Seòmar agus comataidhean

My question is for Scottish Enterprise and is perhaps for Ewan Mearns. The north-east is going through a transitional time; The Press and Journal reported yesterday that Aberdeen is facing a

“challenge not like anything in its history”,

partly because of the energy transition and the oil and gas downturn. There are people who say that the north-east needs a dedicated enterprise agency that would focus solely on the needs of the north-east. What does Scottish Enterprise think about that proposition?

That would be great. I just really want to know whether £49.9 million is still the salient figure. To follow that up, obviously, there is a significant cost to the taxpayer. Is there any concern about a duplication of cost to the taxpayer, given that other agencies are involved in the area, as we heard about earlier this morning?

Good morning, Mr Sharma. You mentioned the nationally determined contributions and the need to mobilise international financial support to assist developing countries to make those NDCs following COP26. Regardless of whether the amount ultimately agreed is $100 billion or otherwise, how will that financial support be administered, allocated and shared with the countries that are most in need of support to achieve their targets?

Sticking with financing, my second question is about the UK Government’s financing to reach climate change targets. The Climate Change Committee has estimated that an extra £50 billion a year of capital expenditure will be needed from 2030. Does the UK Government take any view on whether that estimate is reasonable? In any event, will you help us understand how that will be financed?

Yes. It is a reference to the report from the Climate Change Committee.

Thank you for that full—and, to be honest, fascinating—answer.

Finally, on a slightly different topic and picking up on something that the director general mentioned earlier, the UK is the first G7 country to agree the North Sea transition deal, which I think is worth between £16 billion and £18 billion of leveraged private investment to support the oil and gas industry’s transition to clean and green energy as well as supporting jobs. As part of the deal, the sector has committed to cutting emissions by about 50 per cent by 2030 and the Government, the sector and the unions are going to work together on delivering the skills, innovation and infrastructure that will be needed to decarbonise North Sea production. The question, therefore, is: will COP26 have any impact on the transition deal or does it remain as is?

Last week, the committee discussed the just transition. We heard concerns that plans may not yet be sufficiently developed. You alluded to the announcement of £500 million over 10 years for a just transition fund, but we do not have any detail about that yet. What is the timescale for us to have details of the just transition plan and fund? When can we expect concrete plans to be in place? I presume that, until those plans are in place, the Scottish Government will not take decisions that would jeopardise jobs in the sector.

As Jackie Dunbar has raised the issue of transport, I would like to ask a very brief question about ferries. Last December, our predecessor committee described the management of the procurement of the two new ferries as a “catastrophic failure”. Since then, we have been told that the new completion date is 2023, which is, I think, five years behind the original schedule, and that the final costs will be over £200 million. My question, cabinet secretary, is this: do you know whether that is the final projection for the target date and cost, or could that move again? Given the need for on-going vessel replacement, what is the Government doing to ensure that that “catastrophic failure” does not happen again?

I understand your point. What I am hearing in relation to my concern is that next year, with the publication of plans, is critical. You mentioned hydrogen, which I might come back to, although I will not make a substantive point on that at this stage.

On a slightly different topic, the Scottish Government announced four years ago that a publicly owned energy company would be created to generate and supply energy but, £500,000 later, it seems to have been dropped—we heard last week that it will not go ahead. Will you help the committee to understand why the policy changed? When was the decision to drop the policy made and by whom? Do you have oversight of what the £500,000 was spent on?

I appreciate that this might be a question for Mr Dey, whom we might bring in, but what is the Government going to do to ensure that that does not happen again? Do you know off the top of your head what has already been put in place?