The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-10406, in the name of Mairi Gougeon, on celebrating the resilience of Scotland’s food and drink sector.
14:56
I am really grateful for the opportunity in this debate, which coincides with food and drink fortnight, to highlight to Parliament the enduring value of our vibrant food and drink sector in Scotland to our national and local economies and to our communities.
Scotland produces some of the best and most recognisable food and drink in the world, and we must all recognise how vital it is to protect that iconic industry.
To place the sector in context, food and drink is Scotland’s biggest export—it is second only to energy. In 2020, the sector generated a turnover of almost £15 billion and £5.4 billion in gross value added. In 2021, Scotland had around 17,450 food and drink businesses employing around 129,000 people. We should all take a moment to reflect on the sheer scale of the sector and its contribution to our overall economy.
Vibrant and, at one time, seamless trade with the European Union has been extremely important for exporters as well as consumers, as approximately 23 per cent of the food that is eaten in the United Kingdom is imported from the EU.
We must also not lose sight of the fact that food is a fundamental need for all of us. Our farmers, fishers, crofters, food manufacturers and producers are at the heart of our rural, coastal and island communities, and they contribute to Scotland’s £15 billion food and drink industry. They all play a vital role in keeping that dynamic, complex, at times fragile and highly interconnected sector operating to supply our food each and every day. They should be commended for their efforts as they continue to show admirable resilience in the face of continued shocks such as Brexit, climate change and the Ukraine conflict.
The value of the food and drink sector cannot be overestimated. Only in May, the Parliament debated the importance of our overall food security, including in the face of real and significant challenges. That debate highlighted that supply chains and sustainable food supplies are coming more to the fore in public consciousness and that disrupted supply chains—including as a result of climate volatility, for example—are something that we are likely to see more and more of in the future.
Why does the cabinet secretary’s party want to put a barrier between Gretna and Berwick that would be disruptive to 60 per cent of Scottish exports?
We are not the Government that is putting barriers to trade anywhere; it is the UK Government that has done that through its determination to pursue a hard Brexit.
I want to focus on celebrating the sector’s successes, but it is not possible to do that without first highlighting some fundamental challenges and referring to some key facts. In and of themselves, they illustrate the sector’s resilience, versatility and sheer ability to bounce back in the face of so many challenges.
It is a fact that the hard Brexit pursued by the UK Government and its lingering effects have weakened our food and drink sector in many ways. That has disrupted supply chains, helped to drive up food price inflation and led to trade deals that have failed to prioritise Scottish interests. It is a fact that Brexit has caused significant labour recruitment issues for the food and drink sector.
It is a fact that Brexit has impacted on our trading relationship with the EU, which is one of our most important trade partners and a major agrifood producer. Food imports from the EU into Scotland were down by 18 per cent in 2022 compared with 2019, and that slowdown is particularly acute for fruit and vegetable imports, which are down by 50 per cent, and for fish and seafood imports, which are down by 66 per cent. Many Scottish food exports to the EU are also down—including a 38 per cent fall in fruit and vegetable exports between 2019 and 2022. It is a fact that our world-renowned Scottish salmon sector—salmon is the UK’s number 1 food export—is being hampered by the UK Government’s continued delays to its digitisation programme.
It is a fact that recent research by the London School of Economics and Political Science suggests that UK households have paid £7 billion to cover the cost of post-Brexit trade barriers to food imports from the EU, which has increased average household food costs by £250 since December 2019.
It is a fact that our agricultural sector, which underpins much of our food and drink, has been directly impacted by the lack of long-term future funding certainty. Our seven-year EU common agricultural policy budgets have been reduced to yearly allocations from HM Treasury, which are guaranteed only for the current UK parliamentary session.
Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?
Not at the moment.
The overwhelming majority of people in Scotland did not vote for any of this. The on-going economic damage of a UK Brexit-based economy demonstrates the importance of setting out an alternative, better future for Scotland. That is what the Scottish Government is doing through our “Building a New Scotland” papers. We will continue that work, which includes a forthcoming series of economics-themed speeches, to demonstrate how, with independence, we can build a stronger economy that takes advantage of key sectors such as food and drink.
I have repeatedly urged the UK Government to address the cumulative impacts on the sector that I just outlined. I have further highlighted my significant concerns about new free trade agreements with New Zealand and Australia. The UK Government’s own impact assessment highlighted that those deals would be detrimental to the agrifood sector. In stark contrast, an equivalent EU and New Zealand trade deal has been secured, but not at the same expense to domestic EU producers—in particular, beef and lamb are much better protected. That illustrates that better arrangements are possible.
What is the cabinet secretary doing to protect the critical mass of beef production in Scotland?
The member will, no doubt, be aware of our commitments to supporting our livestock sector and to supporting food production, which we continue to do through direct payments. I have made that commitment clear in this debate and previous debates in the chamber.
On the impact of the trade deals that I just outlined, members do not need to take my word for it. An independent report by the Andersons Centre on the potential impact on Scottish agriculture of trade deals between the UK and Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Gulf Cooperation Council concluded that the current UK Government’s trade approach will adversely affect our beef and sheep sectors, which are vital to our rural and island communities.
We can only hope that the UK Government will begin to listen to the concerns of the devolved Governments, industry and consumers. For example, I have asked the UK Government to use the opportunity of the recent independent review of labour shortages in the food chain in England to work together with the devolved Governments on its response. The sector has long highlighted to the UK Government that urgent changes to the immigration system are needed to address post-Brexit labour shortages. It is already disappointing that that review focuses only on England, but it presents us with a watershed moment to work together to support the sector. I have therefore urged the UK Government to take a collaborative and evidence-based approach to its response and to immigration policy in particular.
