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Chamber and committees

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 22 August 2025
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Displaying 5744 contributions

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Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 1 June 2022

Ariane Burgess

You have broadly responded to most of my questions. The minister MĂ iri McAllan stated that

“chasing and killing a mammal with a dog, for sport or otherwise, has no place in modern Scotland”,

and that view is shared by 77 per cent of the Scottish public, who, in response to a 2019 poll, said that the existing legislation to protect animals from hunting needs to be strengthened. It is important to remember that protecting animal welfare is a key concern for people, and it is a key driver of the bill. Why is the title of the bill the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill when the title of the previous act—the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002—better reflects the animal welfare motivation?

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 1 June 2022

Ariane Burgess

That is what I was wondering about.

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 1 June 2022

Ariane Burgess

When you had your discussions with NatureScot about granting licences for a maximum of 14 days and its capacity for doing that, did you discuss accountability and transparency?

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 1 June 2022

Ariane Burgess

I would like a bit of clarity on licensing for environmental benefit, which you may have touched on a bit. Section 8 states that a licence in connection with section 7

“must not be granted unless the relevant authority is satisfied ... that killing, capturing or observing the wild mammal will contribute towards a significant or long-term environmental benefit”.

In order to balance the need to protect certain species and enhance biodiversity with the need to protect the welfare of all sentient animals and manage wildlife ethically, will guidance be published on how to determine what meets the criteria for

“significant or long-term environmental benefit”?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Allotments

Meeting date: 31 May 2022

Ariane Burgess

That is helpful. It is great to hear about the work that you have been doing with the Scottish Community Alliance to analyse the food growing strategies.

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Allotments

Meeting date: 31 May 2022

Ariane Burgess

At this point, I am going to set out what we will do for the next half an hour or so. We have about seven or eight questions left, and we will try to cover three themes. You may have already covered some of them, because you are doing such brilliant work here. What you are sharing with us is great.

The next theme is the implementation of the 2015 act and the assumptions about the size of allotments. Then we will bring in a bit more of the local food strategies, which Lou Evans started to touch on. We then want to talk about, and get a greater understanding from you about, volunteering and planning, which we have also touched on.

We still have quite a lot to cover, but we have touched on a lot of those things already. I will bring in Marie McNair with a couple of questions about the size of the plots.

11:00  

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Allotments

Meeting date: 31 May 2022

Ariane Burgess

That is very true. This has been a rich conversation. Paul McLennan and the rest of us have gained a lot from it.

Lou Evans referred to “our sector”. I think that you said what that is, but I would love it if you could encapsulate what you are imagining when you say “our sector”.

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Allotments

Meeting date: 31 May 2022

Ariane Burgess

The next item is to take evidence on the impact of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 on allotments and community food growing. This is the first of three evidence sessions that the committee is holding as part of its inquiry. We will be discussing the topic today with a panel of witnesses representing allotment and food growing organisations.

I welcome Lou Evans from the Community Growing Forum Scotland; Jenny Reeves, who is the chair of the Glasgow Allotments Forum; Stuart McKenzie, who is the president of the Federation of Edinburgh and District Allotments and Gardens Associations; and Richard Crawford, who is the vice-president of the Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society, who is joining us online.

It would be helpful if members could direct their questions to a specific witness where possible, although I will be happy to bring in others who wish to contribute. If other witnesses wish to comment, please indicate your desire to do so to me or to the clerk and I will bring you in at an appropriate point. Richard, I would be grateful if you could indicate when you wish to come in by typing R in the chat function in BlueJeans. I will begin by asking a few questions and then open up the session to questions from other members.

This is about the big picture of allotments. I am keen to hear your views on the broader, positive impacts of allotments, particularly the social, environmental and food security benefits that allotments bring. Do you have any sense of how those benefits are being measured. Do you think that allotments have an impact in other areas of public policy in Scotland? There is quite a bit there. I will start with Stuart McKenzie and then go to everybody else.

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Allotments

Meeting date: 31 May 2022

Ariane Burgess

Indeed. Thank you very much for your response to that. Yesterday, we visited Stuart McKenzie’s allotment and I told him that I came across that allotment site in Inverleith park when I was a child, and I remember it being a magical discovery experience. You are right that allotments are tucked away. We visited others yesterday as well. Inverleith allotments seem to be more visible now and there are 180 people growing food there. We visited others that are visible and we saw a community plot that involves new Scots, which you spoke of. It was incredible to see that coming to life.

I will bring in Richard Crawford to answer the same question. In general, what are the social, environmental and food security benefits of allotments and community growing and do you have a sense, from the work that you have been doing, of whether the benefits are being measured or assessed in any way?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Allotments

Meeting date: 31 May 2022

Ariane Burgess

Thank you for that clear response and those useful figures.