Seòmar agus comataidhean

That is fine. Thank you—I will take that.

There are some questions on changing weather and extreme weather conditions. How are SEPA and NatureScot monitoring and reacting to extreme weather conditions? We seem to get massive downfalls of rain, which overload every system and watercourse, and then periods of drought, as we had this summer. My understanding is that a lot of the restrictions on water abstraction were in place because, in some cases, waters were being transferred from one catchment to another, based on legislation from 1953. Will you very briefly explain to the committee whether the system of abstraction from watercourses is operating effectively, given the extreme weather conditions? Should we review the system to take into account extreme droughts? I will bring in John Kerr and then Jo Green.

I will call Mark Ruskell to ask a specific question in a minute and I will then call other members to ask about finance, but first I want to make abundantly clear what is clearly set out in my entry in the register of members’ interests: I farm in Speyside and have an interest in a fishery in the River Spey. My questions were more general rather than being specifically about the Spey, but I want to ensure that there is no dubiety or question about this and to make it clear that that is where my knowledge comes from.

Thank you, Jo, for volunteering to provide that extra information. There have been one or two offers to provide further information to the committee and we look forward to receiving that in due course.

I thank all the witnesses for taking part and sharing their expertise with us. The committee will go on to discuss the evidence that they have given us later in the meeting. We will write to the Scottish Government on the common frameworks in the near future and the clerks will ensure that members see that letter before it goes.

We are all getting used to Zoom meetings, but when the technology does not work at quite the speed that we hope it to, it sometimes lets us down. I thank everyone for working through it.

I will suspend the meeting briefly to allow a change of witnesses.

We will now take evidence on Environmental Standards Scotland’s strategic plan. ESS has a statutory duty to lay its strategic plan before the Parliament, after which the Parliament must consider whether to approve it. The plan was laid on 30 September. The Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee has been designated as the lead committee to scrutinise the plan, with a view to making a short report to the whole Parliament afterwards.

I welcome back Mark Roberts, the chief executive of ESS. He is joined by Jim Martin, who is the chair, and Neil Langhorn, who is the head of strategy and analysis.

I will start the questioning with a gentle opener. I would imagine that my question is for Jim Martin and that Mark Roberts will probably provide support. Has setting up ESS been an easy process? Will you provide a brief update on how that has gone and the current position?

Rather than push that point, I will go to Mark Ruskell for questions, but it would be helpful if you could brief the committee in writing on exactly where you are on that issue. I am a farmer, and I hear from farmers and landowners that SEPA still struggles to provide the information that they require. Whatever the answer is, it would be helpful to have it confirmed in a letter.

I think that the first time was in 1978, when we had a very dry summer—or perhaps it was 1976; I can never remember which year it was. As far as I am aware, we have had catchment management plans for 12 years, and it appears that they are not moving forward. Maybe we can develop that conversation later.

The next question is from Monica Lennon.

Are you finished, Mark?

I am sorry—there are two Marks. That is confusing. I thank Mark Roberts for answering that question and Mark Ruskell for confirming that he is finished.

I think that there is a slight delay with BlueJeans at the moment, which is showing in our WhatsApp as well. Jo, I do not know whether you heard that question, but you are under the microscope now.

Thank you very much. I think that Jackie Dunbar has a question to ask.