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Good morning. Some of the biggest supporters of carbon capture, utilisation and storage also support developing new oilfields such as Cambo and maximising the economic recovery of oil and gas. How do you respond to people’s concerns that reliance on the fossil fuel industry for carbon management will delay the just transition away from those fuels?

That engagement is important. Wet wipes have been mentioned already. Last week, I asked the minister about them and what other items might be covered by future restrictions. You quoted a figure of 94 per cent of the public being in favour of a ban on wet wipes, so it looks as though the public is way ahead of the Government on this issue. What more does Zero Waste Scotland think could be done to minimise the use of single-use wet wipes? When should the Government in Scotland look at the issue again and add them to the list of restricted items?

What we have heard so far is quite encouraging, in the sense that businesses are already engaging and are prepared. As we have heard, Scotland is not a first mover on some of the issues, so we know that we can learn from practice elsewhere.

Zero Waste Scotland has been involved with disability organisations, including Inclusion Scotland, which has made a written submission. As a result, we know about the plastic straws advisory group, which I will ask Iain Gulland about in a second.

Jim Fox highlighted the example of Capri-Sun, which I am sure many of us, especially those with small children, will be familiar with. With regard to the targeted exemptions, someone who buys a Capri-Sun in a cafe or a place where they will be sitting in might request a straw, which for those cartons is quite narrow and little. What is the expectation on businesses with regard to having a range of straws to meet people’s requests? We understand that, under the request system, to avoid any stigma, employees will not be able to ask people why they need a straw. Will businesses have to look at the issue in a lot of detail, or can they just have one plastic straw in the cupboard?

Thank you for that clarification.

But you might have to now.

It is essential that the disability and equality issues are considered.

Iain Gulland of Zero Waste Scotland has probably had more direct involvement with this matter, so I would be interested to hear about the level of guidance that will be required on the targeted exemptions. Someone who requests a straw will not have to give a big explanation for doing so, but they might not have their own cup handy and might therefore feel at a disadvantage. Can you comment on that, Iain, given Zero Waste Scotland’s close involvement in the plastic straws advisory group?

I am grateful for that clarification, cabinet secretary. With regard to joining things together, which is a phrase that you used earlier, I was surprised that there is no reference to the national public energy agency in this strategy document, but what you have said is helpful.

I appreciate that the Government’s point of view is that, because the situation has changed, to have a public energy company is no longer the right approach. However, in the spirit of the co-operation agreement, could that be looked at again and could the Parliament have a role in that? Given the challenges that we face, we need to be ambitious and look at how we can get big system change. Will the Government keep an open mind on that?

Is it the case, then, that the Scottish Government cannot, at present, add wet wipes to the list? Secondly, how often will the list of restricted items be reviewed?

Good morning to the minister and officials. I was pleased to hear you say, minister, that you were doing some reading last night about the result of the great British beach clean and the Marine Conservation Society’s involvement in organising that. From that reading, you will know that the second most common item to be found, when it comes to the pollution of our beaches and coastline, is wet wipes that contain plastics. Will you give us an update on whether a ban on wet wipes might be the next step? The Plastic (Wet Wipes) Bill was introduced under the 10-minute rule at Westminster, and the Marine Conservation Society has said that

“Banning single-use plastic wet wipes is such an easy step to take in order to help achieve a circular economy”.

I would like your thoughts on that.

I am not sure whether Ciaran Jenkins of Channel 4 News is aware of the discussion that we are having, but members might want to look at a very lovely Twitter thread that includes a video of the first family of beavers in Scotland to be moved to their new home.

I agree with Mark Ruskell that this is good news, but, like him, I have some questions about how this will be operationalised and the resource and funding requirements. Perhaps we should ask NatureScot and the Scottish Government for a response to the recent court ruling, given that some matters might be open to different interpretation, and from a landowner’s perspective, there might be questions about compensation for putting adaptation measures in place.

I note that 115 beavers—or around a tenth of the population—were shot and killed in Scotland last year. Despite the change in policy, there is still scope for licensing lethal control, and we need to get a better sense of what that will look like.