Seòmar agus comataidhean

Yes.

We have not reached out on the detail of the work programmes of each CPG. We are aware of their interests but, to be honest, the nature and climate emergencies are a very specific area. Although, for example, the cross-party group on crofting might be interested in the impact of climate change, it would not cover that and the nature emergency as specific topics.

Members of the proposed group would be open to exploring opportunities for joint meetings and cross-over, but I do not see anything in the remit of the other groups that is explicitly on the topic of the nature and climate emergencies.

No. I think that some members who were at the initial meeting and who are members of other CPGs would be interested in raising the potential for meeting topics that might be of interest to those CPGs as well. However, I think that the remit is pretty clear. If we brought together a programme of potential events, we would reach out to others and see whether there was interest in hosting some of the events jointly. There is a clear focus on the nature and climate emergencies. That space for discussion does not exist at the moment. To get a joined-up debate and interest going, such a CPG would—

That is the initial set of organisations that have come together to propose the new group. They have a specific interest around climate, nature and the relationships between the two. However, membership of the group would be open, so if other organisations were interested in coming into the space, they would be welcome to do so. We would welcome broad conversations about how we might tackle both emergencies together. If the process is to be meaningful, we will need those groups to come in to enable us to have proper debate and discussion.

I would hope that members of the Government would be involved in the cross-party group. Indeed, we intend to invite a Government minister to one of our proposed early discussions. It would be for the Government to recognise the CPG, attend its meetings and listen to and respect its work.

I would hope that the CPG, in acting as a forum for discussion of policy ideas and programmes that could be pursued to tackle the nature and climate emergency, would be of benefit to officials, Government ministers and others. We want to make the group a success and an important forum where ideas can be discussed. Government, individual MSPs and stakeholders can learn from one another.

It would be up to members of the group to discuss that with regard to the early agenda topics. Some topics have been discussed already. There is quite a lot of interest about land use and about the marine environment—in particular, about how blue carbon can both restore marine environments and lock up carbon. I would urge you to come to a meeting. If you want to have a discussion that covers lowland land use as well as upland land use, I am sure that that would be very welcome.

Clearly, there are topics that apply to the whole of Scotland, and we are trying to have a broad, well-rounded conversation about what the solutions and challenges might be.

I am trying my best to sell it.

Scottish Environment LINK, as it is formally known, is the umbrella body for the environmental NGOs in Scotland. It is a very experienced and well-resourced organisation, and it has staff who would be able to discharge the duties of the secretariat, working with my office. I am pleased to have worked with Scottish Environment LINK in the past, and I think that it has the confidence of all the members of the group.

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the proposed national treatment centres for NHS Tayside and NHS Fife. (S6O-01320)

The issue about private rented accommodation and the quality of energy efficiency measures is being dealt with in the heat in buildings strategy, and I know that the minister is on top of that issue. We need to improve that quality across the private sector.

On transport, the freeze on rail fares is a welcome assurance to commuters. Free bus travel has already benefited hundreds of thousands of young people and their families, and hundreds of thousands more will join them in the months ahead. More fundamental long-term reform is coming to break the cycle of decline in bus services, reverse Tory deregulation and bring services under public franchises and municipal ownership.

On energy, funding for more direct advice and grants will give many more householders the ability to control their energy use and even generate their own energy. However, this Government is pushing up against the limits of the devolution settlement. To go further, it needs the fiscal power to fight Tory austerity, alongside the regulatory powers to make energy markets work for people and planet, rather than profit.

Oil and gas companies are recording billions of pounds in profits while half a million Scots have simply no money left after paying household bills. When BP’s boss bought a £5 million house with his bonus earlier this year, he talked about the corporation having

“more cash than we know what to do with”.

Meanwhile, people on prepayment meters have been disconnecting their homes to avoid rising bills.

Fundamental reforms are needed that lie beyond the powers of this Parliament. Although Scotland’s electricity generation is dominated by low-cost renewables, electricity prices still move in lockstep with wholesale global gas prices. That is wrong and it needs to be changed.

Like the banks before them, no energy company is too big to fail, and nationalisation in the public interest must now be on the table. Just as bankers and Governments were responsible for the 2008 financial crash, now, in 2022, it is the oil and gas corporations and the Governments that aid and abet them that are fuelling the cost crisis and the collapse of our climate. With Jacob Rees-Mogg in charge of energy at Westminster, the chief arsonist has now been sent in to put out the fire.

The obscene revenue from oil and gas could have been used to fund clean energy transition and independence from global markets. However, the so-called windfall tax was, in fact, a tax-avoidance scheme for more drilling.

We do not have to look far to see how a genuine windfall tax could have been used. Germany, Italy and Spain are all raising billions of euros to support their people through this crisis.

Scotland has the richest renewable energy reserves of any country in Europe. It is time that we had the power to use that energy for the common good, and not for the few.