Although it is important to recognise those challenges, I do not want to dwell only on the negatives. As the end of food and drink fortnight approaches, I want to use the opportunity of this debate to celebrate the sector, highlight its value to us all and pay tribute to its successes.
Food and drink fortnight is a reminder to all of us that there is an entire world of flavours and stories to discover right here in Scotland, on our doorsteps, which is the theme of this year’s campaign. Scotland Food & Drink has worked closely with regional food groups and ambassadors to promote a line-up of regional events over the past few weeks, as well as spotlighting produce from across Scotland that is stocked everywhere from restaurants and bars to delis and markets. I have undertaken a number of engagements, from Leith to the Outer Hebrides, to witness that at first hand. I hope that the fortnight will help to encourage more and more people to explore the fantastic products that are available right on their doorsteps.
As I have highlighted, the fact that we have left the EU has caused significant problems for our farmers and food and drink industry. During the past five years, the industry has, of course, also had to deal with the pandemic and an on-going cost crisis. Yet, fundamentally, the food and drink sector is already a Scottish success story. As an employer and an exporter, it makes a major contribution to the Scottish Government’s missions of opportunity, equality and community.
The Scottish Government is determined to work with the sector to help it to succeed further. We have provided the industry with £15 million to support its recovery plan to tackle challenges posed by Brexit and the pandemic.
Will the member take an intervention?
I need to make some more progress.
Now, as markets reopen and the industry looks to grow in a changed world, we have added to that support with a further £5 million towards year 1 implementation of the new food and drink strategy, “Sustaining Scotland. Supplying the World.” That funding will, among other things, help us to showcase the industry to domestic and international buyers, support our efforts to train and reskill people, and enable us to share insights and develop solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The new strategy outlines a vision of?Scotland as the best place in the world to own, operate and work for a food and drink business—a vision for it to be renowned as a world leader in sustainable production and responsible growth, where resilient businesses across the entire supply chain can prosper.
The strategy has eight distinct enablers for growth, all of which are significant and worth while. I want to highlight two themes that I think are particularly important: the ambition that it shows and the emphasis on collaboration.
The strategy focuses on resilience, sustainability and growth, since it recognises that all three are essential to the future of the industry. It aims to ensure that the industry can withstand shocks and that it embraces and benefits from the journey to net zero.
In relation to growth, the strategy sees major opportunities for producers in Scotland to increase their sales here at home, in the rest of the UK and right around the world. It aims to ensure that the food and drink sector in Scotland grows more strongly than the sector does in competitor countries of similar size. The Scottish Government welcomes that level of ambition.
However, we recognise that the strategy, and the Government’s support for it, will have the impact that we want it to have only if we continue to collaborate. We need to work together if we are going to attract a skilled workforce, improve productivity, reduce our carbon emissions and market ourselves globally. So, the strategy sets out short, medium and long-term goals that have been developed in collaboration with food and drink producers, and others such as research institutions, that have a focus on stability amidst global turbulence. Overall, the aim of the 10-year plan with industry is that our approach and funding will help to shift the dial on food and drink sector growth in Scotland.
In keeping with that collaborative theme, just last week, in our programme for government, we confirmed a range of measures through which we will be working very closely with the sector to enhance our support. For example, we will be developing our approach to future farming activity through engagement with key stakeholders to identify potential opportunities to increase sustainable production and markets for poultry and eggs, venison and seed potatoes. We have also said that we will host an international food summit that will help to bring much of our work together, including with industry, to support further the promotion of Scotland’s food and drink.
Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?
I am sorry. I am just coming to a close.
I want to conclude by taking a moment to acknowledge—and extend my gratitude to—each and every business and individual who works to help drive the growth of local sourcing and to keep this country fed: producers large and small, from farmers and fishers to regional food groups and dedicated retail and food service buyers. It is their tireless efforts that encourage people to buy Scottish produce, and their dedication that helps us to build a brighter future for our rural communities and islands. Their passion for local produce and experiences inspires us all to take pride in our unique national heritage.
I move,
That the Parliament recognises the value of Scotland’s food and drink sector and the significant contribution that it makes to the national economy, as well as to local economies and communities; welcomes the plan, published by Scotland Food and Drink, to create stability, sustainability, resilience and innovation in order to support the sector to succeed and prosper over the next 10 years; further welcomes the Scottish Government’s commitment to invest £5 million to support delivery of this plan; acknowledges the challenges caused by Brexit, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and climate change, and the need for the sector to respond and adapt, and believes that the hard Brexit negotiated by the UK Government has created serious, long-term harms, including labour shortages and new barriers to trade, especially for Scottish food and drink exporters, while driving up inflation in food and supply chain costs.
I give a gentle reminder to those who have not already pressed their buttons but who wish to speak in the debate to press their buttons as soon as possible.
I call Rachael Hamilton to speak to and move amendment S6M-10406.2.
15:09
I draw members’ attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests as a director of a small business in the Borders.
