 The next item of business is a statement by Ivan McKee on building industrial clusters around Scotland's ports. The minister will take questions at the end of the statement, so there should be no interruptions or interventions. I call on the minister for around 10 minutes please, Mr McKee. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Presiding Officer, Scotland has significant strengths in the industries of the future, and renewable energy and hydrogen, life sciences, financial services and ffintech, quantum photonics, advanced manufacturing, digital and space. We have genuinely world-leading technology underpinned by the excellence of our academic institutions. While we have had significant success in building manufacturing clusters of excellence around those opportunities, we recognise that they have much more to do. The Government is committed to maximising opportunities across Scotland's regions and in doing so creating high-paying jobs, delivering on our fair work agenda, ensuring that everyone is paid at least the real living wage and meeting our ambitious net zero commitments. We will use all of the tools at our disposal to deliver on those ambitions, maximising exports and investment, building Scotland's indigenous businesses and supply chains to scale, leveraging public sector procurement and supporting businesses with targeted support and investment. Our vision is of a Scotland that has world-leading capabilities in those industries of the future. Our focus is on high innovation, high wage and high technology opportunities. We are not interested in a race to the bottom in low-cost, low-wage, low-tech manufacturing. Our national strategy for economic transformation will clearly articulate that vision, and we recognise the key role that Scotland's ports and airports represent in delivering it. I want to update Parliament to the progress that we have made in the implementation of one initiative that will support the delivery of that vision, our green ports model, on how we have managed to secure significant additional investment into Scotland to upgrade port infrastructure and build clusters of manufacturing excellence fully aligned with our fair work and net zero commitments and on a partnership basis between the Scottish and UK Governments. The UK Government has presented its free port model as a dividend of the economic vandalism that is Brexit. We reject that hypothesis. Free ports already exist in many EU member states and indeed did so in the UK within the EU until 2012. We are also well aware of the reputation of some free ports globally. We will also recognise their value in other cases of driving innovation and high technology economic development. This afternoon, Presiding Officer, I want to set out our ambitions for and expectations of Scotland's green port model. I will explain why, after careful consideration, we engaged an intergovernmental dialogue on an equal footing with the UK Government to improve the free port model by introducing a tailored model for Scotland, one of which delivers the Scottish Government's requirements, addresses concerns and ensures proper safeguards and enforcement measures. Four principal factors resulted in the recent agreement with the UK Government. First, we negotiated a partnership in which the Scottish Government will have an equal say both in decision making and in delivery. That demonstrates the determination to ensure that the influence of the devolved Government is strong in collaborative dialogue with UK ministers. Presiding Officer, that was not on the table previously. Indeed, it is a model that can and should be used in other areas where the UK has recently been all too willing to ride roughshed over the devolution settlement. Secondly, an insistence that bidders must clearly set out how they will embed fair work practices into how they and the companies within the area conduct business. Presiding Officer, that was not on the table previously. All applicants in Scotland will be familiar with the Scottish Government's ambitious policies on fair work. Specifically, they will all know about the feature set out in the fair work first criteria. Naturally, applicants will want to refer to those criteria, considering how as robust a case as possible for designation can be set out. We are crystal clear on that. Any bid that does not aim for the very highest standards in fair work practice, including payment of real living wage, will not be supported by the Scottish Government. Our commitment to fair work is clear, and that programme will be an exemplar of how we will deliver that commitment. Thirdly, Presiding Officer, we insisted that applicants will be required to set out robust plans that will contribute to Scotland's just transition to a net zero economy. We have been clear about the need for greenpots to be an exemplar of the use of technology and innovation to decarbonise Scotland's economy, to incubate and foster clusters of new green technology and industries and to benefit wider supply chains in Scotland. The UK Government has now agreed to that requirement, although we are pressing, of course, in the aftermath of COP26 in Glasgow. Presiding Officer, that was not on the table previously. Scotland announced 17 projects last month. Scotland will provide us with enough power for every home in Scotland and create the opportunities for Scotland to build a world-leading offshore wind manufacturing