To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its cross-Government co-ordination on islands policies, what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding any impact on island communities of its proposed EPC reforms. (S6O-02900)

Given the commitment to the just transition that the cabinet secretary has rightly made, will she tell us what the Scottish Government will do to ramp up activity so that we have a just transition for households that are currently living in damp, inefficient homes? We are seeing energy and heat going through the walls and roofs of those houses. What will the Scottish Government do in practice to tackle that just transition, when we have the climate crisis and the cost of living crisis?

Infrastructure is the issue. Councils are setting their budgets for 2024-25 now, so 2030 is not far away. They are having to make estimates about waste and recycling centres, vehicles and the need for infrastructure, as well as about communication. Local authorities and SOLACE have said that they do not agree with the statistics in the Scottish Government’s financial memorandum. What is your response to that? Do you have other information to fill the huge gap between what Government and local authorities are saying?

The minister’s opening statement referenced £1 billion of investment in recycling services for local authorities during the previous decade. Is it possible for the committee to get a breakdown of that? Can we also get more information about the recycling improvement fund? The Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers said that the fund is ending in the next year to 18 months. What will replace that? Finance has been an issue for local authorities since the first consultation on the bill in 2019.

This has been a really useful debate and, like others, I was interested to see it coming forward. Again, a lot of this comes back to the issue of finance for local authorities not just to ensure that facilities are available but to communicate with our constituents so that they take the right route and we do not see any more fly-tipping. After all, it damages our communities, and we need to get rid of it.

We need to look at the evidence. There is clear evidence of wrongdoing out there, which must be challenged. Standards must be raised, but there needs to be proper and effective enforcement. The points that were made about not doing annual licensing rounds and making licences longer are the kind of details that came out in the committee evidence, and that is important. There is a lot of work to be done by the Scottish Government to ensure that, by the time we get the bill through stage 2 and into stage 3, it has been effectively amended so that it will cover the areas of uncertainty that have been highlighted by the committee.

The points that Rhoda Grant made about muirburn must be considered, because we need the new regime to be effective. It requires a joined-up approach with stakeholders—the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, land managers and NatureScot—because we critically need well-managed moorlands and peatlands that not only support biodiversity but support rural jobs. That is the discussion that has been had in the chamber today, and it needs to keep going into the committee.

We may not get unanimous agreement on the bill, but we need to use stage 2 to improve it so that we have monitoring and reviewing of the licensing regimes. There is a commitment from ministers on that to ensure that the regimes are proportionate. To address the points that Colin Smyth made, I note that the regimes are really important because they will make a difference in our communities. They will improve biodiversity, improve wildlife and stop the abuse of wildlife that we currently see. It is critical that those who implement the new regimes have the staff and resources to make them effective.

Scottish Labour will support the bill this afternoon. However, we have been listening to the comments that have been made by a range of stakeholders.

I apologise for arriving slightly late to the chamber.

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what plans it has to review property factor legislation. (S6O-02817)

I thank everyone on the committee, and the clerks and all those who gave evidence on the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill, because it is clearly a set of legislative proposals that has generated responses with a wide range of views. It is also clear from reading the committee report that much more still needs to be done on the topics that the bill addresses. Essentially, the bill is unfinished, and the committee and Parliament will have to do a lot more work to make sure that it delivers on the ambitions that were set out by the minister in her opening remarks.

It is rare not just to see detailed submissions from such a raft of stakeholders but for the committee’s recommendations to identify a range of areas where more work needs to be done before the bill is finalised. Today has been very useful in highlighting those debates. Humane wildlife control and land management that enables rural businesses to be successful while supporting biodiversity are vital principles, but we also need to join up some of the other debates that we are having in the chamber and address the challenge that is posed by climate change and extreme weather. That means a more joined-up approach not just in policy terms but in action, to ensure that the management of our land is sustainable, whether it is dealing with increased incidence of flooding or the impact of droughts, which lead to more and more fires across land when it dries out or is degraded. Kate Forbes’s comments were quite important in highlighting that.

What I take away is that we need to involve and support land managers in managing moorlands and peatlands. That is critical if we are to support rural jobs and livelihoods, but it is also important for safety, and the long-standing contribution that we can make in relation to climate change. There is also a key issue in relation to resources, which I will come back to.

On the key aspects of the bill, Scottish Labour very much supports the principles of humane wildlife control and biodiversity and the proposals to ban glue traps, tackle raptor persecution and ban traditional snares. The committee received powerful evidence from animal welfare groups and nature conservation organisations on the need for legislation. Alasdair Allan made important points about the peer-reviewed evidence that was highlighted by RSPB Scotland. There is a key issue about not only considering existing evidence but collecting more evidence as the legislation is implemented, and as the licensing regimes are developed and implemented, because a lot more work needs to be done to make those ambitions successful.

That goes back to the point that I made about a joined-up approach to working with land managers and farmers to ensure that the implementation of the bill works. The recommendations from the grouse moor management group and the research by the national wildlife crime unit and RSPB Scotland all need to feed into the bill so that there is a pragmatic approach to the licensing that is being suggested and to ensure that that is managed as it is introduced.

It is clear from looking at the evidence that there is a major challenge in resourcing the bill’s implementation. Our police are already under huge financial pressures, so it is important that there are resources for new obligations that follow from the bill, whether for the police or NatureScot. An issue to pick up is that, although we can see merit in giving additional powers of investigation to SSPCA officers, Scottish Labour believes that, having looked at the evidence, the police have to retain primacy over wildlife crime investigations. There were concerns raised by legal stakeholders that need to be addressed. The new obligations will require more investment and additional training, with protocols being developed that are transparent and do not undermine our criminal justice system.

There have been quite a few discussions this afternoon about the licensing schemes that are being proposed. They need to be implemented successfully, and it is important that they do not create unintended consequences. Again, they must be designed effectively.

My inbox is increasingly full of issues relating to property factors. From the difficulties of setting up and operating residents associations to inaccurate invoices from factors, the ignoring of complaints and issues relating to the costs of landscape management, it is clear that there is a growing problem in Edinburgh and the Lothians. Will the minister therefore commit to meeting me to discuss those issues more fully and to looking at legislative and other solutions that could fix those issues for home owners, which just keep increasing in number?

We support the bill’s ambitions but, in crafting amendments and thinking through how the bill will be implemented, we must listen to the evidence that has been given to the committee and that has been discussed and flagged up in the chamber today.