Seòmar agus comataidhean

You mentioned that it had been recommended that responsibility for non-domestic rates be devolved. My understanding is that there would be concern if you had variation in rates for businesses that have branches in lots of different council areas. That would be a difficult one for them.

Last week, we had a useful meeting with our counterpart committee in Wales. The members told us that, in Wales, there are four corporate joint committees that have a regional approach. They said that we should not adopt that approach too quickly, but it is interesting that, even though Wales is smaller, they have a regional approach for some aspects of decision making.

It comes down to what needs to be decided at a higher level and what needs to be decided more locally. Starting to decide what the decision-making domain is takes me back to the clarity that was called for at our new deal event with the futures forum. There were calls for clarity about which decisions should be made locally, with a more nuanced approach, and which things it makes sense to do at a higher level because we need a regional approach—roads are an example.

That kind of opens something else up, but I will not go there.

Thank you so much, Alison, for joining us. It has been tremendously helpful. We agreed at the start of the meeting to take the next items on the agenda in private, so, as that was the last public item today, I now close the public part of the meeting.

I have a couple of questions about the thinking around the payments. One is about supporting farmers who are already growing or want to grow more fruit and vegetables or plant protein. As you know, horticulture uses less land and supports many more livelihoods in rural areas. I am interested in hearing what your thinking is about supporting more people to grow food in Scotland.

How does the Scottish Government intend to use marine spatial planning tools such as the national marine plan and regional marine planning to mitigate the loss of fishing grounds that is associated with potential HPMAs and forthcoming inshore fisheries management measures?

Thanks for that. I hear what you say about HPMAs being in Ms McAllan’s remit, but the issues are connected. The creelers and divers who have spoken to me have all said that they want to protect habitats for fish and shellfish so that they become more abundant and our seas can support more fishers fishing for more fish.

HPMAs, which are in effect fish nurseries, should be a policy that creelers naturally support. I believe that HPMAs, otherwise known as no-take zones, could still attract their support if the surrounding fisheries management measures give them sufficient space and protection from the mobile sector. I am looking for your reassurance that the Scottish Government is exploring ways to support low-impact creelers and divers so that our inshores can sustain more jobs in fishing, not fewer.

First, I want to continue with Christine Grahame’s line of questioning, as I am interested in getting a little bit more detail as to why you chose to use the phrase “have regard to” instead of something stronger like “must comply with” in relation to the code of practice. Secondly, what kind of evidence would a licence holder need to present to show that they had had regard to the code of practice? Finally, how do you think compliance with the code of practice will be monitored?

Okay. Thanks.

I am interested in the key issues that the Scottish Government needs to come to a view on to make a decision about extending SSPCA powers. Is the Scottish Government working with Police Scotland to consider that?