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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 April 2025
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Displaying 2643 contributions

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Meeting of the Parliament

Topical Question Time

Meeting date: 12 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

Last year, the clean heat industry wrote to the First Minister to urge the Scottish Government to move forward with its heat in buildings bill as soon as possible. It said:

“To meet the challenge and maximise opportunities, industry needs certainty”

and that new standards would allow

“homeowners, landlords and supply chains”

to understand

“what they need to do and by when.”

Given that clear steer from industry, does the minister agree that calls from Opposition parties for delay and dilution go against what businesses are telling us that they need in order to deliver the heat transition, with the urgency that is required to tackle the climate emergency?

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

Review of the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement

Meeting date: 7 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

Do you see a potential conclusion to that bedding in ahead of the TCA agreement being fully revised? I am trying to work out where the issue sits within the agenda for that negotiation and whether there will be certainty as to what an appropriate model is and evidence to back that up.

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

Review of the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement

Meeting date: 7 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

I have a couple of follow-up points. Ed Barker and Sarah Millar spoke about the need for a veterinary agreement. Are we quite far away from striking a veterinary agreement? There are already models in place—you mentioned New Zealand and Switzerland—and it is a relatively short leap to securing an agreement that could help the sector.

I should declare that I am an honorary associate member of the British Veterinary Association.

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

Review of the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement

Meeting date: 7 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

I have other questions, but I can come back in after Alexander Stewart.

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

Review of the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement

Meeting date: 7 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

Are there fundamental policy differences in any of those spaces?

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

Review of the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement

Meeting date: 7 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

Is the point that the border target operating model needs to be bedded in and assessed before the argument might switch towards the potential need for a veterinary agreement?

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

Review of the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement

Meeting date: 7 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

I am interested in your overall views about the direction of policy within the European Union at the moment. I am hearing that divergence causes friction for trade and that having different standards can cause issues at borders. Do you feel that the decisions on regulatory standards that are being made in Europe at the moment are moving in the right direction for your sectors, or do you feel that there is policy divergence?

I can give one example. I know that beekeepers across the UK and Europe are concerned about adulterated honey and have called for country of origin labelling for honey. The European Union has moved quite quickly on that, through the honey directive, and is also looking at other import issues connected with the breakfast directives. However, there seems to be no appetite from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to move towards introducing that sort of regulatory standard.

That may be quite a niche example, but what are your overall thoughts? I should declare an interest because I am a beekeeper, although I do not produce honey in any volume for export. The issue has been raised with me and is one example of an area where the European Union is taking a stand and moving forward with regulation.

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

Review of the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement

Meeting date: 7 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

Therefore, you are saying that we are getting divergence, but there is a lack of capacity to deal with all of those multifarious issues, of which I have raised one, that exist within the food sector.

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

Review of the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement

Meeting date: 7 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

Is that a policy divergence, or is the fact that we need different regulatory regimes just the consequence of Brexit? The registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals is an example of a duplicate regime running alongside another one. Are there any fundamental differences between the EU and the UK around how we regulate and go forward with policy, or is the issue more about the fact that we have duplicate regulatory structures and friction and, as has been said, a lack of capacity to then keep pace with all the things, from honey production to fertilisers and everything else?

Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]

Portfolio Question Time

Meeting date: 7 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

With new stations being opened at Leven and Cameron Bridge in June this year, rail campaigners across Fife are feeling inspired and hopeful. Key progress is being made in the business cases for the reopening of stations at St Andrews and Newburgh. Will the cabinet secretary congratulate the communities that are leading the way? Does she see a need to expand rail further in Fife to achieve the modal shift away from car usage that we require nationally?