Skip to main content

Language: English / Gàidhlig

Loading…

Seòmar agus comataidhean

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

Criathragan Hide all filters

Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 4 April 2025
Select which types of business to include


Select level of detail in results

Displaying 754 contributions

|

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Just Transition

Meeting date: 18 September 2024

Lorna Slater

I have two questions, the second one of which has come up. I will get into them.

Professor Roy, I am delighted that you highlighted the cost of not taking action, because the question “Who is going to pay for it?” frustrates me continually. Who is going to pay for it, if we do not? That would be much worse.

Professor Bell, you brought to our attention the fact that some of the changes that we need to make will not cost the public purse. I agree: not all the transformative policies that we need necessarily need to cost the public purse money.

I worry that, in this larger debate, there is a sometimes a tone of, “Oh, it is just too expensive. We can’t do it. Net zero is too expensive.” However, policies such as removing subsidies from aviation, giving farmers the same amount of money for doing slightly different things, demanding management charges such as congestion charges and workplace parking levies, having a carbon land tax and putting in regulation on heat pumps and insulation to level the playing field do not cost the Government anything. However, we have such difficulty moving those things forward.

Do either of you—perhaps Professor Roy—have any comment on what kind of political consensus we need? What is the difficulty in moving forward with those policies, even though they do not actually cost the public purse anything?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 11 September 2024

Lorna Slater

Thank you. My second question is about fair work. How has the fair work conditionality that the Scottish Government brought in affected the distribution of capital funding and other grants? Have you had to change your models? Are different companies applying? I am interested in hearing how that has gone.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 11 September 2024

Lorna Slater

I have three questions. The first two are for both enterprise agencies and the third is for HIE.

To follow on from Colin Smyth’s question—both Stuart Black and Jane Morrison-Ross have spoken on this topic—how do you measure the effectiveness of grants versus the support that you describe? In my mind, it is like the saying about teaching a man to fish versus giving a man a fish. How do you measure that?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 11 September 2024

Lorna Slater

My final question is for Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Thank you for the paper that you sent; the traffic light system is useful. The external green investment figures, like all the external investment figures, are staggering and you have wildly exceeded your expectations. How was that achieved? Was it a one-off situation? How are you defining green investment and how are you ensuring that that money is actually going to people and businesses in Scotland?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 11 September 2024

Lorna Slater

Thank you, convener—I am grateful for your allowing me to come back in.

Scotland’s national parks have annual budgets of around £10 million a year. We have two of them; I am hoping that we are going to get a third. In terms of the success and the growth of the visitor economy, is that money well spent?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Interests

Meeting date: 26 June 2024

Lorna Slater

Thank you, convener. My interests are the same as those noted in my entry in the register of members’ interests: I worked for Orbital Marine Power at the time of my election and worked out my notice with the company after I was elected, and I am a member of Unite the union.

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 20 March 2024

Lorna Slater

I will hand over to John Speirs for a bit more detail on that.

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 20 March 2024

Lorna Slater

The border target operating model and the Windsor framework are two different things, but I will hand over to John Speirs to get into the weeds of it.

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 20 March 2024

Lorna Slater

I will give a summary and then hand over to John Speirs. Putting the border controls in place is all part of the progress of Brexit. There have been controls for high-risk goods, and now the controls for medium-risk goods are being put in place at the borders.

I ask John to give us some detail about how the businesses find out.

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 20 March 2024

Lorna Slater

I absolutely share that concern. That is exactly the transition that the border target operating model represents. When we were a full member of the EU, we were able to trade goods without border checks. Trading with the EU has been relatively low risk in the interim period since Brexit because our regulations and requirements were in line. We will inevitably diverge over time, however much we would like to stay in alignment, so we must have border controls now that we are outside the EU. That is why the border controls are being brought in. Trade has been relatively low risk, but the risk could increase over time.

We are taking a risk-based approach. High-risk goods are already being checked, by both documentary means and physical inspections. That is being done at the place of destination, not at the border. Those high-risk goods are already being tracked and managed, and we are now bringing medium-risk goods into the regime, albeit with various exemptions that I would be happy to go into. Essentially, there is a phased roll-out of border controls.

John Speirs may wish to add more detail.