Chamber and committees

Okay.

The bill introduces some simplification and administrative changes, such as a clearer definition of “crofting community”, new rules on tenancy classifications and updates to Crofting Commission governance. What is your view on those changes?

I have a wee supplementary. You said that that is a while away. What does that mean? Is it months or years into the future?

Do the teaching unions support the bill as it is currently framed? What does it mean for the terms and conditions of teachers in Scotland?

Going back to the let them play and let them ref campaigns, just to be clear, are you saying that those things are required in international football or at all levels and also in other sports? Are people behaving in that way even in rugby, for instance?

Good morning. I have a couple of questions about children’s welfare and mental health and wellbeing. What oversight procedures are there in the academy system to monitor young players’ wellbeing? We have touched on that a little bit, but are those procedures adequate, and how might they be strengthened or improved?

Are there specific mechanisms in place to enable a parent or a child to seek support through various methods?

Are the wellbeing officers mostly full time?

What registration issues typically lead to a referral to the young player wellbeing panel, and are there any common themes or patterns in the disputes that have reached the tribunal stage?

I thank Emma Roddick for securing the debate. Her region was hit hard with the biggest wildfire this summer around Dava, which caused massive devastation in an area of great beauty and natural resource. Sadly, parts of my South Scotland region were also hit hard. April saw one of the biggest wildfires in living memory in Galloway, when 17,000 acres of moor and forest were destroyed around Glentrool in a fire lasting several days, the after-effects of which are still being seen in the community and will be seen for many years to come. That is nearly the entire surface area of Loch Lomond ablaze and alight, and now almost bereft of life.

Thankfully, as with other wildfires in Scotland, there were no fatalities or serious injuries, at least among human beings, but I am also concerned about the wildlife. It may only be a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed in a wildfire. At Glentrool, hikers were evacuated from hills by emergency services and campers were told to relocate to a place of safety. I fear that, at some point in the future, we will be reading reports of the death of someone who could not be reached in time and suffered a terrible fate. We must do all that we can to prevent that from becoming a reality.

We saw just how hard our emergency and response services worked. I again place on record my thanks to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the police and Galloway Mountain Rescue Team for their supreme dedication, work and bravery in helping to tackle the Glentrool fire. I also thank local people at the Glentrool Hive, who Finlay Carson mentioned. They worked incredibly hard, in a stressful, difficult and threatening situation, to support emergency responders. They threw open the doors of the Hive in the middle of the night and ensured that those tackling the fire could refuel and get some rest and necessary internet access.

Some years ago, there were issues with sky lanterns being launched and landing miles away, risking wildfire and damage to property and livestock. Thankfully, the use of those things seems to have died down but, in many ways, it is more disheartening that the wildfires that are now taking place are almost certainly caused in situ, and that those who are responsible, even if by accident, can see for themselves the landscape and environment that their actions might destroy.

I am proud that we have some of the best open access legislation in the world. In contrast to the hugely restrictive regime across the border, for example, we have a framework that allows people to enjoy our land freely and without unnecessary restrictions. However, we also have to face the fact that a small minority of people exercising those rights are doing so irresponsibly and putting locals, their livelihoods and their environment at huge risk.

We cannot say for certain what caused the Galloway wildfires. Finding a needle in a haystack is impossibly tricky when that haystack is 17,000 acres, but our Fire and Rescue Service is clear that most wildfires are started by human activity. That mean that we must educate anyone who is accessing our world-class countryside about the devastation that irresponsible use of those access rights can have on our communities.

Climate change is here, and we have to adjust our way of living and working to that reality. As Ms Roddick mentioned, there is a climate change mass rally at Dynamic Earth right now, which I hoped to be at.

One action to take must be to give the prevention of wildfires a higher priority across public policy. I hope that Emma Roddick’s debate and the contributions from members around the chamber will play a part in informing the Government’s thinking on how to, as far as possible, prevent these disasters from happening again.