The Scottish Government’s new team

Recent days have seen the shape of the new SNP Government become clear as the First Minister appointed his team of Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers. I am immensely proud to have been asked to be part of that team and return to the Scottish Government as Minister for the Environment and Climate Change.

Having campaigned on the strength of the SNP’s team in Government, it is probably not surprising that the changes in personnel have been kept to a minimum. There are welcome and well deserved promotions for Bruce Crawford, Alex Neil and Fiona Hyslop from Minister to Cabinet Secretary and along with my own return, Michael Matheson, Alasdair Allan, Aileen Campbell, and Brian Adam enter the Scottish Government for the first time and will all bring immense talent to the pool that already exists.

Jim Mather, who stood down at the election, and Adam Ingram, who is moving to the backbenches, will both leave the Government after four years of service and I know that the many individuals and organisations they have worked with over those years will undoubtedly miss the energy and enthusiasm with which they both filled their roles.

I am looking forward immensely to the challenges and opportunities of my new position. Having held responsibility for Scotland’ world leading climate change legislation in my previous Ministerial position, it is welcome to again be working on that portfolio and the on-going action that needs to take place.

Taking Scotland Forward

Following the initial procedural steps of the Scottish Parliament electing Presiding Officers, the First Minister and approving the new Ministerial team, the first full debate of the new session in Holyrood was entitled Taking Scotland Forward. On the back of a positive campaign that focused on our vision for Scotland and how we can make our country better, there could scarcely be a more appropriate title on which to start the work of the fourth session of the Scottish Parliament in earnest.

In his excellent opening speech to the debate, the First Minister set out the work that lies ahead of us. To build the better Scotland which we surely all want to see, we need the tools to achieve it. It is not acceptable for a lack of Scottish control over policy or finance to continue to be a barrier to improvement and the historic election result has clearly demonstrated that people in Scotland want to see things change in this respect.

If it is acceptable to devolve control over corporation tax to Northern Ireland then surely it is indefensible for Scotland not to gain similar power. We need to have the ability to attract more businesses to Scotland and to reap the economic benefits when Scotland’s economy is successfully grown.

With some control over broadcasting, we can finally see a Scottish digital tv network established encouraging creative talent in Scotland and redressing the pitifully low levels of Scottish broadcasting that currently appears on our screens.

By gaining control over excise duty, we can ensure that it is the Scottish taxpayer rather than the supermarket chains that benefit from the introduction of a minimum price per unit for alcohol.

The purpose of all this is not to gain these powers merely for their own sake, but to enable us to grow our economy, protect and create jobs and to improve many other aspects of Scottish life. If this debate set the direction of travel, the next five years of the parliamentary term will see us walk that path and make Scotland a better nation.