Seòmar agus comataidhean

I hear you.

I will need to get back to you on that. [Interruption.] Actually, we can say now.

Thank you. It is always helpful to be able to summarise before any questions are asked, so I am grateful for the opportunity to do so. Today’s meeting is part of a much longer and wider process and I know that the committee has already done a great deal of pre-budget scrutiny.

It is important to set our conversation in the context of the Scottish Government’s overall approach to the budget. As the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government have made clear, the budget focuses on a fiscal programme that will deliver for the people of Scotland and that is balanced, sustainable and impactful. Our focus is to align Government spending with the delivery of our four priorities: eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, tackling the climate emergency and ensuring high quality and sustainable public services.

However, it is clear that the Scottish Government continues to face significant pressures that are outwith our control, including a constrained funding settlement from the UK spending review, rising costs across public services and demographic trends that increase demand for health and social care. Following the UK autumn budget, resource funding is expected to grow by an average of only 1.1 per cent in real terms each year across the forecast period. For capital funding, which makes up the majority of my portfolio’s requirement, the position is even more challenging, with Scotland’s capital block grant due to reduce in real terms by 0.3 per cent per annum until 2029-30. Nevertheless, the budget and the Scottish spending review protect and build on the substantial investments that this Government has already delivered for the people of Scotland.

I am proud that the 2026-27 budget commits record funding of more than £5 billion for activities that will have a positive impact on the delivery of our climate change goals, including those to deliver on the potential of renewables, help tackle climate change, increase climate resilience and protect and restore nature. That underlines the important cross-portfolio approach that we take to tackling the climate crisis, recognising that reducing our emissions and mitigating the impacts of climate change offers an unprecedented opportunity to build a more resilient and prosperous economy that is fit for the future. Action to minimise our country’s contribution to global warming also brings with it innovation and systems change that can provide jobs, improve human and environmental health, reduce the cost of living, create energy and food security and position Scotland as an exporter of expertise.

As part of that, my portfolio will provide £436 million to support initiatives accelerating the transition to net zero, restoring nature, and enabling communities and businesses to build resilience to climate impacts and, crucially, will do so while unlocking responsible private investment and supporting skilled jobs across Scotland.

The budget supports policy development and public engagement for climate change and adaptation. I have protected the funding to support climate action hubs that directly involve communities—something I view as essential in our journey towards net zero. We now have 24 such hubs active across Scotland and those have held a total of 781 training and learning events, reaching more than 10,500 people, as well as providing non-financial support to 1,048 community groups.

The £26 million for nature restoration stays at the record levels of last year, keeping us on track to deliver the ambitions set out in the Scottish biodiversity strategy and delivery plan.

The activities in my portfolio to help tackle the climate and nature emergencies have an impact on wider Government priorities, particularly on growing our economy. The budget provides £93 million to maintain momentum in building critical offshore wind infrastructure and developing the supply chain, leveraging significant private investment to maximise economic impact and create thousands of jobs.

The budget provides £16 million for the just transition fund, responding to the particular needs of the north-east and Moray by delivering benefits for businesses, workers and communities. That means that we can continue supporting initiatives like the energy transition zone’s energy transition skills hub, which was opened by the First Minister in September and was delivered with £4.5 million of Scottish Government just transition funding, combined with ETZ investment.

I am determined to secure Grangemouth’s just transition, and the budget builds on work that we have already announced, which includes supporting the construction of MiAlgae’s new omega-3-producing bioreactor at Grangemouth, which looks to create up to 130 direct jobs by 2029. The £6.2 million of Scottish Government funding to support Celtic Renewables’ new biorefinery project in Grangemouth will create up to 149 direct roles.

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I recognise the importance of our regulators, public bodies such as SEPA, which keep us safe from environmental harm and help to keep our air and water clean, alongside playing a pivotal role in providing flood warnings to families and businesses across Scotland, and NatureScot, in ensuring that we all flourish in Scotland’s landscape.

The answer to all those questions is, I think, yes. Every year, I ask my officials to carry out an analysis of the just transition funding to see what it has been able to achieve and every year—certainly since I have had it in my portfolio—I have wanted to ensure that it is adaptable with regard to the types of projects that are covered. In some years, we have, in effect, focused the funding. Last year, for example, we focused it on skills and job creation, and we were able to help some companies invest in new equipment to allow them to pivot to different technologies and sectors for their order books, particularly in the supply chain.

As you have said, we have previously had a large focus on community action. I have been able to look at the analysis of what has been funded, and that is an area where I want to be able to do more. It can be quite difficult to quantify some of the actions that the funding delivers in terms of just transition, but there are wider associated benefits such as job creation and community resilience for voluntary groups alongside the reductions in carbon emissions and the ability to pivot to different activities.

Every year of the just transition fund, I ask for that analysis, but we also look at the trends and the feedback that we get from those areas on what is needed. Last year, we focused particularly on skills gaps, because we were hearing from people that that issue had to be addressed, and a great deal of that focus was on funding courses associated with reskilling and upskilling, providing training opportunities and allowing companies to diversify so that they could employ more people.

Last year, because of the way in which developments with CFD and auction rounds were going, there was overcapacity in supply chains as a result of the support that was given to them. All of that money had been spent, so we adjusted it this year in view of the situation that we are in and what need there is for supply chain support. There is still substantial support for the supply chain, but it is a blend of capital and financial transactions that amounts to £93 million.

We are going to take a commercial-first approach, as we have done with all the supply chain money when there has been a need for it and when it has been deployed. This year, we have adjusted it and have been able to make a small reduction. In future years, however, there might be more demand for it. As I said, we will take a commercial-first approach. We have been able to support Kishorn Port’s supply chain and port facilities, for example, and we have leveraged in £150 million of private investment on top of the moneys that have been given to the supply chain. We have also assisted Sumitomo to get its factory up and running. It is really based on that commercial-first approach. We are not going to put out money to where it is not needed. We want to be fleet of foot and get the money to where it is needed.

Yes.

I need to find the exact figure. I think that it is just under £100 million at this point.

I would like to be able to deploy that—of course I would.

That is a reflection of the fiscal difficulties that we have right now.

I will do.