Seòmar agus comataidhean

The petition will stay open, and we will seek to gather evidence for consideration at a later date.

For information, I advise the minister that the source of Mr Torrance’s quotation is a members’ business debate from September 2021, led by Alasdair Allan, on reserved seats on boards for islanders. The minister was replying to Alasdair Allan in that debate.

I worry a little when you say that it is a horribly old profession at 54 and 59; I am 63, so I do not know what that says about my prospects. You raise three very specific areas. We have some areas of questioning that we want to address, but I hope that, during the course of the evidence session, we do justice to all those issues.

I am not sure that all the committee members will have had that experience specifically coming from Ibrox, but I am sure that we have all sat in a cab with the meter running.

Mr Grant, do you want to come in?

Are we therefore content for some recommendations to be evolved on where we might visit and to plan to undertake that visit early in the new year?

Members indicated agreement.

The clerks will take that forward for us. On that basis, we will keep the petition open.

Thank you, Mr Torrance. If colleagues have nothing to add, are members content to keep the petition open and to write to the organisations that Mr Torrance has suggested?

Members indicated agreement.

I am very happy to accommodate that suggestion. Are members of the committee content to keep the petition open and to write to the organisations suggested ahead of further consideration when we receive responses?

Members indicated agreement.

PE1945, which is on banning the extraction and use of peat in horticulture and all growing media by 2023, was lodged by Elizabeth Otway. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to place a legal ban on the extraction of peat and peat imports, exports and sales in order to protect peatlands in Scotland and worldwide.

Elizabeth Otway states that the Scottish Government’s investment in peatland restoration is undermined by continued extraction and use of peat in horticulture. The call for a 2023 deadline is in line with the UK Climate Change Committee’s recommendation to ban peat extraction, sales and imports by 2023.

The Scottish Parliament information centre briefing notes that the Scottish Government’s commitment to phase out the use of horticultural peat has been made for several years. The UK Government aims to end the retail sale of peat and products containing peat in England and Wales by the end of the current UK Parliament, and by 2028 in the professional horticulture sector.

The Scottish Government’s response indicates that a public consultation will be launched shortly to inform its work in relation to banning the sale of peat-related gardening products, and it has commissioned research on the issue. The Scottish Government states that it is committed to setting a timescale for phasing out peat and to introducing legislation to support that.

In view of that suggestion to us from the Scottish Government, do members have any comments or further suggestions?

Mr McLean and Mr Fleming, do you want to respond to Mr Sweeney’s question and my codicil?