The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
Displaying 1249 contributions
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 7 September 2021
Collette Stevenson
Does Dave Moxham want to comment?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 7 September 2021
Collette Stevenson
I am delighted to be at the committee, albeit on a temporary basis.
The only relevant interest that I will declare is that I am currently a councillor for South Lanarkshire Council.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 7 September 2021
Collette Stevenson
Jim Skea touched on local pension funds. I should declare an interest as I was previously the chair of Strathclyde Pension Fund. We had a fiduciary duty to ensure that we were maximising the members’ pension pots, but arguably there was also an ethical investment element. I know that Strathclyde Pension Fund is probably about the 12th biggest pension fund in the UK. How do we balance that going forward? Is that something that you have looked into to see how we can transition to making those pension pots more ethical?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 7 September 2021
Collette Stevenson
We can also talk about the principles, which are central to the forthcoming negotiations in Glasgow. Should we and the UK be ensuring that the principles feature in the agreement and the negotiations for the future? I suppose that the focus is on the UK because we have left the European Union, and our role in delivering a just transition has taken on a different aspect now that we are outwith the EU. Sorry—I am going all round the question here.
My other question is controversial. Should there be more of a four-nations approach, rather than a UK-led approach, when we come to that platform?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 1 September 2021
Collette Stevenson
I will focus on the amount of time that a prisoner spends in the prison estate, particularly on rehabilitation programmes. You have mentioned transformational change. Obviously, that will be part of the programme for government that is still to be announced, but key to that is the reduction of offending and accessibility to such programmes within prisons, particularly in the light of how we are tackling Covid and the impact that that has on the reduction in offending.
How effective are those programmes? It seems to be a lottery when it comes to who gets on to them. The question taps not only into prisons but into community safety. It is about the accessibility and effectiveness of those programmes.
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 1 September 2021
Collette Stevenson
On that issue, we visited HMP Edinburgh last week, and one of the conversations stood out for me. It is more of an observation than a question, but I hope that you will take it on board. In HMP Shotts, in particular, because of Covid, visiting has been restricted, so contact has been facilitated online. Something that stood out for me was that one prisoner said that they had never seen their house before. That was taken on board. They were blown away by it, and it was great for them to see where their kids and their wife stayed. That is a positive thing, which we could look at going forward, because, for some, that might be the trigger to their saying, “I’m going to make sure that I get on my programme and get out of here,” which is part of their not offending again. Most of the people there were high-tariff prisoners, so they had been there for a long time.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 31 August 2021
Collette Stevenson
I thank our witnesses for their contributions. On Friday, I had the pleasure of visiting the TÜV SÜD facility in my constituency in East Kilbride. The facility has done the first ever transition from a gas domestic meter to a hydrogen one—staff there were calibrating it. It was impressive to see TÜV SÜD’s work, and it was great to see something tangible in place. From a consumer’s point of view, when will we start to see the roll-out of hydrogen meters and at what speed will it be carried out? Believe it or not, a householder recently raised that question at the citizens assembly. With the climate emergency, it is key for folk to see changes take effect.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 31 August 2021
Collette Stevenson
I want to touch on the question of fuel and hydrogen fuel pumps. I had the opportunity to see a fuel pump and the receipt showing how much hydrogen it used. On consumer behaviour and expectation around the issue of electric cars versus hydrogen vehicles, I for instance could probably use my electric vehicle to get around the town to drop off my daughter and what not, and hydrogen vehicles could be used for longer trips. How do we develop the supply and demand for those vehicles and how do we work with private car producers to see how it will go?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 22 June 2021
Collette Stevenson
I have no relevant interests to declare.