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Has there been any progress on the forestry aspect?

I have become aware of polarisation in the forestry sector, which seems to happen across a lot of the sectors in rural areas. I have had conversations with people high up in Scottish Forestry about that, and there are concerns about it beginning to happen. I think that it is happening in commercial forestry and conservation.

I would love to hear the Government’s thinking on that. We have a fantastic model in the Common Ground Forum project for deer management. What can we do to prevent polarisation and to get people together to talk about what is really a shared issue? How do we ensure that Scotland’s woodlands and forests thrive and that people come into all parts of that sector, from seed planting right through to conservation? How do we ensure that people come into the sector, talk with one another and share ideas and best practice in leadership?

Given the complexity of the work that needs to be done, do you think that the budget allocation has been underestimated?

You might be hinting at my next question. At last week’s round-table session, several stakeholders talked about how communication with the marine directorate has become increasingly difficult, as has obtaining transparency in relation to its work. When it has been asked why statutory requirements have not been met, the marine directorate has at times said that it has had to deal with too many freedom of information requests, as well as judicial reviews, which has used up its time and resources. It might be argued that, if the marine directorate is being inundated with FOI requests, that might be because it is not being as open and transparent as a public body should be.

How are FOI requests managed? Is the volume of FOIs indicative of a failure in transparency and partnership working with stakeholders? What is the marine directorate’s position on publishing data that is collected using public money, for example, as part of projects that have been funded by the marine fund Scotland?

Connected to that, I am interested in hearing to what degree you are looking at moving away from area-based greening measures and adding whole-business measures such as no use of pesticides, minimal use of bagged nitrogen and a percentage of feed source being on farm.

The route map has been a helpful tool, so thanks for that.

That sounds good. It would be great to be updated on developments in that process.

I asked about key deliverables. It is good to hear about the agricultural delivery in relation to biodiversity, but there are also fisheries, aquaculture and forestry.

Can you give us an indication of progress?

Can I come back on the encouragement for growth? Last week, the Chartered Institute of Housing said that there is no sense of what size the sector needs to be. Have you been looking at that?