First and foremost, I join the cabinet secretary—although it took her more than seven minutes to get there—in celebrating our food and drink sector. We have world-class food and drink producers in our country, and we should champion the people who make the industry such a success and such an asset for Scotland. It is right that we take the time to celebrate them today. However, the industry requires more from us than just celebration; it requires support, certainty to plan for the future and a workable and practical agriculture bill. As the cabinet secretary said, the food and drink sector has shown an enormous amount of resilience through global challenges such as the pandemic and the economic impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine, so resilience is rightly the focus of today’s debate.
Despite there being no mention of farmers in either the Scottish National Party motion or the Labour amendment, and barely a peep about them in the First Minister’s programme for government, in recent years, farmers, who are the beating heart of the £15 billion food and drink industry, have overcome damaging outbreaks of livestock disease such as avian flu and have dealt with severe water shortages that have hit their crops hard. However, those who are charged with the task of feeding the nation continue to be left in the dark over future support. The dither and delay over the new agriculture bill is wreaking havoc in the industry. We must take our responsibility to them more seriously and quickly give them the clarity that they need. Overcoming natural difficulties is one thing, but the biggest challenge that farmers face is entirely of the SNP-Green Government’s making.
Farmers are not the only ones waiting until the cows come home. We await the fate of Scotland’s short-term lets sector, which faces death by SNP-Green red tape. That sector is entirely integral to providing good food and drink and supporting Scotland’s important tourism sector.
Scotland’s fishing communities have also faced a turbulent year at the hands of the Scottish Government, which failed to learn the lessons of an 11-week fishing ban that was imposed on Clyde communities without consultation or warning. The Government’s headlong rush into banning fishing in almost half of Scotland’s waters would have been a complete disaster for our fishing industry. Sustainable fishing practices in Scotland have resulted in stocks of many of our favourite kinds of fish rebounding in recent years. Hard-working fishermen are landing thousands of tonnes of healthy, high-protein fish every year—some of it even carbon neutral.
The industry is already squeezed for space in the marine environment. The highly protected marine area plans would have decimated the industry on which so many of Scotland’s coastal communities have relied for centuries. We expected the plans to be scrapped, but in my view they have merely been postponed. Until those plans are scrapped completely and the Government has gone back to the drawing board, the fishing industry will continue to worry about its future.
Our drinks sector has faced an equally difficult period, having been forced to adapt to legislative changes such as minimum unit pricing and the threat of an unworkable deposit return scheme and plans to prevent whisky distilleries from painting their names on their outside walls. For now, both the fishing industry and the drinks sector have been saved by the strength of their voice in opposing those plans and the legislative incompetence of the Government that is trying to implement such impositions.
However, today I intend not to dwell on where the Scottish Government has let down the food and drink industry but to talk about the opportunities that lie ahead if we start to get things right. At the Royal Highland Show this year, I launched my plans for Scotland’s food future. The policy paper has been welcomed across the board. Its policy proposals have been talked about as a positive step by stakeholders, from farmers and wholesalers to vet suppliers and council officers. My plan would support Scotland’s rural communities to secure jobs and livelihoods and a viable future for our food and drink producers, alongside farmers, crofters and fishermen. It would also place food production at the heart of the new agriculture bill while ensuring investment in producers to keep food prices affordable for consumers. It would allow farmers to produce more top-quality food right here, in Scotland, and would bring in more local jobs for processing, transport and abattoirs. It would bolster support for technology and innovation to help to improve the UK’s world-leading standards on health, the environment and animal welfare.
My plans include key policy objectives such as helping councils to support local producers by introducing 60:60 targets: 60 per cent of food procured by every mainland local authority from within 60 miles of the local authority area. Buying locally means stronger local economies, healthier foods and fewer imports, leading to lower emissions, which is what we all want to achieve. The cabinet secretary missed an opportunity for that in the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022. Key amendments that would have supported a lot of the policy were missed.
I am not sure whether you have mentioned the word “Brexit” yet, but I wonder whether you will address how it has failed our farmers across the UK and Scotland.
Speak through the chair, please, Ms Harper.
Of course Emma Harper continues to talk down her constituency in Dumfries and Galloway. The SNP would do better to support farmers and give them clarity about their future. SNP members would do better to realise the opportunities that have been afforded by trade deals and what we are able to do now that we have left the EU. I would like Emma Harper to go and ask her constituents whether the SNP is holding them back by aligning with Europe and not adopting new gene-editing technology.
We all share our food heroes. I am lucky to have many fantastic producers in my Borders constituency, from Hardiesmill beef to Peelham Farm. There are so many outstanding local businesses, from the Bread Maker in Coldstream and Hunters the bakers in Hawick to Selkirk distillery, the Borders distillery and Giacopazzi’s ice cream in Eyemouth. I am biased and my colleagues might protest, but, in my books, the Borders produces the best food in the country. Would it not be great to see more Borders produce in schools, hospitals and council canteens? I am sure that members share that passion for their own constituencies.
The paper that I mentioned also discusses how gene editing could enable farmers to naturally improve the reliability and nutritional value of the food that they produce while reducing the resources that are required to produce it. That technology would cut emissions and boost yields. As my colleagues—in particular, Finlay Carson—will come on to say, it would make a real difference to people’s lives every day. It would allow farmers to pass on their savings and efficiencies and be part of the solution to tackling poverty. The improved yields would reduce our reliance on costly foreign imports that are flown in from abroad and would help local businesses to expand, thus creating more jobs for local communities. The only thing that stands in the way of that innovation is ideological opposition from which even the EU has now moved on.
