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We do not necessarily need to wait for a review of the national outcomes before dealing with some of the problems. If there are particular circumstances that need to be looked into, please let me and other relevant ministers know about them.

It is important that we do not forget about the work that is on-going. Our national islands plan is a good example of that. Providing broadband and general connectivity is one of the current plan’s strategic outcomes, and we have to set out how we are delivering against that outcome through the work that is being undertaken.

I appreciate that people who live in a community that does not have access to fibre broadband will feel left out, but, generally, digital connectivity has been improving. However, people in the areas that have not been reached yet will feel the issues more acutely. We have to set out how we are delivering against that outcome and others.

We picked up on a lot of the issues, some of which you have touched on, through the consultation on the national islands plan last year. We heard loud and clear that the plan needs to be updated to reflect some of the current challenges that island communities face. Those will be taken into consideration when we set the objectives in the new national islands plan, which we will publish next year.

That work is, of course, island specific, but I have also talked about what the rural delivery plan might look like. It will not replicate what is in the national islands plan, but it will set out what we are doing across different policy areas to address some of the challenges for our rural communities in Scotland.

First, I refute what you said about a lack of delivery, because we have delivered on some of the areas that you have mentioned, including the publication of the rural and islands—

To be absolutely clear, is the £61 million the overall figure that you are referring to—

Again, the £61 million was largely from unspent funds—

I am sorry, but the figure that you are referencing there—I know that there is the £61 million of ring-fenced funding, but in relation to that—

In the work that we are taking forward, we already know that we have stringent targets to meet. Regardless of when the climate change plan might be published, our overall ambition is still to achieve net zero by 2045, and we still have to report annually on how we are doing on emissions. The targets that we have had on agriculture, for example, are really stretching. The programme of work that we have set out and the timeline for it have been important in allowing us to illustrate how we intend to reduce emissions over that period and how we will do so through the framework of future support and incentivising the behaviours that we want.

We already know that we have stringent targets to meet. Regardless of when the climate change plan might come through, that will not stop or inhibit any of that work, because we know that we need to continue to work at pace to implement those changes.

It is as has been set out. All the areas that we must have regard to are described in detail in the legislation that we passed, through various amendments to the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill on the rural support plan. We are not dealing with these policies in isolation. Whatever is set out in relation to the biodiversity strategy and the delivery plan—there will also be a natural environment bill, which will underpin some of that in legislation—will feature in our development of the future agricultural support system and framework.

I thank the committee for all the work that it did during the passage of the bill that became that act, because some of the amendments that were made greatly strengthened the legislation. When we develop our future policy, we will have regard to everything in the act, including the point that you mention, so that will feature in our plans. Again, I cannot say definitively that that will form part of some of our programmes or funding streams, but we will have regard to it.

Again, we have tried to set out as much information as we can through the route map about when more information will become available. As I have said, the rural support plan is going to be published next year, before the new part of the future framework is implemented with the enhanced tier, which is due to be introduced in 2026. There will, of course, be more information in relation to that, and I will keep the committee updated.

There are some important details within that. There were particular times when Forestry and Land Scotland would not have been able to engage with people living on the estate because of when that transaction took place. Again, I am more than happy to follow up on those details, because it is important to get the facts correct.

We certainly do not want to see depopulation of the glens. If anything, we want to see the opposite and people being encouraged to come into that area. That is very much the approach that is being taken. I will investigate any concerns, which I take really seriously, as I must, because that is an important responsibility. I am more than happy to follow that up.