Chamber and committees

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting dental practices in island communities to provide sufficient levels of service to ensure that islanders can access the dental care that they are entitled to. (S6O-05399)

I recently wrote to the Scottish Government about the serious challenges that dental patients face in the Western Isles, particularly in Uist. Recruitment is difficult, and the United Kingdom Government’s removal of certain dental roles from the skilled worker visa list has clearly made the situation worse. What recent engagement has the Scottish Government had with the UK Government and NHS Western Isles about reversing that decision and improving islanders’ access to dental services?

I welcome the announcement this week in the Scottish budget of a mansion tax on properties valued at more than £1 million. Although I am sure that he is not being singled out, it seems likely that the new leader in Scotland of Mr Farage’s party will be among the first to pay the tax. Does the First Minister agree that it is fair to ask the wealthiest to contribute to public services and that it will be good to see certain figures in the House of Lords doing so more evidently?

In that case, I will ask my main question. The witnesses have covered some of the issues that it will raise.

What scale or type of policy would you like to see from agricultural reform programmes so as to have confidence in the emissions trajectory? That is a more positive phrasing than the provocative approach that I took with my supplementary—I understand that we will come to that subject. What would you like to see in the way in which we change agriculture in order to get to the aims that you are talking about?

You have all mentioned that the national vision around reducing carbon emissions from agriculture involves reform—that is, change—on the part of farmers and crofters. You have kind of answered this already, but perhaps you can say a wee bit more about it. To what extent do you feel that that aim is realistic? Can you give some practical examples of what the sector is doing by way of reforming its practices that might help it to get there?

You mentioned some of the things that the sector is doing off its own bat, if you like, to reach these aims. I appreciate the separate point that you make about Government support and so on, but it would be interesting for the committee to hear a wee bit about the things that the sector is doing to reform itself.

I am just looking for a few examples.

I will ask this question in a deliberately provocative manner—forgive me. A couple of you have mentioned your considered assessment that Scotland is not going far enough, and you seem to be talking about the Climate Change Committee’s recommendations on livestock. You have suggested that such proposals would be difficult or unpopular—that may be the case; I do not know.

However, there is another question. If Scotland were to, uncritically, take the advice about livestock, what would places such as the area that I live in and represent do in agriculture? What would happen if livestock levels were to fall below a critical mass, to the point at which communities could not operate agriculturally?

In such situations, what would happen if the landscape were to change radically because it was not grazed and there was not habitat for bird species and so on? What would happen if we were to do all that at the same time as we kept eating meat, which we would buy from the other side of the world?

Crofting is a subject that is never far from my inbox—nor is the issue of crofting reform. It is clear that substantial change to 150 years’ worth of crofting legislation cannot be achieved in a single bill, but the bill that is before us is an important first step towards wider reform. It is my view that an additional bill will be needed in the next parliamentary session.

I thank the other members of the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee, our officials and the witnesses for their input into our report. I particularly mention the visit that the committee’s convener Mr Carson and I were able to make to Skye. I believe that that visit was useful in informing the report and its conclusion that the committee should back the general principles of the bill. I also thank the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity for his direct engagement with me on the bill and, more importantly, for his engagement with the wider committee.

Part 1 of the bill focuses on nine key areas, including: expanding the powers of the Crofting Commission; streamlining the administration of crofting duties; amending the crofting register; and enabling more use of digital communication between crofters and the commission. It also introduces provisions for the environmental use of crofts and common grazings and sets out definitions of a “crofting community” and an “owner-occupier”. Part 2 of the bill merges the Scottish Land Court and the Lands Tribunal for Scotland, and part 3 contains more general provisions.

As the committee report says, crofting does not function without effective regulation. There are still concerns about the number of crofts that are abandoned or where the crofter is a long-term absentee. Likewise, there are concerns about the need for enforcement action on that to allow new entrants easier access to crofting. The committee welcomes the emphasis on the environment that is evident throughout the bill, but it is also keen to see safeguards to prevent any wholesale abandonment of agricultural land in the name of environmental use.

It is outwith the scope of this bill, but in the future we must see legislation to tackle issues created by the marketisation of crofts that has happened in recent years. As the minister said in November last year, the current bill will prepare the ground for what comes next by helping to increase residency levels and active croft use to allow consideration of what will be needed thereafter to increase the number of new entrants into crofting and to sustain support for existing crofters.

As the Scottish Crofting Federation has noted, work on more fundamental reform must get under way during session 7 with a review of crofting policy and law. That must be followed by the introduction of further legislation and the continuation of the robust engagement with stakeholders that there has been to date in this complex area of law.

I have no doubt that, in the course of stage 2, I will be among the committee members seeking to lodge amendments to improve the bill that is before us. However, I believe that the bill is an important step forward for crofting reform and that stakeholders will want to see it pass. I am therefore happy to commend the committee’s report to members.

All will appreciate the budget’s support with the cost of living during what is such a financially challenging time for so many people. My constituency has some of the highest fuel poverty rates in the country. Will the cabinet secretary outline what specific support is included in the budget for those in rural and island areas who struggle with rising bills?