If the Government wants to show its appreciation to our food and drink population, I can think of no better way of doing that than supporting the Conservative plans. We have a plan, unlike the SNP and Greens, who have no plan and no clarity. They need to introduce a genetic technology bill and produce an agriculture policy.
Scotland’s food and drink sector is pivotal to our national and local economy, despite enduring recent global challenges and economic mismanagement by this SNP-Green lot. Let us celebrate its resilience during Scottish food and drink fortnight by eating some delicious local produce from on our own doorsteps.
Thank you, Ms Hamilton. I ask you to move your amendment.
I move amendment S6M-10406.2, to leave out from “acknowledges” to end and insert:
“recognises both the challenges and the opportunities resulting from the United Kingdom leaving the European Union; acknowledges the challenges caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and climate change, and the need for the sector to respond and adapt, and believes that allowing Scotland’s food producers to adopt gene-editing technology would boost the sector’s resilience, provide greater security against climate change disease and drought, and enhance crop yields, nutritional value and reliability.”
I call Rhoda Grant to speak to and move amendment S6M-10406.1.
15:18
I move the amendment in my name—that saves me from forgetting later on.
I welcome the debate, because it underlines the importance of the food and drink sector to Scotland. We should have four pillars that underpin our production system. We need food security—60 per cent of our food is home produced; we are importing 40 per cent. The sector also needs to be climate friendly and provide a fair deal for workers. We also need to recognise it as the economic driver that it is.
With regard to food security, it is absolutely unacceptable that we have so many people who are dependent on food banks. The Trussell Trust told us that 259,744 food parcels were delivered in 2022-23, which is a 50 per cent increase from 2017-18. That is a disgrace. The bill that became the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 could have dealt with that. It should have enshrined the human right to food, and it should have empowered the Scottish food commission to implement that right. I am still determined to bring forward a bill that will do that, so that we can be freed from the scourge of food banks and food insecurity.
Food insecurity, food banks and food poverty are a problem for us all. We can see the health issues that arise from the lack of nourishing food. We are seeing obesity rates increase and the return of diseases such as rickets to our communities. That is a cost to us all, and it happens because people cannot afford good, nutritious food.
The Scottish Government talked about a plan to end food banks, but that was last year. We are still waiting for the promised plan—we hope to see it before this winter—so that we can end people’s dependence on the dehumanising process of going to a food bank. I urge all MSPs who see the obscenity in a rich country having families dependent on food banks to join me to bring an end to that.
The war in Ukraine has also shown us how important our national food security is. We need to produce more than 60 per cent of our own food for our national food security, as well as to cut carbon miles and help local economies. We also need to look at local procurement. Labour’s policy is to ensure that 50 per cent of the food that is procured by public bodies should come from local procurement. We need to do that to support our farming industry and our food and drink sector.
With regard to the climate, we have a lot to offer. Our animals are grass fed, which sequesters carbon. However, putting higher standards on our own grass-fed animals in order to cut the number that we produce means importing others from elsewhere, perhaps from places that do not take their responsibilities towards the climate so seriously, so that is actually counterproductive.
We need to look at innovation, because we need to reach net zero, including in our food production, so we need to ensure that we have measures such as carbon recycling, which the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee looked at quite recently.
We also need to ensure that we have the right pipeline jobs, such as local abattoirs that allow us to make use of local produce as close to home as possible. That cuts transport, but we need to ensure that those pipeline jobs are there to support our industry.
With regard to fishing, we need to ensure that we are fishing sustainably. We need to use our powers over our seas to ensure that we have selective gear. We need to cut bycatch and, where there is bycatch, it needs to be landed and used, because we cannot afford the waste. We need to ensure that policies such as highly protected marine areas, which have targeted the most sustainable fisheries, are not going to come forward again.
We also need to look at the people who produce our food and drink. The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union talked about many of its members depending on food banks. It is surely wrong that people who bake and produce our food are themselves having to go to food banks to eat.
Insecure working is also an issue. We need a new deal for working people that bans zero-hours contracts, outlaws fire and rehire and gives people security at work by giving them full rights from day 1. That is how we deal with our labour shortage. If we make jobs more attractive and ensure that they are better paid, we will get the workers to carry them out.
We must also remind ourselves how important food and drink are to the economy, amounting to £8.1 billion in exports. As many of us know, Scotch whisky is responsible for much of that. I am very lucky to represent the Highlands and Islands, which covers many—and certainly the best—whisky-producing parts of Scotland. We also have quality food products such as Orkney cheese, Shetland lamb and Stornoway black pudding, to name but a few, that are protected because they are so important. The sector employs 48,000 people and indirectly supports another 300,000 jobs. It is of critical importance to our country.
I am disappointed that the debate seems to have come down to the question of Brexit or not Brexit. Of course, Brexit brought issues and problems, but we need to find ways through them. The Scottish Government cannot simply blame Brexit for its own shortcomings. We need to give consideration to gene editing as well and see what benefits it could bring for food production.
Will Rhoda Grant give way?
I am in my final minute, I think.
I can give you a little bit of time, but not an awful lot—enough for a brief intervention.
I agree with Rhoda Grant. The SNP would have us believe that Europe is closed to us, but, in the first half of 2023, Scottish salmon exports increased by 9 per cent. I totally agree with her on the SNP’s arguments around Brexit.
I do not think that I said that Brexit was a good thing—far from it. We need to be able to export, but at the moment we are importing without barriers and not exporting without barriers. We need to sort that out.
