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I have some questions on the just transition fund. I will initially go to Mr Munro from the Scottish National Investment Bank. When the Scottish Government set up SNIB, a £2 billion fund was proposed to be paid over a number of years, and the just transition fund is £500 million. To be clear, is the £500 million additional to the £2 billion?

I am concerned, minister, that you are founding your arguments on a statement in your legislative consent memorandum that is not sustainable, but let us move on to the substance of the issue, if we can.

There are many repressive regimes in the world. There are many countries in the middle east, for example, that have terrible track records when it comes to the rights of women, the LGBT community and religious minorities and that repress free speech. Countries such as Iran are particular examples of that, and countries such as China have deplorable human rights records. Are you aware of any campaigns to boycott, divest and sanction many of those countries?

Which one?

Right. I am just trying to get some precision on the dates that you are referring to.

Thank you, convener. Yes, I have a particular interest in fly-tipping. I have a member’s bill in preparation on the issue and I welcome in particular section 10 of the bill, which places an enhanced duty of care on the householder.

I will ask two questions, convener, but I will ask them at the same time, if that is all right. A lot of the questions that I would have asked have already been covered.

I will direct my first question to Councillor Macgregor from COSLA. Fixed penalty notices currently sit at £200, and I think that we all accept that is nowhere near the level that it needs to be to act as a deterrent. In its strategy—although it is not in the bill—the Scottish Government is suggesting increasing the penalty to £500. Is that enough, and is there some mechanism whereby the money raised could be recycled into greater enforcement? How practical is it to try to ring fence money raised from fixed penalty notices to deal with the resource issue?

My second question goes back to what Drew Murdoch was just saying. When I ran my consultation on fly-tipping, one of the biggest issues that people raised with me was how restrictions on access to recycling centres were one of the drivers of fly-tipping. We have seen councils, usually because of budgetary conditions, reducing opening hours in recycling centres, closing them entirely or introducing queuing or appointment systems. That is not in any way an excuse for people fly-tipping, but you can see why—human nature being what it is—if you make it more difficult for people to legally dispose of material, they are more likely to fly-tip. To what extent is that a factor?

Good morning, panel. I have a particular interest in fly-tipping, on which I am preparing a member’s bill. I very much welcome section 10, on the enhanced duty on householders; that is good progress.

I have three fly-tipping questions on which I would like your view; I will ask them together. First, we know that fly-tipping is serious and that it is as much an urban issue as it is a rural issue. There is concern about the level of fixed-penalty notices, which is currently set at £200. There is nothing in the bill suggesting that that should be increased, but the Scottish Government’s fly-tipping strategy, published in June, suggested increasing the fixed penalty to £500. I am interested to get your views on whether that would be a sufficient deterrent or not.

Secondly, when I ran my consultation on fly-tipping, people responded very strongly that the more barriers we put in the way of the legal disposal of waste, the more we were likely to drive up rates of fly-tipping. If councils are, for example, reducing access to recycling centres, as many are currently doing due to budgetary issues, will that see more fly-tipping? I would be interested in your views on that.

Thirdly, and lastly, is there anything that is not in the bill that would be useful to you when it comes to trying to address the problem of fly-tipping?

Thank you.

Thank you. I have a follow-up question for you, David. You talked about problems with enforcement, which I appreciate, and about resourcing. If we were to increase the level of penalties, would it be helpful if there were some mechanism whereby you could ring fence that money, so that it went back into better enforcement, for example, to be more resource for your team?

I would like to change direction a little bit and ask about the just transition fund. We took some evidence last week from community groups that have benefited from the fund. We also heard different views on the way the fund was being administered by the Scottish National Investment Bank.

I would like to start by asking you whether you have any particular view on the just transition fund generally. Do you think that it is appropriate that it is being handled by the Scottish National Investment Bank, as opposed to another body? Is there enough transparency around the fund and how it is being administered?

Thank you. That was a very helpful and comprehensive answer.

On innovation and new technologies being developed, is there enough awareness in companies in the sector about the just transition fund? How easy is it to access that fund?