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I have two quick questions. One is about the former Prime Minister’s announcement on the phase-out of fossil fuel-powered cars and whether that has had any bearing on UK policy. Is UK policy pretty much predictable, with no changes in the measures that we are talking about today, or has the then PM’s announcement introduced some uncertainty in that regard?

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendations in the recent Oxfam Scotland report, “Cleared for Take-off: A Private Jet Tax for Scotland”. (S6O-03811)

I thank the cabinet secretary for that constructive answer.

Oxfam has calculated that introducing a tax on private jets in Scotland could raise nearly £22 million a year, which would be enough to deliver the fairer fares on trains that commuters really need. Last week at First Minister’s question time, we heard that the First Minister would be

“very much in the spirit of”—[Official Report, 26 September 2024; c 17.]

embedding such a tax on luxury travel in a future air departure tax.

Would the minister support such an initiative? Can he provide more detail on the discussions that his Government is undertaking with the UK Government on the introduction of an air departure tax for Scotland and, in particular, on the intricacies around the details of an exemption for the Highlands and Islands? How much progress can we see being made on that in the months ahead?

I join members in thanking David Torrance for lodging the motion on 125 years of Fife College. His motion rightly celebrates the origins of the college, its long history and the huge positive benefit that it has had on generations of Fifers and their communities.

It was lovely for us to meet the students in the members’ restaurant earlier; there was a huge amount of enthusiasm, and I think that we will see some real stars of the hospitality sector emerge from that group of young people. I am hugely optimistic, and I am looking forward to my dinner later on.

I will share a few thoughts on the future of the college and the critical role that it is playing in this century in the fight against climate change. It is the colleges, as much as—if not more than—the universities, that will be needed on the front line of that fight. Building the workforce of the future with practical skills for the delivery of net zero infrastructure will be critical. Supply chains will need to be transformed in the next five years to decarbonise our homes, service wind farms, restore peatland and plant woodland. Even industrial big hitters such as the Mossmorran plant in Fife will need to transition to a cleaner, greener future.

I welcome the fact that Fife College has already been part of the skills conversation at Mossmorran, and has a range of courses that are supporting the transition of our entire economy. The growth of well-paid, skilled jobs in the green economy needs to offer a bright future for young people at the start of their careers, as well as a future for those who are looking to transition into new green jobs. That is another reason why the Scottish Green Party wants restoration of the £26 million that was allocated in last year’s budget for transformation in our college sector.

We cannot hold back when there are sectors of our economy that are unable to scale up to meet the challenge of climate change and the opportunities that we are presented with. Claire Baker talked about wind. In 2016, I visited Fife College in Rosyth and met a number of students who were on the wind turbine technician course. It was exciting to see the pride that they had in growing their skills and to hear about their expectations around apprenticeships and the work that they would be doing on the next generation of wind farms. As Claire Baker outlined, it is great to see that more of those apprenticeships are now starting to be taken up. I hope that the number of those apprenticeships dramatically increases in the years ahead, because the doubling of onshore wind farm capacity between now and 2030, and the revolution that is gathering pace in offshore wind in particular, point to a really bright future. Of course, we know that there are investment opportunities in Fife, particularly in Burntisland at the moment, in relation to offshore wind.

Alongside that, I also recognise the work that is happening at Fife College’s Leven campus to develop skills in green hydrogen. To be fair, from my perspective, the jury remains out on whether hydrogen will ever be a cost-effective way to heat the majority of our homes. However, it is an area of innovation, and decarbonising heating remains a huge opportunity in the next decade. I hope that the college can also realise the far bigger opportunities surrounding the installation and servicing of heat pumps, as well as district heating, which together have the potential to power around a quarter of Scotland’s homes. There are great jobs and great potential in that area, and I hope that the college remains at the heart of that.

Of course, climate change is about more than specialist professions. It affects us all, so I was pleased to see the focus that the college has brought to the issue. The Adam Smith scholarships that were awarded to three students for their writing and art that reflected on what climate change means for them in their personal life and studies was a small but important example of climate leadership.

Fife College’s climate change strategy and action plan should also be commended. The cut in emissions by more than a half since 2014 is great progress, and plans to further strip out fossil fuel use from its operations are key, including those for Scotland’s first net zero campus in Dunfermline, which is a huge milestone for the college and for Fife.

I thank David Torrance again for bringing the debate to the chamber. I enjoyed hearing about his experience of going to college—I certainly cherished the time that I spent at Stevenson College many years ago. I thank the college staff, who do amazing work to inspire our young people and people returning to education. Let us look forward to the next 125 years—they are going to be momentous.

The Just Transition Commission’s report advised that the process of developing just transition plans for other industrial sites that are linked to Grangemouth, such as Mossmorran, should begin urgently. I will be hosting a worker-led summit with unions, operators and decision makers in December to start a meaningful conversation on the development of a worker-led just transition plan for Mossmorran. I invite the minister and the cabinet secretary to join me and all those stakeholders in a vital conversation at the summit later this year.

I think that all the witnesses are making the point that, in some form or other, alignment between UK plans and devolved Administration plans is important. I am thinking about whether there are other ways to cut that.

Under the bill, the plan and the budgets are set at the beginning of a parliamentary session. Obviously, the Westminster Government is on a different timescale, but could there be a point where there is an update or a report in Scotland following the publication of a UK budget or plan? I am thinking about ways in which you could align the dates—you could align them entirely or information from a UK plan could be fed into devolved plans. I do not know. On a practical level, how do you get that kind of alignment? Is it a straight choice about whether to align the dates or not?

No. Are there any other comments?

From the climate science perspective?

To wrap up the conversation, it seems that you are talking about a dynamic reporting situation. Climate science might change within a five-year period; the financial situation for UK devolved Administrations might change dramatically; we might make less progress on our plans than we thought would be possible; and there might also be a UK plan that increases, or does not increase, our ambition.

You already brought up all those circumstances in your evidence. Would they trigger an update report, a rethink or a section 36 report? Do we need some dynamism in reporting and in the updates to plans?

In evidence the other week, we heard about the legislation in Ireland, where the sources of advice and guidance are drawn quite widely. The Northern Ireland Government can take advice from the Republic of Ireland Climate Change Advisory Council and other sources of information as well.

I move on to public engagement. The Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019 contained a requirement to hold a one-off, stand-alone climate assembly. I am interested in hearing from local government colleagues about the linkage between the Scottish Government’s work on behaviour change and support for communities that are driving action on the ground. A reflection on where that currently sits would be useful.

I would also like to hear any wider reflections on whether there is anything else that should be in the bill, or any proposed changes that are currently in it, that could drive more public engagement work with communities. Perhaps Claudia Cowie and Alison Leslie can start with their impressions of how climate action planning is landing in communities. Are we fully utilising the resources of communities in that regard?