We need an all-round policy. Members have talked about the agriculture bill, we have the human right to food, and we have good food nation plans coming up. However, we need a joined-up policy. The Scottish Government does not use its powers to the maximum, and it missed an opportunity to join up food and drink policy and to enshrine the right to food in the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022. It has also made no progress in dealing with food poverty. Opportunities have been squandered. The Government could have improved the nation’s health and economy.
I move amendment S6M-10406.1, to insert at end:
“; recognises the plan set out by the Labour Party to stabilise the economy after the turmoil of the UK Conservative administration, reset the relationship with Europe, improve trading relationships and use the power of the Scotland Office to promote Scotland’s excellent food and drink around the world; believes that it is unacceptable that so many people living in food poverty in Scotland are those who work in the food industry; considers that more action is needed to address low pay, zero-hours contracts and insecure work in Scotland’s food and drink sector, and therefore welcomes the proposals in the Labour Party’s New Deal for Working People; asserts that food production and a sustainable environment can work hand in hand for the benefit of both, and believes that the right to food should be enshrined in Scots law.”
15:26
As other members have mentioned, Scotland’s food and drink sector deserves praise up and down the food chain, from field to fork, for its resilience. The situation has been especially acute in the past few years, with Brexit, Covid and the cost of living crisis, as well as the challenges of climate change, battering the sector from all angles.
A combination of the uncertainty after Brexit, the pandemic and, most acutely, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed prices up. Worldwide, the cost of basic ingredients has shot up due to less availability, thanks to the disruption to growing in, and distribution from, Ukraine. Rightful anti-invasion boycotts of energy produced in Russia have impacted European farmers and growers, as well as the supply chain, through increased energy and fuel costs. The spike in fertiliser costs of up to 180 per cent year on year between April 2021 and 2022 is a stark figure that illustrates the challenge. Prices are beginning to fall, but not before the astronomically high profits in the fertiliser industry that NFU Scotland highlighted.
I agree with the Government’s motion that
“the hard Brexit negotiated by the UK Government has created serious, long-term harms, including labour shortages”,
and new barriers to trade for Scottish food and drink exporters and has contributed to inflation in food and supply chain costs. Ironically, it is due to its preparation for such a hard Brexit that the sector was able to be so resilient during the Covid-19 pandemic. We cannot overstate the success of the sector during the Covid emergency, nor can I appropriately convey the thanks of people across the country to all those who managed to keep food on the shelves during that fraught time.
The hard Brexit that was negotiated will continue to impact on the sector for many years. Labour shortages risk leaving food rotting in the fields, barriers to trade make higher prices more likely and more paperwork burdens fresh food exporters and slows down exports.
The sector has also held up against the stumbling of this Green-SNP Government. Self-inflicted uncertainty over the post-Brexit agriculture settlement is causing serious concern for a sector that faces bombardment from multiple angles. Seven years on from the Brexit vote, and two years after we formally left the European Union, the framework bill for the post-Brexit policy is still to go through stage 1 of the parliamentary process, and we will still have to wait for the final outcome once the framework is in place. Crofters, farmers and growers need clarity and certainty so that they can innovate, diversify, take advantage of new technologies and generally plan for the future. The introduction of the bill is long overdue.
The highly protected marine areas policy caused distress among Scotland’s coastal and island communities. Those people and places rely on fish catching and processing for their livelihoods and they would see dramatic depopulation without those if disruption made its way through the supply chain. Thankfully, the hard work of individuals and organisations representing voices up and down Scotland saw off the original HPMA proposals. We await the next iteration of that policy, but the Scottish Government must work closely with coastal and island communities to ensure that, along with robust scientific evidence, the voices of those who will be most impacted are not only heard but listened to. A lot of damage was done by the Scottish Government’s pursuit of HPMAs and it will take time to rebuild trust.
The Scottish bottle deposit and return scheme—the DRS—was a good idea botched and then abandoned. Working together on a UK-wide DRS will help Scottish businesses that sell products across the UK. Businesses had valid concerns that the DRS would be detrimental and feared forced closure, distraction from important day-to-day work and the expense of trying to adhere to the plan. The Scottish Government will have to rebuild trust with the food and drink sector and other businesses.
The ferry fiasco has highlighted the need for connectivity and the impact on businesses and communities when that is lacking. The northern isles are great exporters of seafood, shellfish, salmon, Orkney beef and Shetland lamb and we produce whisky and gin, too. Interisland tunnels in Shetland—
Will the member accept an intervention?
If I have time.
I absolutely agree with the member. I come from the northern isles and appreciate what she says. Does she also recognise the importance of local abattoir facilities? I know that the Shetland Livestock Marketing Group operates one, but many of our remote, rural and island communities do not have access to abattoirs. Does she agree that they are vital for our producers?
I can give you the time back, Ms Wishart.
I certainly agree with the member’s point.
Interisland tunnels in Shetland would help to speed up export times and allow fresh produce to catch the nightly ferry to Aberdeen and then go onward to make transport connections with the mainland and Europe. Some Shetland salmon finds its way to the far east and Scottish salmon’s top three markets are France, China and the United States of America. We must balance that with more ferry freight capacity. Around this time of year, my colleague Liam McArthur and I speak about the pinch points in freight capacity for the livestock season, which are predictable but usually seem not to be prepared for by Transport Scotland. Shetland’s contribution to the Scottish and UK economy is often limited by connectivity, both transport and digital, and national infrastructure investment could unlock much potential.
