Chamber and committees

Convener, do I have time for a quick question about palliative care?

You mentioned the voluntary sector in discussing the complexity of the provision of care. The committee often speaks about the third sector as it relates to social prescribing, for example. How does the Government plan to ensure that third sector agencies are supported and viable, given that they are important to the provision of social care services?

I come back to the national centre for remote and rural healthcare, which will commence next month; I think that an announcement was made on that. My region—South Scotland—is pretty rural and remote all the way down to Stranraer. Where are we with that centre being ready for next month?

Finally, will the Scottish Government’s provision of free school meals for primary-school age children, which it is expanding, help to tackle what is being called an environment of “commerciogenic malnutrition”, because of the way in which big manufacturers are targeting unhealthy choices at young folk? Will widening of access to free school meals by the Scottish Government help to address some of the issues with overweight young people?

I thought that someone else was going to kick off on this topic.

Good morning to youse all. I have a quick supplementary. I was reading about long Covid on NHS Inform. There are 16 different languages for people who might need support. Might the Government consider ensuring that people of different ethnicities and languages know that that is available by using social media or whatever?

Thank you.

One of our themes is how we tackle obesity. I am interested in the issue and have recently asked questions in the chamber regarding ultraprocessed foods and high-fat, high-sugar and high-salt foods. Carlos Monteiro, who is a professor of nutrition and public health in Brazil, has done some great research, and books by Chris Van Tulleken and Henry Dimbleby that talk about ultraprocessed foods have recently been popular. How can we understand more about the relationships between foods, and not just their sugar and fat content? This question is for the minister, because it is in the public health portfolio. I am interested in the powers that are available to us in Scotland in regulation of marketing and sales of those types of foods? Can you give us an update on work that is being taken forward?

I have a final, quick question. You will obviously be aware of the issue around midwifery in Dumfries and Galloway. Will the rural and remote healthcare centre include midwifery approaches?

I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate on valuing Scotland’s world-class food and drink sector, particularly because it is taking place during Scottish food and drink fortnight. Scotland’s food and drink sector is one of the key drivers of our economy. We are fortunate, particularly in my South Scotland region, to have some of the most amazing and delicious products and pure natural resources to be found anywhere in the world.

I know that it has been said already, but it is worth repeating that, with an annual turnover of £15 billion and overseas export sales of more than £6 billion, which represents nearly a third of all UK food exports, the food and drink industry is a major contributor to Scotland’s economy.

There are more than 17,000 food and drink businesses, which employ around 129,000 people, many of whom are in remote and economically fragile rural and island communities, such as communities in Dumfries and Galloway. Exports of Scottish food and drink were valued at a record £8.1 billion in 2022. That is up £1.9 billion, which is 30.6 per cent, compared with 2021. However, despite the fantastic efforts of our food and drink producers, it is clear that Brexit continues to pose huge challenges to Scotland’s food and drink industry due to the loss of free trade and the imposition of new obstacles to the movement of goods. Indeed, the Ethical Dairy, which is a producer in Galloway, stopped sending goods to Europe and Ireland altogether because of Brexit bureaucracy. It was just going to cost too much. No matter how innovative the industry is or how wonderful our produce is, if we cannot get that produce to markets, the sector will face challenges.

From attending the majority of the agricultural shows over the summer—including at Stranraer, Wigtown, Dumfries and Kelso—it is clear that numerous challenges are impacting the sector, and removal from the EU single market plays a big part in that. The food and drink sector has borne the brunt, particularly through the loss of freedom of movement of people and free trade. Now, with clear evidence of Brexit causing food bills to rocket, we are all affected. The Opposition likes to point out that many factors influence food inflation, but other countries and citizens do not have to contend with Brexit. It is really important that we speak about that.

The Scottish Government is doing all that it can within its resources and powers to help the sector. Supporting our local food businesses provides important markets for local producers. The Scottish Government has provided £17.5 million to businesses and groups in the food and drink sector, including the oyster festival in Stranraer. I am glad that Colin Smyth mentioned that, as I will be goin there masel this Saturday. The oyster festival in Stranraer has received £15,000 of combined funding from the Scottish Government and Dumfries and Galloway Council. Again, I look forward to oysters in Stranraer this weekend. It is worth pointing out that Loch Ryan is home to Scotland’s only native oyster beds. I thank Stranraer Development Trust for all its efforts in organising the oyster festival, which is helping to shine a light on the toon that I was born in and grew up in.

Scotland’s ambitious 10-year collaborative food and drink recovery plan targets strong growth against Brexit impacts. “Sustaining Scotland. Supplying the World. A strategy for Scotland’s food and drink industry” aims to mitigate the damage inflicted by the Covid pandemic and Brexit. The strategy aims to support the sector to grow faster than similarly sized competitors, such as those in Ireland and Norway. The Scotland Food & Drink partnership projects that it could support a 25 per cent increase in turnover for the sector by 2028, from a projected £16 billion to £20 billion. The actions include restoring promotional activity to pre-pandemic levels to reach new markets, and recruiting and retaining a highly skilled workforce to adapt and tackle skills shortages in the sector. That will support rural small businesses, such as businesses across Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders.

Scotland’s food and drink sector lost many of the benefits that it once had in trading with the EU, and that makes me crabbit. Although the full economic consequences of Brexit are yet to be realised, businesses now face additional expense when trading, and some food producers have found that their goods can no longer be exported to the EU. Brexit also hampers domestic production, with labour shortages caused by the loss of freedom of movement.

Pre-Brexit, Scottish producers sold 20,000 tonnes of seed potatoes to EU customers each year. The Windsor framework allows seed potatoes to go to Northern Ireland, but the EU market is still closed to Scottish seed potatoes. That is 20,000 tonnes.

Many of Scotland’s food industries are still suffering from lower imports and exports to the EU, including a 38 per cent fall in fruit and vegetable exports between 2019 and 2022. The Opposition might go on aboot how Brexit disnae matter. It absolutely does matter, and we have to keep reiterating that, because the sooner we are back in the EU as an independent country, the better. Scottish firms are trying to export to Europe, but they face significant additional costs and bureaucracy at a time when their margins are already being squeezed.