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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 23 April 2025
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Displaying 1210 contributions

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Economy and Fair Work Committee

Petroineos Grangemouth

Meeting date: 17 January 2024

Kevin Stewart

I can give you jurisdictions such as Germany, for example, where they are injecting hydrogen into the natural gas supply. There are many examples out there, minister, as I say, and I am sure that we could give you more.

You said in one of your answers that the UK imports 81 per cent of its jet fuel, which, as my colleague Gordon MacDonald says, does not seem to ensure energy security. There has been a lot of talk about sustainable aviation fuel. How quickly can the UK Government move forward on the regulatory regime for SAF? Are there opportunities for Grangemouth or elsewhere in the production of SAF, once we get those regulatory regimes right?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Petroineos Grangemouth

Meeting date: 17 January 2024

Kevin Stewart

Okay. I want to follow up on the questions about hydrogen that Colin Beattie has just asked. One of the difficulties in moving forward with hydrogen, whether at Grangemouth or elsewhere, is the snail’s pace of the UK Government in setting out the regulatory regime for the production, transportation and even use of hydrogen and injecting it into the natural gas supply. When will the UK Government be in a position to have those regimes in place so that we can get on with it like some of our competitors?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Petroineos Grangemouth

Meeting date: 17 January 2024

Kevin Stewart

Good morning, minister. Would the UK Government be so hands-off if it were the Fawley refinery in Hampshire that was earmarked for closure and job losses?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Petroineos Grangemouth

Meeting date: 17 January 2024

Kevin Stewart

We can perhaps send you some of that detail, Mr Stuart. Again, you said that—

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Just Transition (North-east and Moray)

Meeting date: 10 January 2024

Kevin Stewart

I hope that you will.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Just Transition (North-east and Moray)

Meeting date: 10 January 2024

Kevin Stewart

I hope that you will continue to make that point, minister. As a north-east representative, I will certainly continue to do so.

You talked about capital moneys bringing in further financing resource from the private sector.I know that it is early days, but are we seeing changes in the spend of other public sector bodies in order to get the very best out of the just transition fund, or do you think that there is more work to do in that regard with councils, health boards and so on?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Just Transition (North-east and Moray)

Meeting date: 10 January 2024

Kevin Stewart

Good morning, minister. We spent a fair amount of time with community organisations in Aberdeen. Maggie Chapman touched on the trust aspect. It was apparent that some folk felt that there was a lack of transparency around where moneys were going. You highlighted the participatory budgeting scenario. A lot of the folks whom we talked to had been involved in and were very positive about that and, of course, about their own projects. However, they did not have a clear understanding of some of the other resources that have been allocated, particularly to business. They mentioned one particular business that had received substantial funding, and they were unhappy about that. However, when I explained what that money was for, the attitude changed completely and utterly, because they understood why that was. Are we doing enough to be absolutely open and transparent in communicating the reasons why we allocate certain sums of money?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Just Transition (North-east and Moray)

Meeting date: 10 January 2024

Kevin Stewart

Minister, you talked about the twice-yearly reporting. I wonder whether it would be beneficial if, setting aside commercial sensitivity, we could let folk, communities and the people of the north-east and Moray know what allocations are being used for. If we let people know, and if we are as open and transparent as possible, they will come along with us. There was a huge amount of positivity about the community aspect and less positivity about the business grants that have been made, but when the reasoning around why certain things happened was explained, the positivity grew. Can we get the comms right as we move forward? That is my plea.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Just Transition (North-east and Moray)

Meeting date: 10 January 2024

Kevin Stewart

You said earlier that it has to be a bottom-up process and that we must listen to people. That is certainly how I think that it should happen. We are getting there. In the main, people feel involved. However, in the discussion around the bottom-up aspect, there are frustrations around the resource that is available. I recognise that the Scottish Government has come up with a just transition fund, for which we are grateful. A lot of that funding, though, is capital funding. Community organisations, in particular, feel that there needs to be much more access to revenue resource funding.

10:00  

Minister, is there a way that there could be co-operation between all the public services to match up some of the resource funding that is required to allow certain projects to get off the ground? Also, I am interested to hear any comments that you have around communication with the United Kingdom Government to try to get it to match the just transition funding that the Scottish Government has put into the north-east and Moray.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Petroineos Grangemouth

Meeting date: 13 December 2023

Kevin Stewart

Good morning. I want to go back to some of the comments that have already been made about the Scottish cluster and the Acorn project. To quote you, Mr Pritchard—if I misquote you, you can tell me—you have said that your plans remain unchanged around the Scottish cluster and the Acorn project and that you are continuing with them. However, you are looking at a substantial change to the business. Could you explain why you feel that your commitment and your planned works for the Scottish cluster and the Acorn project remain unchanged?

10:00