Crofters, growers, farmers, aquaculture, fishing, the seafood sector, whisky, the whole supply chain and even the corner shop—not to mention island and coastal communities—have all been put through the wringer by the Scottish Government in the past 12 months, which is not how a modern, progressive, representative Government should act. What comes next for our Scottish food and drink sector, of which we should all be very proud, must be better.
15:33
Before I elaborate on the significance of the food and drink sector to the local economy in my constituency by giving examples of many small producers—and I will include hospitality, which plays a significant role by using local supplies and promoting Scottish produce through its food services—I will first mention the impact of Covid and Brexit on the hospitality sector.
The sector took a substantial hit from pandemic closures and then restrictions, notwithstanding the financial support at both UK and Scottish Government levels. Some providers, such as Stobo Castle Health Spa, which also serves food, closed completely and took the opportunity to refurbish, as did the Central Bar in Peebles. It is a very small pub and could not comply with the requirement to serve food, so it closed and underwent refurbishment. Some businesses have yet to see their bank balances recover, so we must not forget the substantial impact of Covid.
Brexit has also had an impact. Several local hotels tell me that they are unable to find staff, who formerly came from the EU, which limits their service to customers. There was not a cheep about Brexit during a very grumpy contribution by Rachael Hamilton.
Some businesses pride themselves on having as much local produce on their menus as is feasible—
Will the member take an intervention?
As I mentioned Rachael Hamilton in dispatches, I will.
I am sure that Christine Grahame has forgotten that I have a glowing smile for her. However, does she agree that, to attract more people to Scotland, we need to ensure that there is sufficient rural housing for people? Does she agree that we need to make Scotland an attractive place and that that means not making it the highest-taxed part of the UK?
I can give you the time back for the intervention, Ms Grahame.
Perhaps the reason why Ms Hamilton did not mention Brexit is that, as an independent report has just shown, it is responsible for a third of UK food price inflation since 2019 and regulatory, sanitary and other border controls have added £7 billion to domestic household bills. That is why she keeps quiet about it.
I turn to the producers—the small and medium-sized enterprises that are the backbone of Scotland’s food and drink sector. The independent, award-winning craft brewery Broughton Ales, which produces a range of beers, was established in 1979 in the village of Broughton. The first Scottish microbrewery to be initiated, it appealed to customers who were looking for a new craft beer experience. It celebrates and preserves traditional Scottish brewing techniques, with favourites including Old Jock Scotch Ale and Stout Jock. They are available in pubs in Edinburgh and elsewhere, and also online.
On the same topic, there is more beer to be had at Traquair. I say to Mr Mountain that I have a theme. Traquair House Brewery lies in the wing of Traquair house that is directly underneath the chapel. The house, which is extraordinary, is Scotland’s oldest inhabited house and it was visited by 27 Scottish kings and queens. The brewery, which dates back to the 1700s, was originally a domestic brewery that served the house and the estate. It became disused but was never dismantled. It gradually filled up with family rubbish until it was rediscovered by Peter Maxwell Stuart in the early 1960s. Today, it continues to be run by the family, with beer names including the unsurprising Traquair House Ale and the also appropriately named Traquair Jacobite Ale, and it exports 50 per cent of its production.
I have had the pleasure of visiting both businesses—
Will the member take an intervention?
If I will get the time back, I will certainly take the intervention. I am not unhappy about doing that.
You can get most of the time back.
I do not have any samples for the member.
I ask Jamie Halcro Johnston to be brief.
I apologise for interrupting the trip through Christine Grahame’s Friday night pub crawl. I was just wondering how those breweries were impacted by the deposit return scheme proposals. How much preparation did they have to put in and how much future investment has that affected?
Well, they have not been impacted. The member will know that I raised the issue of these businesses during the discussions about the DRS. I am not unhappy to say that. I am glad that the scheme is being revisited. There were issues. I say to the member that he did not catch me out.
There are producers of honey, too, including large estates such as the Duke of Northumberland’s Burncastle estate, where I passed a trailer-load of hives being taken back to Dumfries after the bees had finished feeding off the heather. I still have a pot at home—of honey, not bees.
Then there are the farms across my constituency, stretching from the Eildon hills to the Pentland hills. They are mostly involved in sheep farming, although there are some mixed farms such as Baddinsgill hill farm in the southern Pentland hills near West Linton. Its 4,000 acres of heather-covered hills are populated by 1,400 hardy Blackface sheep along with a small fold of Highland cattle. The family has farmed there since 1912 and it remains a family farm, with four generations currently living there. It is one of the many farms and, indeed, estates that I have visited in my years here. It was on one of those Pentland farms that I learned—I am going into dangerous territory here—that on some farms sheep congregate in hefts that defend their patch with vigour. I hope that I have remembered that correctly.
All the producers that I have mentioned above have accessible websites where people can place orders, although it seems that the whole beef and whole lamb at Baddinsgill are already sold out. The important thing about those businesses is that they are embedded in the community and are committed to the community and to Scotland. They are not “here today, gone tomorrow” multinationals. They do not have to get £75 million to set up a car factory somewhere in England. They are family enterprises and they are the backbone of Scotland’s economy.
I will conclude by going back to hospitality. I repeat that it endured a tough two years due to Covid and it is still on the road to recovery. Recently, I completed my annual summer surgery tour of villages. Apart from picking up lots of cases and local issues, I also had to eat, of course, and where better than the two places that I will mention? I had lunch at Burts hotel in Melrose—I recommend the kedgeree—and at Caberston cafe in Walkerburn, where people cannot resist the homemade soup and cake.
