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You are absolutely right that that is a key piece of work that we have taken forward on agriculture.

We are also working closely with the Scottish fishing industry, through the Scottish fishing industry safety group, on improving safety for all fishers. That group recently received £140,000 through the marine fund Scotland to deliver free safety training for fishing vessel crews.

As well as looking at safety, we are carrying out specific research into the barriers that are faced by new entrants and by specific equalities groups, including women, to entering and progressing through the fishing industry. We will be looking to take specific action on that through the future management strategy, in order to ensure that we have the right support in place. In addition, through the marine fund, new entrants are able to apply for funding towards the purchase of a second-hand fishing vessel. In relation to new entrants and women—as you said, as we have done for women in agriculture—we realise that there is more scope for diversity in fishing, so we want to ensure that we make the industry as open as possible.

In relation to committee scrutiny, again, as we touched on earlier, it is a matter for the Parliamentary Bureau to discuss and determine which committee would be best placed to consider which pieces of legislation.

When it comes to wildlife and some of the issues that you mentioned—the grouse moor management review and the response to the deer working group—those are the responsibilities of the lead minister, the Minister for Environment and Land Reform, Màiri McAllan.

I am sorry, but do you mean wider species licensing in general?

We have made a PFG commitment in relation to tenant farmers, and that work will be undertaken through land reform legislation, so the committee will be closely involved in it. We also want to ensure that tenant farmers can play as full a role as possible when we are looking to undertake measures for climate mitigation and emission reductions. A number of schemes are being worked on to ensure that that can happen.

As you say, the EU’s target of 25 per cent is very ambitious. About 1.7 per cent of our land is currently being farmed organically. Our target is achievable—there is no point in setting targets that are so far out of reach that we do not have a chance of meeting them. We must be pragmatic, but we must also be ambitious about what we can do.

It is concerning that, over recent times, the amount of land that has been farmed organically has reduced when we want it to increase. In the co-operation agreement, we say that we want the amount of land that is farmed organically to at least double by the end of this parliamentary session. If we are able to increase the amount further, I hope that we will do that.

We will also deliver on an action plan for organic farming. We will build on the work that was done through the previous plan, which was in place until 2020. We will also work together with the organic sector on the different actions that we can take to increase the amount of land that is being farmed organically and on what we can do with regard to organic produce.

Critical to that is the food for life scheme, which is about getting more organic produce to local authorities and served in our schools. We very much support that initiative and are keen for it to continue. Just over half of local authorities in Scotland are now signed up to the scheme. As we set out in our manifesto, it is critical that we harness our wider public procurement and spending powers and that we embed the food for life scheme and expand it across the wider public sector. That will all help to develop our work on organics.

I will be happy to get back to the committee with more information on who will be the lead on the various bits of legislation that are in the PFG.

Ariane Burgess and the committee will be aware of the fact that, even though I have responsibility for islands, there are many issues that impact on our island communities that do not fall directly within my remit. The issue of housing in our rural areas and island communities falls within the remit of the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, Shona Robison. However, there are obviously strong crossovers between her responsibilities and mine in that respect.

Like Ariane Burgess, I travelled round our islands in the summer. I visited Islay and Colonsay with Jenny Minto, and I went to Orkney and Shetland, too. On Colonsay, lack of affordable housing is a huge issue. We heard from someone whose family had been on the island for generations but they were living in a caravan because there was no housing there for them. There were job opportunities in the area, but there was no housing available to enable people to live on the island. More than 40 per cent of the homes on Colonsay are second homes or holiday homes. There are undoubtedly issues there.

A positive aspect of that visit was the fact that I was there to launch the rural and islands housing funds. By investing in those funds, together with Mowi, we are helping to deliver new housing for the community, which will have a hugely positive impact. On top of that, in the co-operation agreement, we talk about developing an action plan for rural and island housing, as well as committing £45 million for rural and island communities.

As I mentioned, the islands bond will not resolve many of the issues on its own, because there are a lot of issues that can affect people’s ability to live on islands and that might cause them to leave. Ariane Burgess is right to say that housing is a critical element. I hope that, through the funding that we are providing and by engaging with communities on the action plan, we can identify where the critical problems are and try to address those as best we can. I hope that that, alongside some of the other measures that I have outlined, will help.

You are absolutely right. Food is an integral part of our lives that affects many different elements. There was previously a ministerial working group on food, and the co-operation agreement sets out that we want to re-establish that. That would bring together colleagues from across Government to ensure that we address the issues as best we can. I was Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing at the start of the year, and obviously the issue has huge impact in that area because of dietary-related disease. The issue also impacts on poverty and many other areas.

It is therefore critical that we work across Government to address some of the issues. That will be key when we look to develop and introduce the good food nation bill. We will work across Government and right across wider society in Scotland to ensure that everybody has access to good food.

That issue has received a lot of attention recently. However, deer numbers across Scotland almost doubled in the period from 1990 to now, and managing numbers is absolutely necessary if we are to reduce the ecological damage that deer can do and to protect young trees. That is absolutely imperative in helping to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises.

I reassure the committee that that activity is licensed by NatureScot, which takes welfare very seriously when it is considering authorising the taking of deer during the period of highest welfare risk to dependent young. The people who undertake that activity have to go through rigorous training to comply with best practice. What we have seen announced recently is not a routine operation. Forestry and Land Scotland is responding to its annual survey of crop damage and habitat impacts from deer, and it is trying to prioritise deer management on vulnerable areas of land. A substantial number of Scotland’s land management organisations recognise the need for on-going control of deer populations and acknowledge that Forestry and Land Scotland delivers deer management to the highest possible standards.

Going back to the point that you made at the start of your question about where various bits and pieces fall, I note that wildlife management is the responsibility of the Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform, which is why the legislation in that regard will be led by that minister.

I believe that it may well fall inside the remit of the Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee, but it is ultimately up to the Parliamentary Bureau to determine committee allocation of bills and pieces of legislation.