Chamber and committees

We will continue to support the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to deliver the high standard of services that are required to keep Scotland safe. That includes the implementation of its wildfire strategy and an overall budget increase of £18.8 million for this year.

The emergencies that the SFRS has responded to have changed significantly over the years. For example, dwelling fires have reduced by more than 20 per cent since 2013. Although the number of house fires has reduced, other incidents, such as flooding and wildfires, which is what we are talking about, have increased. That is why it is right that the fire service is carefully considering how to adapt to the changing risks to remain effective and efficient, with firefighters in the right place at the right time.

Climate change is contributing to warmer and drier conditions, which increase the likelihood and the intensity of wildfires. Shifts in weather patterns, such as those that led to last week’s wildfire danger warning and this week’s yellow warning for rain, reinforce the climate challenges that we currently face.

Although there have been no significant wildfires during the latest wildfire warning period, we have seen significant fires this year. I commend the SFRS and its partners in the rural and land management sectors, which ably assisted in dealing with those fires.

In October, the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity and I will host a wildfire summit to discuss with our partners how we can improve our wildfire preparedness, prevention and response in the future. We continue to work with the SFRS to support full implementation of its wildfire strategy, which will continued to be rolled out this year, with new equipment, vehicles and personal protection equipment, to be backed by £1.6 million of funding over three years.

Muirburn is just one way of addressing the increasing wildfire risks in Scotland and should not be seen as a silver bullet. I appreciate that not everybody agrees with the science on muirburn on peatlands, but that was thoroughly consulted on and debated during the lead-up to and passage of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024.

The muirburn licensing scheme that the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity is introducing has not been brought into effect yet. We are working with practitioners to ensure that it will be a workable scheme, especially in relation to wildfire prevention.

With regard to the equipment for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, I have regular meetings with the SFRS and it has not brought that up as an issue. If the member has any specific concerns, I am happy for him to write to me and I will look into them for him.

I am deeply concerned about some of the rhetoric that we are seeing across the United Kingdom, which should have no place in our society. It is therefore vital that factual information is also placed in the public domain. As elected members across the UK—as democratically elected representatives with a platform—we have a duty and a responsibility to ensure that we call out any dangerous misinformation, and certainly that we do not perpetrate it.

In a democracy, people have the right of peaceful protest, but the protests outside the hotels go far beyond what is acceptable in our country, which has historically had a humane approach, and one that we should be proud of, to those fleeing conflict and persecution. The protests are creating a sense of real fear and alarm for those who have already gone through so much.

In saying that, it is important that we engage with the people who are protesting in order to hear their concerns and understand the reasons that are driving them to protest. I know that Police Scotland continues to engage with protesters through liaison officers, and the Scottish Government has funded the Centre for Good Relations to work with those who are protesting to hear their concerns.

The right to free speech and protest is at the heart of a healthy democracy and the Scottish Government is committed to upholding that right, but it understands the distress that the protests are causing to residents across asylum accommodation. Creating buffer zones similar to those that have been introduced in relation to abortion clinics would require new legislation. We have no current plans to do that, but we will continue to monitor the situation.

Scottish ministers have regular discussions with Police Scotland on a range of issues including the policing of protests. Operational policing is a matter for Police Scotland, and it has confirmed that it has the appropriate resources to ensure the safety of those who are in attendance and to mitigate disruption to the wider community. Police Scotland is a rights-based organisation and it is committed to facilitating peaceful protests and counter-demonstrations to allow those who are seeking to protest to exercise their human rights. However, let me be clear: there is no place for criminality or hate crime on our streets, and I fully support Police Scotland taking the appropriate and proportionate action in response to such behaviour.

Will the member give way?

First, I need to say to Jackie Baillie that, as I said the last time we discussed the issue in the chamber, no decisions on the consultation have been made yet. The consultation for the service delivery review closed on 16 September.

The emergencies that the SFRS responds to have changed significantly over the years—for example, the number of dwelling fires has reduced by more than 20 per cent since 2013. I have a commitment from the SFRS that an independent review will go over the consultation before any decision is made, and when any decision is made it will be rolled out over a period of five years.

Any prospective purchaser who intends to buy property at an auction house should ensure that they have all the necessary information. Buyers can request certain information from the selling agent or undertake their own searches.

Any concerns about auction houses not providing full disclosure of the state of land or property should be reported to the local trading standards office. Anyone who believes that they have been subjected to misleading advertising practices should contact Advice Direct Scotland to discuss their concerns. The Scottish Legal Aid Board provides information on the nearest solicitors who offer help through legal aid or other advice providers.

I note the concerns that Liam McArthur has raised, which I am happy to look into on his behalf. I also note that the member has previously asked whether it would be possible to lodge an amendment on that to the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, and I understand that the cabinet secretary in charge of the bill would be happy to discuss that further with him in order to identify concerns and appropriate means of dealing with the issue.