Seòmar agus comataidhean

Absolutely. This is a big piece of work; it is not something that a parliamentary committee can do on its own. There is a need to equip the whole public sector to think in the long term. I know that the Welsh FGC has been focusing on the skills to plan for 25 years ahead.

I have seen at first hand the benefits of having such a commissioner in Wales. Members might remember that, in 2018, I brought forward a member’s bill to introduce a 20mph safer speed limit for built-up roads in Scotland. At the same time, Wales was considering adopting a similar approach, and I was delighted to be part of that Welsh conversation. The role of the FGC in that debate was hugely important, because she was able to draw together the long-term public health case for communities of a speed limit change. That really helped to establish the right basis for moving the issue forward in the Senedd in a cross-party and consensual way, which, with hindsight, and looking back at my member’s bill, perhaps we lacked here at Holyrood.

Of course, later on, there were those who sought to make the roll-out of the 20mph limit a political culture war in Wales. However, now that the dust has settled there, we are starting to see the long-term benefits bed in, starting with huge and dramatic reductions in road casualties on Welsh streets. That is partly down to the work of the public health sector in Wales and the Future Generations Commissioner in leading that debate.

There are many other examples of where that commissioner has been pivotal in driving reform. I understand the Finance and Public Administration Committee’s concerns about the growth in the number of commissioners more generally in Scotland, but there is good practice from Wales about how its commissioner has worked closely with Audit Wales and other commissioners to share staff, reduce costs and maximise joint working. We should learn from that in any review that the Parliament undertakes of our commissioner landscape.

I again thank Sarah Boyack for securing this debate. She reflects our shared priorities to raise the focus of the public sector on the needs of future generations and a sustainable Scotland. I wish her good luck, and I will listen closely to the words of the minister in closing.

I thank Sarah Boyack for bringing this debate to the chamber. It was inspiring to hear from her about the many international examples and to hear from Maggie Chapman about how intergenerational equity is so embedded in many societies.

I will focus my comments on the practicalities of what we do here at Holyrood. This week, as we have done in every year since 1999, we are scrutinising the Government’s short-term annual policy and budget choices. Much of our work as MSPs is focused on short-term delivery, but there is a pressing need to look beyond the short term—beyond electoral cycles—and towards the needs of not only the current generations but those who have yet to be born.

The big societal challenges of this century cannot be solved with short-term, year-to-year thinking, yet, in our consideration of issues such as hospital waiting lists, there is rarely space to bottom out the long-term preventative policies that could ultimately lead to a better society. That means that we miss the opportunity to make the links between, say, health and transport or between poverty and the environment. In a Parliament that is always driven by the immediacy of crisis, it can sometimes feel indulgent to pull back and start to look at the bigger picture. That is a major reason why, years on from the Christie commission’s recommendations on public sector reform, we have yet to see meaningful progress in areas such as preventative spend. It always feels indulgent to talk about such spend when we come to budget scrutiny in committee.

In that context, having a future generations commissioner for Scotland is essential. Such a proposal was mentioned in the Bute house agreement and was being delivered by my colleague Patrick Harvie. It is good to see Sarah Boyack keeping that flag flying.

As Sophie Howe, the former Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, put it,

“The Commissioner’s role is to take a helicopter view—not necessarily getting into the nitty gritty of problems emerging in the here and now—but offering a longer-term perspective”

and

“joining the dots between issues and organisations”.

I hope that the cabinet secretary will reflect on the deep disappointment of thousands and thousands of people across Scotland at the return of peak fares. Scrapping peak fares led to an increase in passengers—around 7 per cent—and more income for ScotRail. If bringing back peak fares results in passengers abandoning train travel, that will mean less income for ScotRail. If that happens, will the cabinet secretary consider reversing the position?

A group of residents in Tillycoultry were forced to move out of their homes more than a year ago because of deteriorating RAAC, but they still do not have access to their homes to collect personal belongings such as passports, and there are growing fears in the community that those properties will be broken into.

What guidance is the Scottish Government offering councils on residents who might need to re-enter their homes to retrieve essential items during the period in which they are unable to live there?

You have not requested an exemption under the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020.

I will come in on that briefly.

I am also interested in the wider picture of rail reform and I am wondering where that is at the moment. The bill has been a good first start on improving relationships between the two Governments and, I hope, between all devolved Administrations and the UK Government. The next most substantial reform will be to set up GB rail. What timeframe do you see for that coming through and will the Scottish Government be directly involved in its governance? Is there a clear model for how devolved Administrations will be involved in that?

Do you have a view on the open access operators? Would you prefer the entire rail network to be brought under national control?

I am curious about how this relates to where we currently are with deposit return schemes. I presume that the EPR regulation also incorporates bottles, cans and glass. I am interested in looking at that and getting your views on it. Do you see there inevitably being a DRS across the UK in the run up to 2028?

I have a brief comment, convener. I am really looking forward to Zero Waste Scotland growing into the role. It has been a long time coming, and I think that it will enable Zero Waste Scotland, as an organisation, to drive forward progress in the circular economy in a way that is fully accountable. I look forward to Zero Waste Scotland attending the committee in the future.

My question is based on what the cabinet secretary said about timescales. You are seeking a four-nations approach and want all the nations to move at the same time, which sounds sensible. If timescales diverge and there is a need for discretion, do you have an exemption under the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 that would allow you to make a decision about Scotland going first or going later?