will absolutely monitor that and listen to the concerns expressed by community groups or, indeed, the just transition lab. Indeed, you may reflect some of those concerns in your report, which we will respond to in due course.

Yes, it is an area in which the Scottish Government has influence and responsibility, and we recognise it as one of the challenges. If my ministerial colleague Tom Arthur were sitting here, he would explain to you how the latest national planning framework prioritises renewable energy developments, which should speed up the process for them. There is also the recently published onshore wind sector deal, which lays down what we expect to be delivered by onshore wind developers for Scotland’s benefit but, likewise, gives commitments by the Scottish Government on helping develop Scotland’s onshore wind potential. It also includes a commitment to drastically reducing the time for licensing and planning.

The provisions that we are discussing today impact on public services’ sharing of information. Eilidh McLaughlin’s role is to oversee that in her own sphere, so I will bring her in in a second or two. The wider general data protection regulation issues are reserved to the UK Government, and that is a different part of the bill. Our provisions relate not to that but to the devolved bits.

Good morning and thank you for giving me the opportunity to discuss the legislative consent memorandum and subsequent supplementary LCM for the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill. This is a UK bill that seeks to amend the current data protection framework and improve digital information services. There are four areas of the bill for which consent has been requested. Those areas will help us to work towards delivering a key ambition for the Scottish Government, which is to ensure that Scotland becomes an ethical digital nation where people can trust public services to respect privacy and be open and honest about the way in which data is being used. We want to maintain that commitment and to build public services in the digital domain that are inclusive and practical.

The provisions that enable digital verification will mean that people can choose to use that method to prove things about themselves in order to access a service. A trusted identification provider could, for instance, check against data that is provided by a consumer to the Department for Work and Pensions or His
Majesty’s Passport Office, such as when a customer is booking a flight or using a financial service, to help make that transaction more efficient for the customer. Customers will benefit from the smart data provisions when they are seeking lower prices or tariffs for energy bills perhaps. Smart data schemes will empower customers to make better use of their data in order to enable accurate tariff comparisons, compare deals and switch suppliers. The amendments to the Digital Economy Act 2017 mean that enterprise agencies will be able to better target businesses to help them to comply with any relevant law, grow their business and engage in trade activities, and to create green and sustainable businesses.

Police information-sharing agreements could help to mitigate the loss of law enforcement information that was caused by leaving the European Union. For example, an agreement with the EU or EU member states could include real-time alerts on wanted or missing persons, which would allow Police Scotland to know that someone whom the police are questioning at the roadside is also wanted in connection with a serious crime in the EU, or that someone who is found in a vulnerable position in Scotland was recently reported missing on the continent. Consenting to the bill will ensure that the people of Scotland do not miss out on the benefits of such measures, whether as consumers or when interacting with public services.

Finally, the sharing of law enforcement data is vital to ensuring that Scotland’s law enforcement agencies are able to cooperate with our counterparts in the UK and Europe following our exit from the European Union. Ministers and officials from the Scottish Government have engaged regularly with our UK counterparts over the past two years to ensure that our concerns about the bill have been heard. We have stressed to the UK Government our view that the bill’s benefits to organisations should not come at the expense of the rights of individuals and the continued adequacy decision from the European Commission, which is about allowing for easy flow of personal data from the UK to the EU.

Thanks for the opportunity to make some opening remarks. My officials and I—I hope that it will be mainly my officials—will be happy to answer any of your questions.

Yes, we will certainly do our best to keep Parliament up to date with anything that we become aware of. You will perhaps recall that I have come before the committee several times, with various ministerial hats on, to talk about some of these negotiations over the LCMs and about what we can and cannot support in relation to UK secretaries of state retaining power to intervene without consulting the Scottish Government.

We have to take a decision sometimes. In this case, of course, we have got a concession whereby Scottish ministers have a role and were added in to what was originally clause 93—I think that it is now clause 99. We have to weigh up the benefits and disbenefits; we took the view that, overall, in supporting this, there are more benefits than would otherwise be the case.