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Compared with the timescales that our EU partners use, three-year funding is a minuscule timescale. At some point, the UK Treasury will adopt the practice that is used elsewhere, where there are funding announcements that cover decades.

I will move on. There is opportunity within transport for further decarbonisation. At the outset of this meeting, you talked about EV charging points, but in Scotland we have only three hydrogen refuelling stations, two of which are in Aberdeen. There are opportunities for hydrogen not only in road transportation but also in other areas including rail and maritime.

Cabinet secretary, in your liaison with colleagues to use budgets as best as possible, what are you doing to ensure that our transport system benefits from Scotland’s immense capacity for the production of hydrogen?

It is good to see the future proofing of some investment. The port of Aberdeen has future proofed to ensure that it will be easy to put in hydrogen infrastructure in the new south harbour. As I said earlier, we have only three hydrogen refuelling stations in Scotland. Sometimes, permissions around such infrastructure are difficult to obtain. Obviously, there has been a push for the UK Government to change hydrogen transportation and storage regulations, and I am sure that you will continue to push for that. However, is there a way that we in Scotland can make it easier for folk to get permission to, for example, deploy joint hydrogen and EV charging stations throughout the country, so that we can maximise the benefits? In my city, Aberdeen, the presence of those two recharging stations has enabled us to make moves with regard to getting buses and local authority vehicles to use hydrogen to a greater extent than elsewhere in the country.

What would be interesting for me and probably for others is information about the melding of budgets across portfolios to make sure that we are advancing those possibilities when it comes to innovation.

Thank you very much, convener, and good morning, minister.

You said in your opening statement that this involves partnership, and partnership with communities. In order to have good partnerships, you have to have trust. The chair of GB Energy previously said that having the headquarters in Aberdeen could mean more than 1,000 jobs being created for the city that I represent. That estimate has since been revised down, to between 200 and 300. Can you provide clarity for us on what the real job numbers will be in the great city of Aberdeen?

You have been open and transparent about the slippage around phasing out diesel. Would it be easier for you, your officials and for those working in rail if we had a multiyear spending review for the planning of decarbonisation across the rail network?

Bills have gone up; you said that they would go down.

Mr Maier’s change in the number of jobs—from 1,000 to 300—took place within 44 days. That has an impact on people, and trust is often lost because of such statements.

You have stated that each area will focus on different technologies. We have also heard that there will be separate offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Will you outline in the near future what specialities will be undertaken at each of the centres that you envisage coming into play?

I am glad to hear that the chief executive will be based in Aberdeen.

On the trust aspect, GB Energy was sold as something that would bring bills down, with your party pledging during the election to cut bills by £300. When will that become a reality under GB Energy? As we all know, bills have risen by an average of £449 since you came into office.

Good morning, cabinet secretary. You said earlier that the 2025-26 budget includes £158.6 million for the train fleet. I have an interest in the inter7city services, particularly when it comes to Aberdeen. You have indicated previously in answer to me and other members that diesel trains will operate on those routes until 2035 or even 2040. The high-speed trains, although immensely popular with the public, are quite old; they are not so popular with the drivers and engineers who have to maintain them. When will the HSTs be replaced on the inter7city routes? Will part of the £158.6 million be used to procure the replacements?

I am going to be a bit parochial and take the discussion back to Aberdeen. Indeed, you have mentioned the city a couple of times yourself, so I will move forward with it.

First of all, Aberdeen was the natural choice for GB Energy. However, the initial suggestion was that there would be 1,000 jobs at the Aberdeen headquarters, and now that figure has fallen to 200 or possibly 300. Of course, that sticks in the craw of some of the folk in Aberdeen who believed the initial figures.

When you highlighted the key aspects and successes of city region deals, you stated that the Aberdeen one was slightly different, because it was truly built from the grass roots. Many of the projects emanated from the former Aberdeen City and shire economic future body; moreover, the deal was built, in the main, on skills, which is one of the main things that we need to get right.

Obviously, the deal is nearing its end of life. What is the UK Government’s intention in that respect? Will there be an Aberdeen city and shire region deal mark two? The same goes for Glasgow. If so, will you allow that flexibility—that grass-roots decision making—so that we can come up with the projects that are required to drive growth in my area and others in Scotland?