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 2395 contributions
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 30 May 2023
Mark Ruskell
I welcome the news that the minister is working closely with her counterparts in the Welsh Government. It is clear that Labour in Wales will face the same sabotage that we now face when it comes to lay its DRS regulations that include glass. Therefore, how should devolved Governments now work together to challenge the UK Government’s decision and defend devolution, given that it appears that common frameworks are effectively broken in these islands?
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 25 May 2023
Mark Ruskell
Scotland’s rural communities have great ideas on how to improve our national rail network. At the moment, ScotRail services pass through Newburgh, but have not stopped there since the station closed in 1955. A simple low-cost modular station could reconnect Newburgh to the rail network. What discussions has the minister had about the opportunities that modular stations provide? Will the minister agree to meet me and the Newburgh Train Station Campaign group in the months to come?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 23 May 2023
Mark Ruskell
That is useful.
I will move on to city region deals. A number of those deals were worked out seven or eight years ago, but the world is quite different now. The climate emergency is getting more severe, and the targets that are in place for 2030 are very stretching—you alluded to that in your opening remarks, Councillor Macgregor. Are those regional deals still fit for purpose? Do they and individual projects need to be looked at again? For example, Sheriffhall might not meet a carbon test now, or maybe it would. Who is looking at that? Who is doing that analysis and assessment?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 23 May 2023
Mark Ruskell
There is a lot of good practice. We heard about quite a lot of that during the inquiry.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 23 May 2023
Mark Ruskell
I am interested in the work on local heat and energy efficiency strategies. Are councils actively considering becoming energy generators, with municipally owned energy companies, or are the strategies all about co-ordinating local opportunities?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 23 May 2023
Mark Ruskell
I have a thought on the back of that. Has there been any discussion about how the CIS works with the Scottish Government’s national public energy agency? The energy agency is being set up right now, and there is an opportunity to align on that.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 23 May 2023
Mark Ruskell
It would be interesting to know whether there will come a point when there will be an ambitious conclusion to that. I reflect on the first inquiry that the Scottish Parliament ever did into climate change, in 2005. That inquiry recommended that ministers should bring forward a workable system of road user charging by 2015, which was 10 years on from the inquiry. Nothing happened, and we are now years on from 2015.
Are you saying that, within the next year, there will be a clear view from COSLA about new fiscal levers that can be used, and there will be a clear ask of Government about where those could be extended?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 23 May 2023
Mark Ruskell
That is good to hear.
Finally, I want to ask you about community and third sector partnerships. I suppose that the third sector would say that the deal that you are striking with the Scottish Government needs to be replicated with councils in developing new partnerships. In response to the inquiry, the Government has announced additional funding for climate hubs in order to scale up the ambition of what our third sector can achieve in communities and make a huge difference. What is your approach? Is there a commitment from local authorities to work with those climate hubs? Where do you see the third sector in that?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 23 May 2023
Mark Ruskell
I will turn to fiscal levers and the discussion within COSLA about potentially adopting new fiscal levers to bring in finance. I am interested in which areas are being discussed. In transport, demand management is an obvious issue, but other potential issues include waste and land management. It would be interesting to know where COSLA is at on those issues.
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 23 May 2023
Mark Ruskell
Will the minister say how she has sought to correct Mr Jack’s misrepresentations and misunderstandings of the way that devolution works across these islands?