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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 26 December 2024
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Displaying 2338 contributions

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Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 17 December 2024

Mark Ruskell

Are there any other views?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 17 December 2024

Mark Ruskell

Therefore, more clarity would be useful.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 17 December 2024

Mark Ruskell

Would you say that that is a gap?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 17 December 2024

Mark Ruskell

Okay, and do you feel that there are other approaches—

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 17 December 2024

Mark Ruskell

To avoid my submitting an FOI request, it would be useful if you could summarise what that engagement has looked like and whether it has covered any of the issues that we have talked about this morning, including the matter of call-in procedures, which the deputy convener raised. We are trying to understand where the advice sits and how Government responds, both to ESS and to any views that you might have.

I understand that, over the past 30 years, ammonia emissions have barely dropped. In fact, there is some evidence that suggests that they have increased. As we know, ammonia causes public health issues and environmental problems. Do you see that situation as a failure of regulation?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 17 December 2024

Mark Ruskell

So it is not covered by permit, by registration, by notification and by general binding rules. Is that correct?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 17 December 2024

Mark Ruskell

Do you think that there is a link back into land management plans and spelling out what the benefits will be, what the restoration and regeneration look like and whether they are monitorable?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 17 December 2024

Mark Ruskell

I will move on. I am interested in your views on the diversification proposals. Are they clear enough? Will they make it easier for tenants to make environmental improvements and supplement their incomes through diversification?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 17 December 2024

Mark Ruskell

A couple of years ago, your previous chief executive talked quite openly about SEPA focusing its activities on the big sectors that were not meeting environmental compliance—at the time, salmon farming was a focus, as was the Mossmorran plant—and that is where a lot of SEPA’s resources were going. He also talked about streamlining the regulatory process for sectors that were broadly compliant and in which a lack of compliance was a rarity.

The previous chief executive has been gone for some time, but is that the current direction of SEPA—simplifying regulation at one end and focusing on key sectors that are still problematic at the other end—or are we looking at a slightly different approach now? I am trying to see where you sit now, several years on, in relation to how you focus resources on the current environmental challenges in Scotland.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 17 December 2024

Mark Ruskell

Is that transparent for members of the public who want to get a grasp on which sectors or sites are problematic? We have talked about point-source pollution, for example. How will that interface with all those issues?