Chamber and committees

I am conscious of the number of colleagues who still wish to participate. I am therefore minded to accept a motion without notice, under rule 8.14.3, to extend the debate by up to 30 minutes. I invite Maggie Chapman to move such a motion.

Motion moved,

That, under Rule 8.14.3, the debate be extended by up to 30 minutes.—[Maggie Chapman]

Motion agreed to.

Before we move to the open debate, I alert members to the fact that there is a lot of interest in participating in the debate. Given the time already, I would be very grateful if members could stick to their speaking time allocation. We will get everybody in, but we might need to extend the debate.

With that plea, I call Marie McNair.

The next item of business is a statement by Natalie Don-Innes on secure accommodation capacity in Scotland. The minister will take questions at the end of her statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions.

The minister will now take questions on the issues raised in her statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes, after which we will need to move on to the next item of business. I would be grateful if members who wish to ask a question could press their request-to-speak buttons now, if they have not already done so.

I apologise to those whom I was unable to call to ask supplementary questions, but we are tight for time this afternoon.

My apologies to those whom I was not able to call. We are tight for time across the afternoon.

That concludes portfolio questions on Deputy First Minister responsibilities, economy and Gaelic.

The next portfolio is finance and local government. There is a lot of interest in asking supplementary questions, so we will need more brevity in both questions and responses.

I will allow a couple of supplementary questions, but they will need to be brief.

The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-16539, in the name of Maggie Chapman, on “Ending Destitution in Scotland—A Road Map for Policymakers”. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament notes the recent publication by Professor Jen Ang of the legal briefing, Ending Destitution in Scotland – a Road Map for Policymakers; further notes that this report was commissioned by I-SPHERE and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, as part of the Fair Way Scotland partnership, following the publication in September 2024 of the paper Destitution by Design: righting the wrongs of UK immigration policy in Scotland; understands that the legal briefing sets out clear, actionable steps that lie within the powers of the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government to reduce destitution for people coming to Scotland to study, work, join family or seek sanctuary; further understands that there are clear recommendations about access to social security and financial support, housing, transport, health and social care, justice and legal aid, education, and work; notes the view that the Scottish Government can and should be doing more to prevent destitution in Scotland, including in the North East Scotland region; further notes the view that the complexity of UK immigration law, and the challenges of striking the right balance in the exercise of powers within the devolution settlement, must no longer be an excuse for failure to act on the part of the Scottish Government and local authorities, in the face of what it sees as overwhelming evidence of the harms caused to people with no recourse to public funds/other restricted eligibility, and to the communities in which they live; notes the view that Scotland can create a fairer system based on need and the realisation of rights, ensuring that everyone has access to essential services and what they need to live a life of dignity, regardless of their immigration status; further notes the calls on the Scottish Government to act on each of the recommendations, including to review devolved policy to eliminate unintended exclusions from support, to establish and scale up the financial support available, to ensure appropriate training and resources for all frontline workers, and to negotiate a clearer understanding of “public funds”, as defined by the Home Office, and congratulates the Fair Way Scotland Partnership on its ongoing work to prevent destitution in Scotland.

I start by congratulating the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on its report and its convener on an Olympic-standard declaration of interests. I thank those who gave evidence to the committee and who have provided briefings for the debate, including our former colleague Andy Wightman—it is right that his voice is being heard in the debate, although it will probably surprise him that it has come from the front bench of the Conservatives.

I also thank the cabinet secretary and her officials for their engagement with me on the bill. I put on record my disappointment at her decision not to stand at the next election. She is a good friend and a respected colleague, and she will be missed.

As others have observed, land reform is an issue with which successive Governments and Parliaments have grappled, dating back to the act that ended feudal tenure being passed in the year that the Parliament was first re-established. However, despite those interventions and the laudable intentions of MSPs across parties, the concentration of land ownership appears to have increased over the years. Research shows that 2,588 landowners own 70 per cent of privately owned rural land in Scotland today, which is down from 3,161 in 2012. The committee rightly acknowledges that patterns of land ownership in Scotland are unusually concentrated and that levels of regulation are low by international standards.

I accept that what matters is a question not solely of ownership but of how land is used. Even so, those figures suggest that land reform has to date fallen short and, as the committee suggests, lost momentum, and that has consequences. We know that a lack of available land can create problems for rural communities and can impact on, for example, the quality and availability of local services, affordable housing and economic development.

That said, it is important to acknowledge in the debate the fact that rural landowners and land managers are often at the forefront of efforts to tackle climate change and restore nature, while also producing food and providing jobs and economic growth. Indeed, big is not necessarily bad, with estates of scale often delivering wider public goods.