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Yes, but it always used to be able to fill vacancies.

Does Steve Fothergill want to add to that?

I know—I am just highlighting that fact.

Okay, George—bamboozle us with the science of how that is going to work.

I just want to come back in quickly, before George bamboozles me with the science of it.

I do not know whether the UK Government’s policy has changed, what with the turbulence over the past couple of weeks and the fact that I have not been home yet, but my understanding of the UK Government’s position is that, by 2027, all direct support will be taken away and the process down south will be based entirely around environmental controls and access to land. On the other hand, the Scottish Government’s preferred option is still to retain 50 per cent of direct payments—that is the quoted figure, and you can clarify for me whether it is correct—to continue to allow support for food production. Is that the kind of area that might cause concern? Will common frameworks allow you to protect that position?

On the issue of divergence between Scotland and other areas of the UK, am I correct in thinking that, right now, there is an avian flu policy for the housing of birds in England but not in Scotland? There are about 80 cases in England and only four in Scotland. During the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the 2000s, we, in Scotland, took the decision to close immediately when we found a case, whereas it took a week to make such a decision south of the border, as a result of which the spread down south was much greater. Surely, we would want to retain our ability to make our own decisions on animal health and welfare in Scotland.

Okay. I see that Rachael Hamilton has a supplementary question, convener.

That just highlights the point that I am trying to make, which is that we should retain our own ability to deal with these things.

Okay. Therefore, we can only hope that we manage to get agreed points as we move forward.

We talked earlier about policy divergence. The EU policy allowed the Scottish Government to have the less favoured area support scheme. Are there any concerns about how the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 or the Subsidy Control Act 2022 might affect the introduction of a similar policy through the Scottish agricultural support bill?