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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 26 November 2024
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Displaying 1736 contributions

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Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 19 September 2023

Mairi Gougeon

No problem.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 19 September 2023

Mairi Gougeon

Just for clarity, peatlands fall within my portfolio, too.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 19 September 2023

Mairi Gougeon

It is not as straightforward as it can appear in relation to applications in that category in particular: in a couple of the examples, the land ended up not falling into those categories.

Whenever there are challenges or issues we want to try to get to the bottom of them. That is where the community land leadership group can help us to look at some of the issues. For example, we know that right now the cost of living pressures and the inflationary costs that people are seeing can be a barrier to progressing transfers or acquisitions. That is why the funding and support that we provide through the Scottish land fund is critical.

George Burgess might have further information to add to that.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 19 September 2023

Mairi Gougeon

I am not in a position to outline that, purely because it is being led by the Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance, but I would be happy to follow that up with colleagues and provide that written advice to the committee.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 19 September 2023

Mairi Gougeon

To pick up on your first point, I do not know whether Granton falls in your constituency or in Ash Regan’s, but I undertook a visit there in May. It was great to see what people can do through the Scottish land fund in an urban area and how important land transfers can be for community groups.

On the market insights report, we welcome the work that the Land Commission undertook. Its findings were based on desk-based analysis as well as interviews with a number of land agents and valuers. The report highlights the fact that the number of transactions in the year concerned was low. It found that the price of timber had largely impacted land values before, but it was interesting to see the impact of the changes to the woodland carbon code, which were seen to have had a cooling effect on the land market. It is valuable for us to consider such insights and how interventions that we make, such as the changes to the woodland carbon code, have an impact.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 19 September 2023

Mairi Gougeon

That is a fair point; there are additional barriers, particularly because of the checks and balances I referred to. Those extra steps are there to address the need for balance. If the committee hears evidence that the balance is not quite right, I would be keen to get that information. It is important that we have those protections, for both communities and landowners. I feel that the balance is currently correct and that we have the right steps in place, but I would be more than happy to consider any other information.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 19 September 2023

Mairi Gougeon

There is an awful lot going on at the moment in relation to decarbonisation; the carbon neutral islands project is a key part of that. In January this year we published an update on where we were in the project, which has obviously moved on since then.

We are working across six islands. The carbon audits have been undertaken and the climate change action plans were published at the start of the summer this year. The next stage in the process is in relation to investment strategies and how we build on the actions that are set out in the reports. I would be happy to keep the committee updated on that work because, of course, it will feed into other parts of Government.

As I said, the islands will be at the forefront in facing the impacts of climate change, but I also think that they hold a lot of the solutions to climate change. There will, within that process, be critical learning that can be shared.

However, when I look to the other parts of my portfolio, those will also have an impact on islands—how they adapt to climate change and how we can help them to adapt to climate change. We were talking about peatlands; change might also happen in relation to forestry and agriculture reform, on which, as you know, we will introduce a bill. All those things will have an impact, so we must ensure that we are, as ever, working with our islands to identify solutions as we look to implement changes.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 19 September 2023

Mairi Gougeon

It is important to remember that so much has changed and so much has happened since “The National Islands Plan” was published. We are reviewing the plan at the moment. There are a number of consultation events in that review to ensure that the 13 strategic objectives that we set out are still relevant, and to find out whether there are other areas that we need to look at or focus more on. That review will be crucial in identifying other areas to consider.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 19 September 2023

Mairi Gougeon

I think that CES has an important role in a number of ways. Indeed, for all our agencies—for Crown Estate Scotland, in particular—there are opportunities to lead by example. I know that CES has its own climate change action plan for the Crown estate, and that it is part of the environment and economy leaders group, which includes the chief executives of all the main public bodies as well as their sponsoring divisions in the Scottish Government. The group ensures that there is collaboration across the piece on climate change and adaptations, and that those agencies feed into the broader policy objectives. It is critical that CES is part of that work; it does feed directly into it.

As for its future work, CES is commissioning work on adaptation and what that might look like for the estate, and it is also looking at forestry, peatland and what it can do with its assets. I see it as being a critical part of the work that we are taking forward on climate change.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scottish Government Priorities

Meeting date: 19 September 2023

Mairi Gougeon

Again, there is a lot to unpick in the elements of that question.