Chamber and committees

I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate, and I congratulate Beatrice Wishart on securing this final members’ business debate ahead of recess.

Having access to fast and reliable broadband and being digitally included in today’s ever-more digital society is of the utmost importance for rural parts of Scotland, including Dumfries and Galloway, for many of the reasons that have already been well rehearsed by Beatrice Wishart. For individuals in rural areas, full fibre access is crucial if they are to be able to work from home, to access Government support services and to stay connected with friends and relations. It is needed for children and young people to access education resources and for online streaming services, gaming and browsing, all of which can happen simultaneously in people’s homes.

Full fibre is needed for businesses to connect with their customer base, to conduct business transactions and to run systems. With the rise of cybersecurity threats, having a secure and reliable connection is paramount. Full fibre connection supports advanced cybersecurity systems, ensuring that any business’s critical data is protected.

We transitioned pretty quickly during the Covid lockdown to conduct our work using the internet and other platforms, with our Teams links and Zoom links. Indeed, fibre access is so important in helping people in the world of work and in tackling social isolation and loneliness, as was pointed out by Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway in a report that it did last year.

I will start on a positive note. As of January this year, 5,000 additional households and businesses in Dumfries and Galloway can now connect to better broadband speeds through the Scottish Government’s £600 million reaching 100 per cent programme, and more are set to benefit from upgrades. Full fibre technology is now available to 40,000 of the hardest-to-connect properties, with the R100 roll-out reaching homes and places in Dumfries and Galloway, including Auchencairn, Crossmichael, Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbright and Ringford. Openreach engineers have managed to address not-spots for fibre connectivity for my constituents in Borgue and Twynholm, as well as in Bridge of Dee and Newton Stewart.

I name all those because it is important for everybody to hear that they have the connectivity that they now need in order to manage their daily lives. From a Wigtown wigwam tourism business that my office has been supporting, I know how beneficial it has been to obtain that connection—it has been fantastic for both the business and its guests. Owners Fraser and Lorraine have said that the connection is attracting more people to their fantastic holiday site and that the connection is supporting their business to connect better with their customer base, so I pay tribute to the Openreach staff for their continued and dedicated work.

However, as well as all of the good work that is under way across Dumfries and Galloway, we still have significant challenges. Hard-to-reach places still exist in the region, including some in the town of Dumfries, where adequate download speeds do not exist in, for example, parts of Georgetown.

A company called Galloway Broadband is working on low-cost solutions to digital connection issues, and it offers a solution that does not require cable installation but utilises, for example, mobile masts and wireless white space technology. However, the criteria that are required to enable R100 voucher access cannot quite be met in order for the company to help improve people’s digital connectivity. Georgetown is only one of the areas that I have been contacted about.

Would the minister consider reviewing the work of Galloway Broadband to see whether it can be supported as a fast, local, affordable solution to address the not-spots and improve internet access and download speeds, in order to meet the digital requirements for our current daily lives?

I welcome the progress that has been made, but I also urge the minister to look at innovative solutions, such as the white space technology that I have just mentioned, to ensure that people who live in our most remote and rural areas have access to the adequate internet connectivity that they need for their daily work.

Can I ask another wee quick question? I am thinking about areas that have wild salmon, such as the rivers that feed into the Solway Firth. Galloway Fisheries Trust manages a lot of the research around there. There are no wild salmon farms in the Solway or near the River Tweed, but research is being conducted to look at salmon in those rivers. Would such research help to inform what is happening to wild salmon in other areas? I know that there are issues with fish farms and wild salmon, but there is research to look at salmon outside of where the west coast fish farms are.

It has been very interesting to hear everybody’s questions so far. Recommendation 41 from the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee is that a precautionary approach should be taken to the siting of salmon farms to avoid wild salmon migratory routes. We have already talked a little bit about those migratory routes, but does the siting of new farms since 2018 indicate that a precautionary approach has been adopted? Have you seen any sites close to migratory routes?

As a bit of a segue, I know that what Norway is doing with research and development on the siting of pens is not the answer to everything, but I have been reading about these giant ships—big hulls that are floating fish farms—that can be sited in areas of deep water and can resist storms and high waves. Should we be thinking about that emerging technology instead of net pens that are fixed to the sea bed?

Good morning. The salmon interactions working group report identified the importance of the sectors developing a

“professional and collaborative working relationship”.

It also recommended the development of local engagement mechanisms between fin-fish farmers and wild fisheries management. What progress has been made on those points?

Are you able to identify what is working well in the areas in which it is working well, so that we can transfer that approach to areas where it is not working well?

Have any fish farms been relocated on the basis of evidence of sea lice? It is fascinating that, as you said earlier, sea lice can move 30km before they find a host. It is interesting to hear about the interaction between wild salmon and farmed salmon, but I am also interested in whether any sites have been relocated.

On collaboration and professional engagement, I am reading information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in America and looking at what is happening in Canada. Pacific salmon are in decline as well. Whether you are in Pacific waters or Atlantic waters, wild salmon are in decline. Therefore, I go back to the point about collaboration and professional working: we need to work together globally to look at why wild salmon populations are in decline. Do we need to highlight the fact that professional working needs to happen globally and that Scotland needs to be part of that?

To ask the Scottish Government how citizens assemblies can help to ensure that the views of people in rural communities are taken into account in decision-making on matters of importance to rural Scotland. (S6O-03626)

I have been contacted by constituents and organisations across rural Dumfries and Galloway who are concerned about decisions that are made about their communities, particularly in relation to energy and infrastructure projects and delivery of rural healthcare. Can the minister comment on how the Scottish Government listens to rural areas on such matters more generally, and can he provide assurance that the views of people in the south-west of Scotland are treated with equity with those of people in urban areas?