Seòmar agus comataidhean

No, it is supplementary to question 2.

Over the three years that SNIB has been in operation, it has been given £638 million of taxpayers’ cash. What assurances are there that the bank is spending our taxpayers’ money correctly? I ask because there is meant to be in place an advisory board that oversees the conduct and performance of the bank, but that board has still not been established. What assurances can you give on that?

Is it needed, given that you think that the governance is good, and if so why?

Do you mean that the £93 million that is still due to be spent during this parliamentary session will not now be spent?

In late 2022, the Scottish Government website said that the next tranche of hydrogen investment would be in early 2023; I am not sure whether that happened. In September 2023—in a response to a written question—the Government said:

“The next tranche of the hydrogen investment programme, the up to £90m Green Hydrogen Fund, will launch later in 2023.”—[Written Answers, 29 September 2023; S6W-21610.]

I presume that that did not happen. You have said that you have had to reprioritise because you have had a difficult budget—which I understand—but does that mean that there will not be a next tranche during the upcoming budget term?

Okay. I will move on.

The closure of the Grangemouth refinery was a big shock, but is it correct that that does not affect the Acorn project at all?

Yes. Working with the industry will be key. In a letter to the First Minister, the chief executive of Ithaca Energy said:

“Rosebank’s £8 billion investment is ... welcome”

but that he is disappointed

“that no Scottish Minister gave any sign that the jobs likely to be supported in Scotland by this project were welcome.”

He went on to say:

“Domestic oil and gas production has fallen by 70% from its peak pre-devolution. We have explained this many times to Ministers and officials, so it is disappointing to hear the language of ‘unlimited extraction’ still used by”

the First Minister

“and other senior Ministers.”

He also said:

“Without support for oil and gas, our human capital and supply chain will be lost to the booming energy sector opportunities overseas thereby slowing down the energy transition.”

Do you accept those comments that the narrative that the Scottish Government is using about oil and gas will slow down our energy transition?

Just briefly, has analysis been done of that? Why are there fewer routes? Is it because people are using trains, for example, or are they staying in their cars or working from home? Has any analysis at all been done?

Part of the question was to ask about the fact that there is no money in the bus partnership fund for the coming financial year. Given the Government’s commitment to getting more people on to public transport, why was that part of the budget and not something else chosen to be not just cut but zeroed?

Good morning, minister. What is the Scottish Government doing to support the roll-out of bus priority measures, especially on the trunk road network, over which the Scottish ministers have direct control?

Is that £500 million commitment on-going, minister? What was the timescale for that commitment when it was made?