Chamber and committees

That moves us on to a report that our Economy and Fair Work Committee carried out on the supply chain. It looked at—

Thank you for recognising the world renown of Scottish seed potatoes. I am interested in the proposals regarding Northern Ireland and in how the current discussions on the Northern Ireland protocol might have an impact.

I have a quick question on the impact that Brexit has had on seed potato farmers in Scotland. What is the UK Government doing to alleviate the issues? Might that involve considering where farmers in the UK source their seed potatoes?

Thank you for joining us, Mr Eustice. I want to expand on the points that my colleague Mr Fairlie made. When the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, on which I sit, took evidence from Dr McCorkindale, he suggested that

“two important constitutional considerations ... arise from the Subsidy Control Bill”.

First,

“there are additional powers by which the UK Government might intervene with regard to the exercise of executive power by Scottish Ministers”,

such as calling in subsidies or referring them to the Competition and Markets Authority, whereas Scottish ministers and other devolved Administrations do not have equivalent powers. Secondly, he talked about the extent to which the bill

“constrains the scope of existing and future devolved executive power.”

Can you can comment on those findings?

As Ariane Burgess said, the bill, as introduced, requires Scottish ministers and relevant authorities to

“have regard ... to the scope for food-related issues to affect”

matters that are listed in sections 1(5) and 7(6). Those matters currently include social and economic wellbeing, the environment, health and economic development.

My amendments 37 and 51 would add animal welfare to the lists, and amendments 36 and 50 would expand the outcome of health, such that it would read:

“health and physical and mental wellbeing (including in particular through the provision of health and social care services)”.

My amendments reflect evidence that was given to the committee at stage 1 that there should be specific reference to animal welfare and to all types of health, as well as to the impacts on the provision of health and social care in the lists of outcomes. I believe that my amendments address those concerns and I therefore urge the committee to support the amendments in my name.

In your introduction, you mentioned the impact of Covid-19 on island communities. Like the whole of Scotland and the rest of the world, we have had negative impacts, but important lessons have been learned, with islanders recognising their resilience.

Last week, I was at a Community Land Scotland event that involved considering how asset management and asset ownership help communities to pull together and find solutions. That is really positive but, on the flipside, when I visit islands, I often hear concerns that other stakeholders that are incorporated into the way that islands operate perhaps put up barriers to prevent innovative ideas from coming from islanders. What can the Scottish Government and the islands team do to help to reduce that?

I want to move on to the issue of carbon neutral islands. My colleague Dr Allan mentioned the differences in transmission charges. The other side of that is that our islands are brilliantly situated to contribute to the blue economy and renewable energy, whether we are talking about tidal power, community wind turbines, small hydro power schemes, the community heating network scheme in Iona or the big W1 project off Islay and Tiree. I would like some information on how the Scottish Government is working and what it is doing to ensure that islands are supported in their drive to carbon neutrality.

I feel that I am kind of giving you a road trip round the islands in my constituency, cabinet secretary.

On Friday, I was on Jura, which is experiencing population growth and attracting younger populations. Quite rightly, the development trust and the community council there are incredibly proud of the work that they have been doing. However, they raised concerns about volunteer fatigue and who will take the island on to the next stage. Given that islands are not the same and that each has its own unique character, how is your work focusing on the differences across the islands? We can also talk about learning from other islands, as well as those in our own communities.

Ariane Burgess asked about housing, which was also raised as an issue when I was on Jura. I know that you have visited Colonsay, where a fantastic partnership exists between the community, the Scottish Government and the salmon business there. One suggestion that was raised by people on Jura was about how to raise funds for housing through community share ownership or wider share ownership of housing. There are lots of innovative ideas, and I am pleased to hear that you hope to get out and listen to communities. I would hope that the listening process is the short part and that the action is the big part. I would be interested to know how you plan to move forward with the ideas that communities have suggested about those issues.

I have the privilege of representing Argyll and Bute, which includes lots of amazing islands. You mentioned the Kerrera road project, which has made a huge difference. The island communities are working together to find different solutions to their problems, whether they be with housing, renewables or community land and asset ownership. Many of those issues fall under different ministerial portfolios. How do you work with your colleagues to ensure that the specifics of the islands are included in all policy areas?