Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Invitation to the Cabinet Secretary for NZET to give evidence on 7 September 2021 and to clarify the NZET remit
Letter from the Convener to the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport, 29 June 2021
Dear Cabinet Secretary,
As Convener of the new Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, may I begin by congratulating you on your reappointment to the Scottish Government in your expanded cabinet role. We look forward to working constructively with you over the course of this session.
At our first meeting on Tuesday 22 June 2021, the Committee agreed to invite you to give evidence to the Committee at an early meeting following the Parliament’s summer recess. We invite you to appear before the committee on the morning of Tuesday, 7 September 2021.
This evidence session would provide an important early opportunity for Committee members to ask questions and to receive an update on key priorities within your policy portfolio, which will assist us with future business planning.
As you will be aware the Committee’s remit has been established to mirror your policy responsibilities. With this in mind, there are some outstanding areas where the precise division of those responsibilities between you and the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands would, we consider, benefit from further clarification.
For instance, the following table sets out policy areas that are very closely connected where responsibility respectively lies with a different Cabinet Secretary:
Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport
- Flood prevention & coastal erosion
- Physical and marine environment
- NatureScot
- Environmental policy
- Sustainable development
- Scottish Environment Protection Agency
- Water quality and Scottish Water
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands
- Natural resources, peatland and flooding
- Marine planning
- National parks and natural heritage
- Biodiversity
- Environmental quality
In advance of your appearance before the Committee, any additional clarification you are able to provide on the precise division of responsibilities between the two Cabinet Secretary portfolios in these areas, and the rationale behind the division, would be very gratefully received and would assist the Committee greatly in developing its future work programme and defining likely key areas of focus during Session 6.
On behalf of the Committee, we look forward to your appearance to give evidence on 7 September and to receiving a response to this letter at your earliest convenience.
Yours sincerely,
Dean Lockhart MSP Convener Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee