Seòmar agus comataidhean

Mercedes Villalba has some questions on islands.

I have a question before we jump back to agriculture with some questions from Ariane Burgess. You have a commitment to establish a new Scottish veterinary service. Will you set out what you aim to achieve and what the outcomes will be? Will you also give an indication of how long you think it will take to set up the service?

Just before we move away from that topic, I want to bring in Jim Fairlie with a question on organic farming.

I certainly do not expect you to pre-empt the decisions or recommendations of the board. However, as the cabinet secretary, do you personally have any suggestions about what those policies might be?

I very much appreciate the time that has been taken today. I just want to confirm something. My understanding is that the Deputy First Minister has confirmed the Scottish Government policy for home working and that it is for members and officials to decide on a case-by-case basis whether they should attend committees and, in the case of members, the chamber. Given your desire to work with the committee, why did you not think that it was important to appear in front of it today?

That is the negative side, but will you seize the opportunities in the forthcoming trade deals for the Scottish whisky and salmon industries—which are world leaders and our biggest exporters—in order to ensure that those fantastic success stories continue?

Okay. So that is a commitment to meet us in person in the future.

Thank you. We move on to questions on animal welfare.

Good morning, and welcome to the third meeting in session 6 of the Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee. Before we begin, I remind all members to switch electronic devices to silent mode.

Our first item of business is evidence from the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands on her priorities within the remit for session 6. I welcome Mairi Gougeon, the cabinet secretary, but I put on record our disappointment that you are not with us in person, given the explicit desire of the committee that cabinet secretaries and ministers should appear in person. It is disappointing, given the nature of the session, that you are not with us today. I hope that, in the future, we can accommodate you and your officials in front of us in the committee room. I also welcome the cabinet secretary’s officials: George Burgess, deputy director, food and drink; John Kerr, head of agriculture policy division; and Caro Cowan, deputy director, funding and strategy for Marine Scotland.

I invite the cabinet secretary to make an opening statement, and then we will go to questions.

Could you give us more details about the fox control bill and where that might sit, given the potential overlap between this committee dealing with animal welfare and the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee dealing with land and forestry? Could you also give us details on the likely timescale for the introduction of the good food nation bill?