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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 11 July 2025
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Displaying 5898 contributions

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Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Budget 2023-24

Meeting date: 11 January 2023

Finlay Carson

This might be a little off script but, on the subject of rural and island housing, we have a mandate from the Government to ensure that all buildings are energy efficient by 2025. About 170,000 homes in Scotland are off the gas grid, of which probably 40,000 are not suitable for the installation of air-source pumps and things. That might lead to a situation where people in islands in particular face bills of about £30,000 to install heat pumps or whatever.

Have you done any work to look at the impact on rural housing, and specifically island housing, given the three-year target to have houses at the highest efficiency levels? Have you made any bids for further funding to your portfolio to address that?

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Budget 2023-24

Meeting date: 11 January 2023

Finlay Carson

That concludes our list of questions. Cabinet secretary, you have committed to come back to us on quite a number of areas. Some more detail would be welcome, including a timescale for the £61 million to potentially come back into the portfolio. I believe that a conveners debate on the budget is scheduled for 26 January. A response to the committee before then would be most helpful to inform our contribution to that debate.

I thank you and your officials for your contributions.

Meeting closed at 10:47.  

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Budget 2023-24

Meeting date: 11 January 2023

Finlay Carson

Good morning, and happy new year to everyone. Welcome to the first meeting in 2023 of the Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee. I remind members who are using electronic devices to switch them to silent mode, please. Mercedes Villalba will join us at approximately 10 am.

Our single item of business today is evidence on the 2023-24 Scottish Government budget. I welcome to the meeting Mairi Gougeon, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, and her supporting officials: George Burgess, director of agriculture and rural economy; Erica Clarkson, joint head of division, rural and island futures; Sheetal Mehra, head of strategic engagement for budget and spending review; and Iain Wallace, head of strategy and change, Marine Scotland. I invite the cabinet secretary to make an opening statement.

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Budget 2023-24

Meeting date: 11 January 2023

Finlay Carson

Before we move on to the final theme, I have a question. The budget cut of more than £60 million that was announced in the autumn included a cut of £2.2 million to Marine Scotland through savings from enhanced recruitment controls and forecast changes in research programmes. Can you tell us what that means in practice on the ground?

10:30  

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Budget 2023-24

Meeting date: 11 January 2023

Finlay Carson

Thank you very much, cabinet secretary. I will kick off.

We have fairly ambitious plans for agriculture and marine when it comes to climate change and biodiversity. We are also very aware of the pressures faced by island communities, with depopulation and so on. This is a very simple question that maybe does not have a simple answer. What are the practical implications of the current inflationary pressures on the rural affairs budget, and how will you deal with them?

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Budget 2023-24

Meeting date: 11 January 2023

Finlay Carson

We will now move on to agriculture funding and reforms.

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Budget 2023-24

Meeting date: 11 January 2023

Finlay Carson

I will bring in Ariane Burgess to carry on that theme, unless Jenni Minto’s supplementary question is to do with testing. Is it, Jenni?

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Budget 2023-24

Meeting date: 11 January 2023

Finlay Carson

This discussion is bizarre. George, you talk the talk, and it all sounds very good—you do the soil test and the work after it, and you will save money. That is all good, and it improves biodiversity and helps to tackle climate change. Cabinet secretary, you said that it is not about just ticking a box, but the sad fact is that, up to 12 December, only 12 people had ticked the box. We do not even know whether those 12 people went on to do the wonderful and right things that George Burgess talked about. Given that funding is available for something that is the key to future profitability, future low-impact farming and so on, it seems bizarre that we have had such a massively slow uptake.

You suggested in a letter on the pre-budget scrutiny that the national test programme has been “slow” with a

“mixture of feedback from the sector”.

What is the feedback from the sector? Why is the programme not working? If it is a simple process that results in far better farming, profitability-wise, for the farmer and for climate change and biodiversity, why do we have such a shockingly low uptake? It cannot be about just the lull between people doing the test and claiming, because farmers are not renowned for doing something and not claiming the money back. Where has it all gone wrong?

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Budget 2023-24

Meeting date: 11 January 2023

Finlay Carson

Jim Fairlie has a supplementary question.

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Budget 2023-24

Meeting date: 11 January 2023

Finlay Carson

Has any assessment been made of the impact on some of the businesses that are trying to trade out of difficult situations such as Covid? We are looking at businesses developing, and it will be over two years before funding is available for the type of business development that we have seen through the scheme before. How many businesses might be adversely impacted by a lack of funding in the next two years and more?