Seòmar agus comataidhean

Good morning, panel. I have a particular interest in fly-tipping, on which I am preparing a member’s bill. I very much welcome section 10, on the enhanced duty on householders; that is good progress.

I have three fly-tipping questions on which I would like your view; I will ask them together. First, we know that fly-tipping is serious and that it is as much an urban issue as it is a rural issue. There is concern about the level of fixed-penalty notices, which is currently set at £200. There is nothing in the bill suggesting that that should be increased, but the Scottish Government’s fly-tipping strategy, published in June, suggested increasing the fixed penalty to £500. I am interested to get your views on whether that would be a sufficient deterrent or not.

Secondly, when I ran my consultation on fly-tipping, people responded very strongly that the more barriers we put in the way of the legal disposal of waste, the more we were likely to drive up rates of fly-tipping. If councils are, for example, reducing access to recycling centres, as many are currently doing due to budgetary issues, will that see more fly-tipping? I would be interested in your views on that.

Thirdly, and lastly, is there anything that is not in the bill that would be useful to you when it comes to trying to address the problem of fly-tipping?

Thank you.

Thank you. I have a follow-up question for you, David. You talked about problems with enforcement, which I appreciate, and about resourcing. If we were to increase the level of penalties, would it be helpful if there were some mechanism whereby you could ring fence that money, so that it went back into better enforcement, for example, to be more resource for your team?

I would like to change direction a little bit and ask about the just transition fund. We took some evidence last week from community groups that have benefited from the fund. We also heard different views on the way the fund was being administered by the Scottish National Investment Bank.

I would like to start by asking you whether you have any particular view on the just transition fund generally. Do you think that it is appropriate that it is being handled by the Scottish National Investment Bank, as opposed to another body? Is there enough transparency around the fund and how it is being administered?

Thank you. That was a very helpful and comprehensive answer.

On innovation and new technologies being developed, is there enough awareness in companies in the sector about the just transition fund? How easy is it to access that fund?

Yes.

Thank you.

So the fund is not helpful to you in your skills work.

Thank you. That is very helpful. Does anybody want to add anything?

I appreciate that time is short, so I will just ask one question. It is about the just transition fund, which we have not really touched on yet. To what extent is the fund supporting innovation and the development of new technologies? Do you have a view on the way that the fund operates, with the Scottish National Investment Bank as, in effect, the gatekeeper for the fund?