Seòmar agus comataidhean

We have been asking questions about the four objectives of agricultural policy. I come back to the word “regenerative”, and the tensions that my colleague Kate Forbes brought up.

One thing in particular struck me when I was looking at the four objectives. Taking a broad-brush definition of “regenerative”, my understanding of why producers have moved away from talking about sustainable practice is that, given that nature has degraded so much and we are facing such massive issues around meeting our climate emissions targets, simply sustaining our practices is no longer possible, so we need to be doing regenerative agriculture. My understanding of that is that it means practising a form of agriculture that supports the natural environment to regenerate, while meeting human needs.

It is interesting to me that that is set out as a separate thing. I would have thought that regenerative agriculture policy practices would give us high-quality food and lead to nature restoration and climate mitigation and adaptation—you spoke to that a little bit—and would support enabling rural communities to thrive.

I would like to hear a bit about your thinking around regenerative agriculture. I know that you want to keep the objectives broad for possible changes, depending on circumstances in the future, but I want to understand how you see that objective connecting to all the policies that underpin it.

My colleague Kate Forbes referred to sustainable agriculture in a way that implied economic sustainability. We really need to be talking about sustainable and regenerative agriculture in terms of what we are doing for nature restoration and for climate adaptation and mitigation.

Thank you for coming in and giving us your evidence on your bill. I align myself with Emma Harper’s thoughts on the amount of work that you have put in to get it this far.

The word “loophole” came up in response to Emma Harper’s question, and I will continue on that theme. The bill provides that young dogs are to be seen with their mother

“unless this is not practicable”,

and my question is about that wording.

A couple of stakeholders raised concerns about that being a loophole and asked for something a bit more specific. What do you think about that? For example, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home suggested using the wording:

“unless this is not practicable for welfare reasons”.

The Dogs Trust suggested that it might apply

“if the mum is deceased”.—[Official Report, Rural Affairs and Islands Committee, 20 September 2023; c 12.]

The bill says that the person who is going to see a puppy has to see it with the mother

“unless this is not practicable”.

What do you think about the suggestion that that needs to be clearer? An alternative suggestion is

“unless this is not practicable for welfare reasons”,

so that we are specific about why it is not possible.

In a way, you have introduced the bill partly because, although we would think that some of that is common sense, you have discovered that it is not.

I have a supplementary question that is on microchipping, but it is also about supporting the register. On 20 September, we heard evidence from Libby Anderson, who explained that, although microchipping improves traceability of individual dogs, a register could ensure not only traceability but transparency about and accountability of the breeder. Other witnesses have provided evidence on unscrupulous dealers switching out microchips to falsify where an animal has come from. I have read your letter, Ms Grahame, and hear your possible openness to microchipping. However, if we relied on microchipping for traceability, how could such practices be prevented?

Okay, they are there.

Fergus Walker wants to come back in.

Great; thank you very much. Councillor Lobban, I see that you want to come in but I will move on, because we have a lot of questions. We might cover it or you can tuck in your response later.

This is a question for our council representatives, and it goes back in time, pre-Covid. In 2017, councils gained powers to reduce the council tax discount on second homes. What impact has the change had on the number of second homes in your area?

Fergus Walker, how has it been in Argyll and Bute?

Fergus Walker wants to come in.