and the export sector. It is highlighted in the strategic infrastructure assessment for offshore wind, commissioned by the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council, which I co-chair. There needs to be greater collaboration between developers, the supply chain and the public sector to help to focus activity and investment in Scottish ports and to help Scottish suppliers to grow and win offshore wind work. Greenpots will support the delivery of this crucial objective of securing more offshore wind contracts for Scottish ports. My use of the word green is more than semantics. It signals clearly to global investors our ambitions and our unique offering, with our intention to cement Scotland's already well-deserved reputation as a global-leading ESG and net zero investment destination. Anyone who engages with investors during COP26 will be well aware of the significant opportunities that this presents to Scotland. Finally, the UK Government has now decided to provide fair funding for Scotland. The agreement to invest up to £52 million to create two new designations means that set-up funding available for England and Scotland will be the same. That was not on the table either before. Indeed, it is almost three times as generous as the funding package in the Secretary of State for Scotland's formal offer to me last autumn. On those four criteria, fair work, net zero funding and the NECO say that the Scottish Government has secured everything that we sought in those negotiations. On that basis, we are content to proceed with the implementation of the greenpots model in Scotland. Operation of the model will include the Scottish Government providing investment support through non-domestic rates and land and buildings transaction tax. In addition, operators can expect a wider package of developmental support from Scotland's enterprise agencies, local government and others. I have heard some criticism that the Scottish Government delayed discussions, disadvantage in Scotland somehow. The reality is, to the contrary, any delays or the consequence of the UK Government being slow to come to the table and slow to recognise its specific requirements. Thankfully, that situation was resolved towards the end of last year to enable those negotiations to conclude. We are not shy away from the fact that the reputation of greenpots around the world is mixed, with concerns that are expressed about deregulation and risks of criminality, tax evasion and reduction in workers' rights. However, that is not a model, nor is it a approach to which the Scottish Government would agree. We are optimistic about the potential of the model, but we remain vigilant and focused on firm monitoring and evaluation of progress on the ground. I have engaged with trade unions and others on the matter to ensure that their concerns are taken into account, and I will continue to do so. Equal say in choosing the two designations in Scotland and how they are governed subsequently, I can assure members that the Government will remain focused on ensuring that the high standards on governance and poverty are maintained. I would also point to my confidence that our ports, local authorities, businesses and others who will submit applications will be similarly focused. In this element of our partnership work with the UK Government, we will ensure that the issues of compliance with the law, governance and management and performance are placed at the top of any hierarchy of priorities. Let me be clear, Presiding Officer, that which is granted can also be recalled. In addition to the issues that I have already covered, we are also conscious of the need to avoid economic displacement both within and from Scotland, but those will be required to make clear what assessments they have made of potential displacement. Scotland's greenport model is designed to support the development of innovative industries committed to developing new green technologies, fair work opportunities and, crucially, embedding themselves into the local communities in which they are based. Further, we want the areas to assist the development of their regional economies and benefit wider national supply chains. A full applicant prospectus is scheduled for publication next month. The selected designations will take part in a fair, rigorous, open and transparent process. We look forward to considering all applications and the expectation that it will serve to demonstrate the ambition, potential and commitment of the partnerships who assemble them, including local authorities who are central to the bids that we expect to come forward. That agreement delivers fair set-up funding for Scotland, demonstrates the negotiating strength of this Government and demonstrates the fundamental importance of fair work, payment of the real living wage and net zero to the Scottish Government and Scotland's future economy. I will, of course, ensure that Parliament is kept fully up-to-date on the matter as it progresses. The minister will now take questions on the issues raised in his statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for that, after which we will need to move to the next item of business. Those members who have not yet done so, but who wish to ask a question, I would ask them to press the request-to-speak buttons or place an R in the chat function. I call on Liam Kerr. I thank the minister for advance sight of his statement. It is an