There you are, Deputy Presiding Officer. I have unashamedly promoted and publicised a sample of what my constituency brings to the table and, seriously, to the local economy and the Scottish economy, which we should support and celebrate.
Thank you, Ms Grahame. I am sure that you will be welcomed back to both of those hostelries.
What time we had in hand has now been exhausted. I invite members to stick broadly to their speaking time allowances.
15:40
I remind members of my entry in the register of members’ interests. I am a member of a family farming partnership that produces food—sadly, not drink—for the people of Scotland. It produces drink indirectly, through barley, but it does not produce drink. I also have an interest in a salmon fishery, which provides no food to the economy.
We often have these interesting debates in the Parliament. We talk about how wonderful the Government is in what it does and how everyone else is to blame for the failures, but that is the wrong way to do it. We should be talking about the challenges that the industry faces and how the Government will address those.
Agriculture has risen to the challenges of the past few years, and—by goodness!—it has had them. Beatrice Wishart mentioned that prices have gone through the roof. Fertilisers went from £265 a tonne to more than £1,200 a tonne, dropping back to £600 a tonne this year, and those prices have been reflected in seed, spray, fuel and labour costs, all of which have gone up. That has been a real challenge for farmers, who have been hanging on by their fingernails to the businesses that they work in.
The problem is that the extra costs are not being met by farm-gate prices. We have not seen the increases that we should have seen. Perhaps that is a good thing for the consumer, because it has kept prices for food lower than they would have been if the increased prices had been passed on.
Beef prices have risen, but they are now falling, as are the numbers in the beef herd, a point that was made by my colleague. The question that was raised by Jim Walker, when he came to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee, was whether that will be sustainable into the future. We need beef to be sustainable because we cannot eat trees. We need to consider that.
When it comes to working in the farming industry, we need to understand that the problem is not caused purely by Brexit. Finding labour has always been difficult. Working on the farm is not a four-day week but a full-time life. Who wants to be up at 2 o’clock in the morning trying to deliver a difficult cow and probably getting a kick for the privilege? Working a four-day week in another sector would be much easier. Those things put people off working in the farming industry, but they are what farming is all about. We need to encourage people to work in the farming sector by making it easier for new entrants. We have not done that. Instead, we have confused the marketplace by making it difficult through new tenancy legislation.
We should have had an agriculture bill last year. The chairman of the Climate Change Committee has said that, NFU Scotland said it and farmers have said it. The only one who believes that it is not required is the cabinet secretary.
Other industries have expanded. The whisky industry is a good example. It has really played its part. It has become bigger and is employing lots of people. However, it needs to protect its primary suppliers, who are wondering whether it is easier to produce rye to go into an anaerobic digestion system or to produce barley. If distilleries do not make it attractive for farmers to produce barley, they will not be able to source Scottish barley. I also believe that the Scottish whisky industry needs to address some of the net zero problems that it faces, not only with its cooling water but with the heat that it uses in its processes.
The industry that I find most disappointing is aquaculture. During my time in the Parliament, I have tried to be supportive of that industry. Its 205 farms across Scotland generate a huge income. It is, without a doubt, a big employer. When the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee considered all the things that it brought to the economy, we were clear that it has a significant place in the Scottish food industry.
However, since 2017, the number of deaths of salmon in salmon farms has increased substantially. We are now at a stage at which 36,000 tonnes of salmon are destroyed annually. That is not acceptable and we should not allow it to be acceptable. This year, in June alone—I think—8 per cent of all the fish in the Loch Linnhe farm died and 9.2 per cent of all the fish in the Loch Kishorn farm died. In fact, 25 per cent of all fish that go to sea die before they reach our tables. Even worse, some of them are dying when they are harvested and they still reach our tables.
The aquaculture industry has a lot to do to rise to the challenges. The REC Committee report made 65 recommendations asking the industry to rise to those challenges. We were told in evidence by people such as Ben Hadfield that they were humbled by the problems that they faced but that they would rise to the challenge. The only rise that we have seen in the past five years since he gave evidence is a 168 per cent increase in the use of antibiotics in salmon farms. That, to me, is unacceptable.
My time is short. In conclusion, there is much that we can do, but there is much that we need to do. Let us concentrate on some of the failings so that we can get things right and make Scotland’s food and drink industry the best in the world.
15:46
This year at the Royal Highland Show, an industry-led strategy that aims for a 25 per cent increase in turnover for Scotland’s food and drink sector by 2028 was published. As an aside, I must mention that it was published on the seventh anniversary of the vote to leave the EU.
It is not the first time that the food and drink sector in Scotland has partnered an SNP Government. Although the previous Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition did some encouraging work, it was the national food and drink policy that was created in conjunction with the industry and led by Richard Lochhead in 2008 that set out the ambition of making the industry worth £13 billion to the Scottish economy by 2013. For many years, food and drink was our fastest-growing sector, with an emphasis on ambition, innovation and a drive to promote the quality of brand Scotland.
That partnership helped to create a feel-good factor and an attitude that the sector was important, and that Government was listening and that it valued the industry. The rapid and visible success was at first celebrated and then viewed with just a hint of jealousy from down south.
