The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
Displaying 789 contributions
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Meeting date: 8 May 2024
Alasdair Allan
Obviously, it is up to the cabinet secretary how she wishes to engage with the committee, and my point, which is more of a practical one, is perhaps something that we can return to at the end of the meeting. My understanding is that we have a relatively short time available to us to complete stage 2—we need to do that either before or at the end of this month, I think. I would probably argue against innovations to procedure, but we need some idea of when our sittings will be, to ensure that we get through our existing business on the stage 2 amendments.
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Meeting date: 8 May 2024
Alasdair Allan
I wonder whether the point about redistribution is also relevant to the formation of a rural support plan. Will the impact of agricultural policy on redistribution be a factor in forming a rural support plan?
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Meeting date: 8 May 2024
Alasdair Allan
I look forward to hearing what the cabinet secretary has to say about the amendments before I decide whether to move mine. However, the aim of amendment 119 is simply to ensure effective consultation with those impacted or affected by the rural support plan. In order for the plan to deliver the desired outcomes, there needs to be effective discussion and consultation in advance of its publication and in advance of subsequent amendments to the plan.
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Meeting date: 1 May 2024
Alasdair Allan
I do not claim to know whether an engineer would be required, but one of the issues that has been raised with me is that fishermen in my constituency understand that the approved supplier is in Aberdeen. Is that the case? Has the situation been island proofed, given the complications and potentially costly delays that might be involved if somebody in Barra or Tiree has to deal with someone in Aberdeen?
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Meeting date: 1 May 2024
Alasdair Allan
I do not want to get this wrong, but I would be surprised if such engineers exist in the islands. They may do, and I do not want to do them a disservice, but have you checked that those people exist?
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Meeting date: 1 May 2024
Alasdair Allan
You have. Okay. Thank you.
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Meeting date: 1 May 2024
Alasdair Allan
You have touched on this already, but will you say a bit more about the use of that data? Will it enable you to help with the situation that fishermen face by improving the data that is available to the Government and, therefore, its policy? I realise that you cannot foresee the future, but can you mention some of the ways in which the Government feels that this might be beneficial to fishermen?
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Meeting date: 1 May 2024
Alasdair Allan
I want to raise a couple of specific technical issues that fishermen in my constituency have raised with me. I suppose that those issues have a wider application. They are about the reliability, as you understand it, of the equipment that would be installed, given the extreme conditions that it would operate in, and avoiding situations in which fishermen have long waits to get items repaired.
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Meeting date: 20 March 2024
Alasdair Allan
Okay. Thanks. I have one other question. The SAWC also specified what it thought were the risks of racing at independent tracks. I appreciate that you are in a strange situation, as you are not here to represent the independent track. I know that your association is with GBGB. Nevertheless, do you have any experience of the track at Thornton or any views about the standards there?
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Meeting date: 20 March 2024
Alasdair Allan
You mentioned how it works with vets, in your experience, at Newcastle. We are also keen to know how it works at Thornton, where there is no resident vet. Daniel, have you raced dogs at Thornton? How has it worked with vets? Have you needed vets in a hurry?