extraordinary rewriting of history. No one is forgotten that, having described the very concept of free ports as havens for criminality, the minister's desperation to find fault with anything the UK Government proposes and his initial reluctance to deal meant that Scotland came very close to missing out on investment that could bring, for example, 22,000 jobs to the north-east as well as an economic shot in the arm of £8.4 billion. People well recall that the mayor of Tees valley said in December that people are investing in his area who would have invested in Scotland had the minister backed free ports. It was only when the cabinet secretary took personal control of this matter, saying that free ports would deliver a major economic boost that this moved. What we have just heard from the minister is grudging, is negative and, dare I say, petulant, which is hardly surprising, given that it is an open secret that the minister had to be persuaded of the enormous economic value of free ports from within his own Government. Does he really think that he can now, in good conscience, tell the Parliament and industry that he is the minister that can make this free port project a success? Furthermore, what will the minister be doing proactively to ensure that Scotland is at the forefront of bids and ensure that the negative divisive language of his statement does not scare off potential investors? Finally, the minister acknowledges that a whopping £52 million investment by the UK Government will make these two Scottish free ports a reality. Will the Scottish Government commit to matching the scale of that ambition for Scotland? The reality is that we have been very clear right throughout this process, with the extensive engagement that I have had with businesses, ports and others, and anyone that he talks to will confirm that right through this whole period of exactly where our red lines were. We have articulated that very clearly and identified the risks, as I have done in my statement and as I did previously, around the free port model globally. We worked very extensively with the team and Government and beyond to understand what the opportunities were in that. I have listened very closely to businesses as a consequence of that. As I said, through the very extensive engagement that has happened through the course of the past year and a half on this process, we have been very clear on our red lines, on fair work, on real living wage, on a commitment to net zero, on an equal say in the designation and on the UK Government putting in equal funding to Scotland, as it has done to the ports in England. It has been the UK Government that has been slow to come back to the table. I wrote to the UK Government on 27 February last year, 2021—no answer. I wrote again on 5 March—no answer. I wrote again on 12 March—no answer. I wrote again on 24 March—no answer—to try and get something away prior to the election period. I wrote again immediately when I came back on 11 May to the UK Government—no answer—and again on 22 June last year to the UK—no answer. Six times I wrote to the UK Government and the silence was deafening. I had a discussion with the Chief Secretary of the Treasury, Steve Barclay, back in February, more than a year ago now, where we had a deal laid out, but, for some reason, the UK Government pulled the plug on that. It was supposed to have been announced in the budget by the Chancellor, Richard Shunack, in March of 2021 that the UK Government pulled the plug on that. The UK Government has been disconnected on that internally. It has been unable to come to the table and unable to do it in a negotiation position. In contrast to the Scottish Government, myself, the Cabinet Secretary and the First Minister and others, I have been very clear and very consistent in every stage of the process of what was required in order for us to agree to the Greenport model. As I laid down those red lines, I have not changed. Thankfully, in November of last year, the UK Government came back to the table and approached us and said that it wanted to reopen negotiations. It recognised that us proceeding with our own Greenport model, which is exactly what we were on course to do towards the end of last year, was a suboptimal solution for business in Scotland. It would look very, very stupid indeed had it not committed to that situation. That is the reality of where we are. I will ask you to wind up your response. Finally, I am absolutely committed to FDI coming into Scotland. That is why Scotland, for seven years in a row, has been the best-performing part of the UK in attracting foreign investment and continues to do so. We have a lot of questions to get through. I would appreciate more succinct questions and indeed answers. Question number two comes from Colin Smyth. