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Seòmar agus comataidhean

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 16 January 2025
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Displaying 4578 contributions

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Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 9 January 2024

Ariane Burgess

We have a bit of time if anyone wants to talk about the challenges that you face around RAAC.

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 9 January 2024

Ariane Burgess

I have time for a brief supplementary from Willie Coffey.

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 9 January 2024

Ariane Burgess

Thank you very much for giving your perspectives and a picture of the budget settlement for local government.

We agreed to take the next item in private. As that was the last public item on our agenda, I now close the public part of the meeting.

11:02 Meeting continued in private until 11:23.  

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 9 January 2024

Ariane Burgess

Thank you very much for offering that perspective.

I bring in Jamie Robertson. You do not need to worry about your microphone—we will take care of the microphones.

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 9 January 2024

Ariane Burgess

Thank you for painting that picture. Does anyone else want to come in on that?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Interests

Meeting date: 9 January 2024

Ariane Burgess

At this point, I invite members who wish to declare interests to do so.

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 9 January 2024

Ariane Burgess

Okay. Along with that, in its response to the budget, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities stated:

“The Budget as it stands leaves not a single penny for transformational Public Service Reform”.

You have painted a picture of a very tight and difficult situation. We also have the agenda around transformation. Do you see any scope for that in the current context?

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 20 December 2023

Ariane Burgess

My question is for anyone who wants to answer. Are there any new support schemes that you would like to be created? For example, I am aware that, at the moment, owners who have land of 3 hectares or less are not eligible for any form of support, although there is quite strong demand for support for things such as market gardening. Do you agree with the idea of supporting such owners, or are there other schemes that would be good and that might help us to meet our nature and climate targets?

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 20 December 2023

Ariane Burgess

I will direct my question to Dave Reay. I might be making some assumptions in it, but let us see. I have just been scrolling through the agricultural reform list of measures, which is long and contains a lot of detailed agriculture policy work. I could make the assumption that the rural support plan will be based on those measures. If that is the case, will that plan, when it is published, deliver the climate mitigation and adaptation that we will need to meet our climate targets?

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 20 December 2023

Ariane Burgess

I will roll a number of questions together. Part 2 of the bill gives ministers powers to establish new funding and support systems for Scottish agriculture, include determining conditions, eligibility requirements, guidance, capping, refusing or recovering support and declaring exceptional market conditions.

Some folks have already touched on bits of detail on the tiers and the split on those, but it would be helpful to hear witnesses’ thoughts about the level of detail in the bill and any particular powers around those support measures. Does the bill give you confidence that the new agricultural support system will deliver for nature and climate? We have touched on that already. Is the information on the anticipated future funding splits—the tiers that are set out in the financial memorandum—adequate?

Again, this has been touched on, but anyone else can come in on it: what are witnesses’ views on the power to cap agricultural payments? What are the pros and cons of capping, tapering and front loading?

Of course, we also want to ask you about parliamentary scrutiny of the use of the powers in part 2 of the bill, the overall shape of the new agricultural policy and monitoring and evaluation, which seems to be our favourite topic today. There is a lot in those questions, so pick up anything that struck your imagination as I went through all that. Who would like to start off?