Chamber and committees

Why does the member feel that the cost of improving, and increasing the value of, a privately held asset should fall on tenants?

We have just heard from the cabinet secretary that Forestry and Land Scotland purchased Glen Prosen for the purposes of nature recovery, climate resilience and public health and wellbeing activities, which are clearly in the public interest. When I consulted on my proposed land ownership and public interest bill, I found widespread support for a public interest test on transfers of large landholdings. Will the cabinet secretary support the inclusion of a public interest test in the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill ahead of stage 3?

New infrastructure such as data centres requires land, but land ownership in Scotland continues to be concentrated in the hands of anonymous corporate investors such as Gresham House, which, according to research by Andy Wightman, is now the second-largest private landowner in the country. It is clear that, without a presumed limit on land ownership, remote corporate entities such as Gresham House will continue to monopolise Scotland’s natural resources, including energy. Does the cabinet secretary agree that Scotland’s natural resources—which are, after all, public goods—must, at the very least, be used in the public interest?

I apologise to you, Presiding Officer, and to everybody present for my unacceptable lateness.

Following the SPCB’s announcement regarding the interim position on the Supreme Court ruling, the executive committee of the Public and Commercial Services Union’s Scottish Parliament branch expressed its concerns about what it said was a complete lack of consultation with the recognised trade unions. The SPCB claims that it is consulting the unions, but I am told that that is categorically untrue and that the trade unions have not been consulted on the interim position. When will meaningful consultation take place with the trade unions on that position?

The Scottish Government does my constituents in the north-east no favours by making promises that it will not keep. If the First Minister is serious and has been serious for several years about the use of that technology in that site, why did the ScotWind leasing round award seabed rights for the MarramWind wind farm on the very same site as the Acorn project? What is he doing to remedy that?

I thank the cabinet secretary for her response, which Rhoda Grant will respond to. I am sure that she will be in touch to discuss the issue further, and she is aware that there are later amendments that seek to address some of the issues that she was looking at. On that basis, I withdraw amendment 381.

Amendment 381, by agreement, withdrawn.

Section 8 agreed to.

Schedule

Thank you very much, convener. Good evening to the committee and the cabinet secretary.

Amendment 381 would ensure that land transfers in key rural areas contribute to small-scale farming opportunities, which supports the bill’s overall objectives and rural sustainability goals. It would insert more equitable and productive land use in crofting and smallholding regions; introduce new obligations for landowners in certain areas of Scotland to create crofts or small landholdings when land is transferred to a new owner; and modify both the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993 and the Small Landholders (Scotland) Act 1911.

For crofts, when land in crofting areas such as the Highlands and Islands or other designated regions is sold or transferred, the new owner must apply to the Crofting Commission to convert part of the land into a new croft. That would ensure that land sales in crofting regions actively contribute to croft creation.

For smallholdings, the amendment would require the Scottish ministers to create regulations providing that, when new landowners acquire land, they must seek to constitute part of the land as small landholdings. The regulations would follow the affirmative procedure, which means that they would require parliamentary approval.

I move amendment 381.

I thank the cabinet secretary for her response, which Rhoda Grant will respond to. I am sure that she will be in touch to discuss the issue further, and she is aware that there are later amendments that seek to address some of the issues that she was looking at. On that basis, I withdraw amendment 381.

Amendment 381, by agreement, withdrawn.

Section 8 agreed to.

Schedule

Ambulances are a lifeline at a time of desperate need, but figures show that, so far in 2025, more than half of all ambulances in Scotland have been stuck on hospital forecourts for more than 45 minutes. In one of those was my constituent, who, after having had a stroke, spent seven hours overnight in a sweltering ambulance, with no food or drink, waiting for a bed in the Aberdeen royal infirmary. A spokesperson for NHS Grampian said that that was regrettable and apologised, but the fact remains that it is an institution at stage 4 that is facing sustained pressure and has the lowest number of beds per head of population in the country. What is the minister doing to support NHS Grampian to increase capacity?

As a high-protein sustainable food source, Scottish venison should be available to everyone. However, I have heard reports of land managers burying deer rather than allowing them to be processed to feed the nation. What action is the Scottish Government taking to prevent wealthy landowners from blocking venison for the many?