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thank you to the minister for advance sight of his statement. The ability of our two Governments to argue about almost every issue means that the Scottish ports find themselves months behind England in taking forward free ports or green ports, as the minister refers. There still remains a lack of clarity on the fair work requirements. In his statement, the minister somewhat vaguely said that applicants will want to refer to fair work criteria and should aim for the highest standards and fair work practice. It is not clear what, if anything, will be legally binding. Could the minister confirm whether or not any successful bids must include commitments on workers' rights, including the ability of trade unions to access sites and organise within green ports? Given that the minister has not even met the trade unions that represent workers in Scotland's ports to discuss green ports, will he not only do so, but also confirm that any application criteria and fair work will be legally binding and agreed with the trade unions? We know that green MSPs say that they do not support green ports, but can the minister confirm what the estimated total value of the Scottish Government's financial contribution will be to green ports and whether that funding was included in the recent green SNP budget? Finally, yesterday, Conservative MSPs rolled out support and bids from around seven out of the nine areas that have so far expressed their interest in green port status, including Cairnryan in my south Scotland region. Will the minister ensure that supporting the economies on more peripheral areas with arguably the biggest economic challenges will be part of the application criteria? I am conscious that the audio is not brilliant, but I hope that you have most of that. I thank the member for the question. We have been absolutely clear in my statement today and right through this process that fair work and payment of the real living wage are essential for bids coming forward. As we have secured equal partnership with the UK Government in the decision making process within that, we have signalled very clearly that bids that come forward do not meet those criteria. We will not be supporting them as part of that process. That is absolutely clear. We are very proud of the work that we are taking forward in conditionality with regard to fair work and the real living wage. The green port model is absolutely part of that. I have engaged with trade unions extensively through the process, through four separate meetings with trade union representatives and a separate meeting with a wider stakeholder group that trade unions have been present at. They have been very much part of that process and I am very clear on their asks to protect workers' rights, to protect environmental and other standards and to see no degradation as a consequence of the model operating. It is our ambition that the model is absolutely not a race to the bottle, but, as I said earlier, I climbed to the top. We are very committed to working with trade unions to continue to do that. The member also raises the issue of displacement, as I said in my statement. Displacement is something that we are conscious of. We say that this is an opportunity to attract more investment, more business and additional jobs to Scotland, not to move business around within Scotland. Bidders, as I have said, will be required to indicate the consideration that they have given to the risks of displacement as part of the bid process and how they seek to mitigate that. On financial contribution, my colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Finance will be working through the detail on that. Clearly, it depends on the successful bid, because the shape of the types of businesses that are in the green plots will obviously influence the extent of the reliefs that will be in play, but that will be an issue not for this year's budget but for future year's budgets. Can the minister provide any further information about the economic incentives that will be provided to green pots to encourage business growth and economic development? Will any scoring system to decide the two locations fully consider local economic and social conditions? The two green pots will benefit from a comprehensive package of support, including the additional revenue support to salvage government structures and business plans, substantial seed capital for land assembly and infrastructure, reserve tax reliefs and respect of capital, land and structures, national insurance reliefs, customs easements, devolved tax relief in respect of non-domestic rates in land and buildings, and transaction tax. Depending on the plans and the circumstances of the winning bids, we will also look closely at how mainstream economic development support from within the Scottish Government and enterprise agencies could increase the impact on the ground, and we will consider additional targets to support. For example, in the area of skills, development could also supplement the package on offer, and I am happy to confirm that local economic and social conditions will be taken into account and assessing the strategic context for the bids regeneration and job creation will be the lead objective for this programme. The statement claims operators can expect a wider package of developmental support from Scotland's enterprise agencies, local government and others. Given that the Scottish Government has squeezed the budgets of our enterprise bodies and local councils, is the minister suggesting that additional money will be made available to them to fund the support and, if so, how much? Given that progress has been made elsewhere, can he confirm when next month that application prospectus will be published, what an offer for bids will be opened and closed, and what projection he is working to of when it will be effectively operational? I thank the member for the question and again, not great sound quality. I picked up the gist of it. On funding from enterprise agencies and others, that