Chamber and committees

You could have modified them.

That is helpful. You felt that changing those provisions in other legislation was out of scope for this bill, as it would have widened it beyond your interest.

I think that the Faculty of Advocates was saying in its submission that, after someone is appointed, there could be a dispute about how they are carrying out their functions and that, in those circumstances, it might be helpful for that individual to be able to go back to the court and seek clarification that what they are doing is in order and consistent with the powers that they were appointed to use.

That was helpful. There are provisions for appointing judicial factors in other legislation. The commission has looked at those, and it is broadly happy with them. Is that correct? Obviously, the bill would have been a chance to change those provisions.

I think that it would probably be in section 19, but that would be up to drafting colleagues—and probably in section 17—

That is helpful. Thank you.

Would it be easy to set out in legislation what that meant, or would that be a difficult task?

The committee can take that up with the faculty. We are likely to hear from it; we could send you further details and then you could comment.

I thank the minister for what he said at the start of his speech, but what he is saying now is more of the same. It is very hard to believe that, although Cumberland Council and National Highways are able to put Langholm on road signs just south of the border, technical requirements prevent the same from happening in Scotland. As I said in my speech, that seems to be odd because there are no other primary destinations. Such signs can have up to six destinations on them, but there are not six destinations on the signs in this case, so there is space. It seems to be a shame to hide behind technical requirements.

While a day out of Langholm is a day wasted, I am delighted to have brought the debate to the chamber, with support from members on all sides. It is an opportunity to put Langholm on the map, in the Scottish Parliament at least.

Langholm is a proud community, and rightly so, with a rich past and equally vibrant present. The muckle toon, as it is known locally, is said to have taken its name from the many large textile mills that were once based there and the booming population and bustle that accompanied them. Sadly, however, the subsequent years have seen many changes as that industry and other traditional industries have declined, with only a handful of connected businesses remaining. However, one thing is for certain: the sense of community, heritage and spirit that has been fostered over the years has not left—if anything, it has been reignited in recent years. Community efforts are now firmly focused not on halting decline, but on reversing it.

This is rare praise from me, but I give credit where it is due: pre-Covid, a visit from John Swinney, although it did not deliver the funding for which many—including myself—had hoped, nonetheless focused minds, and eventually led to the formation of the Langholm Alliance and the community forum, which has brought the whole community together. That has been very much a community-driven effort, much like the Langholm moor buy-out and many other success stories. Again, however, we cannot downplay the importance of on-going support from South of Scotland Enterprise, which has been invaluable in funding roles to co-ordinate that activity.

Following a meeting on Thursday, at which the community hosted the South of Scotland Enterprise chair, Russel Griggs, it was helpful to be able to ask for support from the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity in addressing Langholm’s very real concerns that, because of the success of the Langholm Alliance, SOSE might now be looking to pull the plug. That would be entirely the wrong decision and would represent poor value for taxpayers when just another 12 months of support, at around £50,000, would give a number of key projects, such as the old primary school hub, a real prospect of being delivered. I would be grateful for confirmation this evening that the Scottish Government will take an interest in securing the support that the community deserves.

It would be easy to fill the remainder of this contribution many times over in talking about Langholm and the many projects, individuals and community groups that make it Langholm. Some of those are touched on in my motion, although it barely scratches the surface. The town has been called, among other things, Scotland’s chilli capital, given the number of members of its chilli-growing club. That is before we even get to its well-advanced plans to move into a new brand of horticulture, with a large facility for growing medicinal cannabis situated nearby—for the colleagues sniggering behind me, I stress that it is entirely legal.

Langholm is many things, but it is always full of surprises, and new ideas and new thinking, which sit alongside its many proud traditions and customs.