The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
Displaying 759 contributions
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Meeting date: 3 November 2022
Jenni Minto
Yes, exactly. They are here and they are the cultural ambassadors of 10 or 20 years’ time, so how do we ensure that they hold on to that?
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Meeting date: 3 November 2022
Jenni Minto
Before I was elected to the Parliament, I managed a small museum on Islay. Its disaster recovery plan really considered only flooding and wind damage—it certainly did not cover war damage. I am interested in hearing about Historic Environment Scotland’s breadth of knowledge in that area and how you can support building or rebuilding—you said “building back better”—in Ukraine.
I also want to touch on the fact that culture includes our natural environment. I represent Argyll and Bute, which is a very rural area but one that has lots of small towns. Twinning could go further than just involving the big cities. How do we move twinning on to include smaller towns in Ukraine? It has the wonderful beech forests, and we have the Celtic rainforests in Argyll and Bute. Can we make connections in the natural cultural world?
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Meeting date: 3 November 2022
Jenni Minto
Two ladies in Lochgilphead have been doing amazing work in filling lorries to send to Ukraine. They are currently trying to fill one with Christmas presents so that the children can have a recognisable Christmas. They have said to me that they would love to twin with such-and-such an area because they have already started that relationship. That is positive.
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Meeting date: 3 November 2022
Jenni Minto
Thank you all for coming. I looked at the Ukrainian Institute website today and read some of the heartbreaking stories on the site. I was struck by a number of the photographs that show Ukrainian people in front of important cultural buildings. There was a photograph of an older lady who had spoken about her memories of being in a church, which has now been damaged. I was struck by the beauty of the buildings and the amazing artwork and the songs and the dances that had all been highlighted. We have many Ukrainian families staying in Scotland, so I am interested in how we can help to ensure that your culture, stories, traditions and music are kept going among the young children who are now here. Daria Bondarenko, do you want to talk about that?
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Meeting date: 3 November 2022
Jenni Minto
That is a really strong point, because positive relationships are those that start from the people.
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Meeting date: 2 November 2022
Jenni Minto
Back in 2016, supporters of Brexit said that it was all about taking back control. I might argue that, as we can see, what that meant was Westminster taking back control from Scotland.
I am also a member of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, which took evidence on the subject of frameworks from a variety of people, including Professor Nicola McEwen and colleagues. Professor McEwen suggested:
“common framework agreements could commit the Scottish Government to shared or minimal standards and rules, potentially limiting the scope for action of the Scottish Parliament.”
In what areas do you think that our devolved settlement could be impacted?
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Meeting date: 2 November 2022
Jenni Minto
I am interested in how the newly established Environment Standards Scotland will be able to scrutinise decision making within the common frameworks processes or feed in to their development.
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Meeting date: 2 November 2022
Jenni Minto
We are taking evidence from you, and you said that we could feed back our thoughts. Is further stakeholder and parliamentary engagement talked about at your meetings?
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Meeting date: 2 November 2022
Jenni Minto
In its submission, Soil Association Scotland mentions the EU civil dialogue group, which pulls together evidence from stakeholders, including producers who are involved in organic production. The association points out that such a group is missing from the common frameworks structure.
Cabinet secretary, you talked about routes of engagement. How can the Scottish Government or perhaps this committee ensure that stakeholders are engaged in the process? We touched on stakeholders earlier.
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Meeting date: 2 November 2022
Jenni Minto
We must ensure that enough time is built into the timetable to allow scrutiny and engagement to happen.