will depend, as always, on the quality of the requests that come forward and how they comply with strategic objectives and those of the enterprise agencies. Those applications for future funding will be dependent on individual circumstances. On the timing of the bid prospectus, it is clear that we are working with the UK Government, so both partners have an equal say that we move forward together on that. The full timetable will depend on the green all aspects of the detail of that, which is well progressed. We expect that, through the course of March, the bid prospectus will be launched, and we expect that, by the summer, bids will have been submitted and decisions on that will be made shortly thereafter. I thought that it would be interesting to get the member's reflection perhaps at another point on Liam Kerr's comments that the Conservative Party have decided to support the Aberdeen bid—I am assuming that it is in preference to bid from Orkney, Shetland and others in the regions that the member represents. As the minister mentioned in his statement, it is important that the steps are taken to avoid the possibility of green free ports displacing economic activity. Can the minister say any more about the steps that can be taken to ensure that green free ports make an additional contribution as opposed to displacing activity? As I said in my statement, the Scottish Government will not support any bid that does not feature a clear commitment to fair work practices, including the real living wage and other elements in the fair work first agenda. We are also very clear that displacement activity is something that we will look upon to understand within the bid offers that come forward that have been considered in mitigation steps and are in place to ensure that there are safeguards against displacement of economic activity. I echo Colin Smyth's plea with regard to peripheral communities where the benefits of designated ports would have a far greater regional impact. Can I ask when decisions will be made about where our allocated free port green ports status and how decisions will be made and agreement reached between the two Governments? As I said, the process is moving forward at pace with both Governments agreeing on the details of that as we take it forward. I expect that the two designations will be indicated later this year and in autumn of this year once we have gone through the full process. The bid prospectus will lay out in detail how the process will be taken forward and how it will be scored. As I said, that will be launched through the course of March. I am very well aware of the issues that have been raised and what we are seeking to do with this initiative is to make sure that Scotland is able to compete on an international stage. The quality of the bids that come forward will be judged on that basis, along with the criteria that I have already identified. Of course, we are very conscious of the need to meet against displacement, and the impact that the model could have is something that we are very careful to guard against with regard to displacement activity. Can the minister give any reassurance to ports not in the running to be designated as a free port who are concerned that they might be negatively affected by this move? That is a concern that has been raised to me by businesses, by ports and others. We believe that what we are doing with the Greenport model is absolutely the right thing to do to put Scotland in a competitive position internationally. My priority is to make sure that it is beneficial to the national economy and the wider supply change across Scotland. All ports are welcome to apply alone or in partnership. When we are clearer later in the year where the two Greenports will be, I think that that will be the time to have a look at the impact of that designation and how it plays in the wider context across all of Scotland's ports and in the wider ecosystem to make sure that, as the member identifies, ports that are not successful are also supported to take forward their business expansion plans. He will be aware of the Scottish Greens' very strong opposition to free ports. I will not rehearse all our reasons for that now, but I must make clear that what we have heard today does not do enough to challenge the fundamental functions of free ports, that they facilitate and legitimise tax avoidance, poor labour conditions and environmental degradation. It is not enough that BIDS will, and I quote, aim for the very highest standards in fair work practices, end quote, we must demand and require companies to meet these high standards. Our workers and trade unions deserve nothing less. Aren't these proposals just a UK Government Brexit project that has been greenwashed and will result in tax avoidance and the loss of public resources and common's wealth to the private sector? No. I know that the Greens are in support of fair work and payment of the real living wage and accelerating conditionality to deliver that. The Greenport model delivers that. I know that the Greens are in favour of accelerating our move towards net zero and requiring businesses to come forward with plans to deliver on that. I know that the Greens are in favour of building Scotland's industrial base so that we can benefit from the developments, in particular offshore wind, but other sectors and technologies that are focused on net zero. That Greenport model delivers