Chamber and committees

I know that, in the future fisheries management delivery plan, the Scottish Government has committed to a review of penalties for fisheries offences. Has that work been done, and have you any views on penalties and how they would apply in this case and in relation to this order?

Caitlin Turner mentioned the issue of whether we are living up to international best practice. Do any of you have a view on whether some of the proposed sites come nearer to that mark than others?

Thanks to the radical action that has already been taken on land reform by the Scottish Government, many community groups have been able to successfully purchase estates. Today, there are two potential buyouts at different stages in my constituency—the Bays of Harris and Bernera. How will the next phase of land reform legislation further support such community buyouts, particularly those on crofting land?

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I could not connect. I would have voted no.

As someone who frequently raises the issue of affordable housing in relation to my constituency, I am pleased to speak in support of the Housing (Scotland) Bill, as well as the measures that the cabinet secretary set out recently in the Government’s housing action plan.

Housing pressures remain acute across much of Scotland, and the lack of a private rented sector in many rural communities adds to the pressures there. I think that everyone acknowledges that, despite significant investment in housing over the SNP’s time in government, challenges remain across our cities, towns and rural areas, but the bill will tackle those problems head on. This primary legislation will be useful in achieving those ends.

Under the SNP, Scotland is already the fairest place in the United Kingdom to rent, and the bill will build on that to create a sustainable, well-regulated sector. The bill is an essential piece of legislation that will help to advance tenants’ rights and tackle homelessness in Scotland. As we have heard, measures in the bill will empower tenants, proactively prevent homelessness and provide certainty to encourage continued investment across the housing sector.

The recently published housing action plan outlines nearly £5 billion of investment over the next four years and focuses on three key areas—ending children living in unsuitable accommodation, supporting the housing needs of vulnerable groups, and supporting growth and investment in the housing sector.

Since coming to office in 2007, the SNP in government has built 40 per cent more affordable homes per head of population than England over the same period, and 70 per cent more than Labour-run Wales. That is all against a backdrop of increased costs and challenges as a result of the financial crash, Brexit and the pandemic, as well as the severe limits that are placed on Scotland’s borrowing powers.

In my constituency, work has begun this year on 12 new social housing units in Leverburgh in Harris. That might not sound a big number but, to a small community where no social housing has been built for 50 years, it could represent the difference that means the local care home staying open, a business continuing to be able to operate or local health services being able to function. The local community council and housing association are to be commended for their efforts in bringing that project to fruition.

At the other end of the scale, I can think of the 74-home development at An Allt Dubh outside Stornoway, which was visited recently by the First Minister and is one of a number of larger projects under way to improve access to affordable housing in the islands.

It is important that we continue investing in affordable housing to ensure that it is available to all of Scotland’s communities. That flexibility ensures that the higher cost per unit of building in rural communities is not a barrier to progress. We must also continue helping community organisations and landowners to build affordable homes by using tailored support such as the rural and islands housing fund.

There remains much work to do to ensure that everyone in Scotland has a high-quality, long-term and affordable home, but the measures set out in the bill demonstrate the Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling the housing emergency. I commend the cabinet secretary for her on-going efforts in bringing the bill, and the accompanying housing action plan, to fruition.

Will the member take an intervention?

I thank Paul Sweeney for bringing the debate to Parliament. As someone who is known to take an interest in both maritime and Norwegian matters, I regard it as welcome news, but no surprise, that the Norwegian Government has recognised the talents of BAE Systems in Glasgow by asking it to deliver at least five type 26 frigates for the Norwegian Royal Navy.

The design of the type 26 is seen as a successor to previous anti-submarine warships in the NATO fleet. The platform design has been shared by the UK, Australia and Canada and I understand that this is the first time that that has been done in such a way since the design of the tribal class destroyer during world war two.

I have visited the company and seen for myself the truly impressive scale of the operation and have also had the pleasure of meeting some of the many apprentices.

As I am sure members are about to say, BAE Systems builds on a venerable tradition of shipbuilding at its locations in Scotstoun, formerly Yarrows; and in Govan, formerly Kvaerner, Govan Shipbuilders, Upper Clyde Shipbuilders and, before that, Fairfields. The latest order is the largest single defence capability investment in Norwegian history and certainly represents a vote of confidence in the company and in the wider Scottish economy.

I happily acknowledge that point and recognise the part that Norway has played in the history of the yard.

Norway and Scotland share many maritime and historic links—not least since Norway’s conspicuously successful independence from Sweden in 1905—and the existence of the Sjømannskirken, which is the Norwegian seafarers’ church in Aberdeen, is just one of many signs of that continuing connection with Scotland.

News of the contract was warmly welcomed by the Scottish Government and by the First Minister. I was pleased to see the UK Prime Minister correcting the record on that—albeit without apology—after twice claiming otherwise in the House of Commons.

I am encouraged by how, thanks to support for BAE Systems from both the Scottish and UK Governments and the hard work of its skilled workforce, the shipyard and the type 26 design are attracting interest from overseas. This debate is also an opportunity to remind ourselves that the decision to award the contract was ultimately made by the Norwegian Government on the basis of the yard’s excellence, rather than because of political factors. It also shows that all such large military contracts operate in an international context.

The Royal Navy’s tide class tankers were built in South Korea, and some parts for the Royal Navy engines are fabricated there, too. Today also serves as a reminder that Norway—a country of 5 million people in northern Europe that is a non-nuclear member of NATO—is perfectly capable of having a first-rate royal navy of its own. I will resist the strong temptation to say more than that.

The fact is that it was BAE’s excellence that ultimately drew the investment and not, as I said, the political environment. As a Parliament, we should all agree on that. I wish the company and its workforce, as well as the armed forces of Norway, every success for the future.

But those moneys would have to be held by the sheep stock club and not by the grazings committee.

I do not want to jump ahead too far and go into enforcement, but it is important to put on the record that most crofters are doing the right thing, and the reason why those who are doing the right thing get angry about the issue of abandonment is not because they feel that their neighbours are making money out of it; it is because, ultimately, if a township is denuded of people who are active crofters, the collective aspect of crofting becomes impossible in that township.

On the idea of environmental use, the key word seems to be “managed”. You have touched on this, but do you have an idea, even provisionally, of what that word might mean? The land has to be put to environmental use, but that has to be managed use.