that. I know that the Greens are in favour of sporting business, where it makes sense to enable Scottish businesses to be able to take advantage of those opportunities. That Greenport model delivers that. That Greenport model is also very clear about no degradation of worker rights or environmental standards. Frankly, I am a bit perplexed about why the Greens do not support the Greenport model, given that it ticks all those boxes in terms of their requirements for such a model. Does the last exchange show the complete irrelevance of the Greens in Government and that they cannot have any influence over Government policy? The Government has got a shocking record in this area. It spent millions of pounds failing to save BiFab, but now the site owners' infrastructure are recruiting from abroad because the Government did not train enough workers to build the tiny number of turbine jackets that have been built in this country. Is the Government going to get anything out of this Greenport deal, or is it just going to be a repeat of the BiFab shambles? We are hugely focused on delivering and maximising the opportunities from Scotland and other opportunities that present themselves as a result of the transition to net zero, working with my colleague Michael Matheson. I am heading up a working group that is looking to make sure that we can maximise the benefits for Scottish businesses and that Scottish businesses are well prepared with the capacity, capability and the skills in place to take advantage of those opportunities as they come forward. Skills development is absolutely key to that transition, and I do not need to rehearse that at the time to list all the initiatives that the Scottish Government has taken to make sure that we have the skills in place going forward to support a fair transition to net zero. The Greenport model is another tool in the box, and I have said that it is another opportunity for Scotland to further build on the very promising sector. We have run about offshore wind but other sectors as well in that transition to net zero. That is where it is focused on. It is taking forward this agenda. It is delivering for businesses, ports, communities and workers across Scotland. It is delivering on the fair work agenda. It is delivering on economic development and delivering on the transition to net zero. We have got three more members who want to ask questions, and I am a minute and a half. I will prepare to go over a little, but I repeat my plea for six ink questions and as succinct answers as possible. First, Ruth Maguire to be followed by Jamie Greene. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Minister how Greenports will contribute to the exporting infrastructure an independent Scotland will need. Minister, our objective is to build Scotland's economy to make it as strong as possible so that when we become independent, we have an economy that can compete internationally, and much of that is already in place. That initiative will help to further cement that, enhance Scotland's international competitiveness on those key sectors that I identified in my statement earlier, where Scotland has genuine global advantage and to build our economy to face into that net zero future. As such, that initiative provides an important platform and an opportunity for an independent Scotland. Jamie Greene to be followed by Audrey Nicholl. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Greenark on the Clyde coast is a long and proud industrious history of maritime trade, with deep coastal waters, border checks, transport links and much of the infrastructure that is needed for such a huge investment. We also desperately need jobs and investment. Can I ask the Scottish Government to support, in principle, a Clyde port bid of this nature? Would it work constructively with all parties to ensure that we can bring this much-needed opportunity to my region? I thank the member for his question and the very positive nature that is framed in, unlike some of his other colleagues, and I would be delighted to work with him to look at the opportunities in his region. As I am with ports right across the country, some of whom I have met, some of whom I intend to visit over the coming months, and I am always open to constructive discussions in that regard to support Scotland's economic development. I am just interested to know what Jamie Greene thinks of Liam Kerr yesterday, which committed the Conservative Party to supporting the Aberdeenbyd to the exclusion of all others. It is very important that green ports make a beneficial contribution to the Scottish economy in terms of inclusive growth. How specifically will growth be measured to ensure that the benefit is accrued to Scotland's balance sheet, given the complex supply chains that could be involved? It will be critical to ensure that wider supply chains in Scotland benefit from the two new designations, according to that broad economic benefit as part of avoiding displacement effects. The applicant perspectives will ask for commentary and bidder's plans in that respect and I also agree very strongly with the point made about the benefits that we must deliver for communities around the new sites. I want to see net new jobs being taken up by local people who will enjoy good pay terms and conditions. Thank you very much minister. That concludes the item of business and we will shortly move on to the next item of business.