The ever-rising tide of brand Scotland, in which the banner of the saltire was carried on our Scottish-grown and manufactured products, gave confidence and led to a huge growth in the numbers of small artisan producers and the diversification of farms. Their products were seized by consumers accessing them through the growing number of farmers markets and farm shops, and then they were seized by the ultimate marketing machines: the supermarkets.
I remember the days when the likes of Tesco had huge saltires painted on the outside of their walls and pictures of real farmers smiling into the camera hanging up in their stores. Tesco better than anyone recognised the marketing potency and power of that combination: the hard-working, quality-driven farmer for Scotland with a worldwide reputation for high standards of welfare and stockmanship. It was a marketing dream to be capitalised on. Multiple products were given the brand mark, including all our meat products, our game, our dairy products and even our tablet and shortbread. Scotland’s food and drink spoke of provenance and quality.
That home-grown increase in output led to hugely increased exports. The quality of the products added to the branding of Scotland, and a successful food and drink sector was marketed as a land of mystery mountains, swirling peaty waters and misty hills, joined by a land of food and drink.
It is said that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. In 2015, we saw substantial imitation of Scotland’s food and drink strategy emerging from the UK Government. That year, the UK Government launched its very own rule Britannia-esque, union jack-bedecked food and drink strategy. Arguably, it attempted to subsume brand Scotland into brand Britain. The problem for the UK Government was and still is that brand Scotland carries so much more weight than brand Britain. That is simply because post-Brexit Britain is not trusted on the global stage.
The Tory motion talks about
“the challenges and the opportunities”
of Brexit. I would ask the sheep farmers in Scotland to think of the opportunity with our borders now being wide open to unlimited volumes of much cheaper antipodean lamb.
The Labour amendment says that we should harness
“the power of the Scotland Office”
and “reset the relationship” with the EU. That means business as usual. We can forget about Brexit and just let Westminster call the shots and promote Scotland only if it suits its agenda, not when it suits our agenda.
If Scotland’s biggest drink export, Scotch whisky, is to be taxed to the levels recently set by the UK Government, the phenomenal power of that taxation should be used right here, in Scotland, to help our industry to continue to drive innovation, resilience and ambition. It should be helping us to tackle the scourge of poverty, which blights so many communities, instead of being swallowed up in Brexit Britain’s desperate attempts at international relevance.
I wish the strategy every success. It is clear that, working in partnership with the SNP Government, the industry has a massive role to play as a driving force for good as Scotland progresses towards regaining its independence.
15:51
I am pleased that Scotland Food & Drink has made the theme of this year’s food and drink fortnight “Discover what’s on your doorstep”. The summer recess has given me a great opportunity to do just that. I have had the privilege of visiting dozens of local producers and processors while, I hope, shining a light on the growing importance of local provenance.
I have visited Galloway Lodge Preserves, along with representatives of the Food and Drink Federation; I have been to numerous agricultural shows, country fairs, local farms, farmers markets, fishing ports and hotels; I visited a distillery or two, with representatives of the Scotch Whisky Association; and, this weekend, I will have the pleasure of attending the Stranraer oyster festival. It has been a delight, once again, to eat and drink my way across what is a wonderful region this summer, and I place on record my thanks to those working in the food and drink sector in South Scotland: farmers, fishers, shop workers, processors, wholesalers and deliverers. They are all part of the 18,000 food and drink businesses in Scotland that turn over £14 billion a year and employ more than 115,000 people. That is a real success story and we should be proud of it.
It is fair to say, however, there was no shortage of issues raised during my journey over the summer. Recruitment remains immensely challenging. The managers at one major hotel in the Borders that I visited told me that it was not running at capacity, not because of a lack of demand but because of a lack of staff, with skilled, well-paid posts remaining unfilled. Unquestionably, the wholly inadequate immigration policy that was put in place by the UK Government after Brexit is having an impact, including the short-sighted decision not to include chefs on the shortage occupation list.
Changing that policy will not be enough on its own, however. We need an end to the year-on-year cuts to colleges, which are eroding the skilled workforce; we need better reskilling opportunities for older workers; and we need more campaigns such as Hospitality Rising’s rise fast work young campaign to highlight the often hidden but positive career opportunities that exist in the sector.
Unless we address the chronic housing shortage, especially in rural areas, I will continue to meet representatives of businesses, such as those in Dumfries and Galloway whom I spoke to during the summer, who told me that, even when they find staff who want to take up posts, the appointments often fall through because there is no affordable housing nearby. Continued cuts to bus services in those same rural communities simply add to the recruitment barriers that many businesses face. There is also a role for the sector in these post-pandemic times, when many people are re-evaluating their life choices. Any business that is still just offering the minimum wage and that thinks of zero-hours contracts as a positive destination will not be able to recruit, frankly.
On my many farm visits during the summer, I found that the uncertainty from the Scottish Government over future funding mechanisms and the lack of detail about what will be expected of farmers in order to secure that funding remains the main concern. There is still anger among our fishers over the shambolic handling of highly protected marine areas. Not surprisingly, the small producers whom I met—the backbone of the food and drink sector in my region—highlighted the impact of cost increases caused by spiralling inflation, which many of them had to absorb because of the lag between cost rises and price rises. That is why practical support from the Scottish Government, such as reinstating the food processing, marketing and co-operation grant, is more important now than it ever has been if we are to maintain the growth in the sector we all want to see.
Taking a more strategic approach to food and drink policy is vital. It is so disappointing that, 15 months since the Parliament passed the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill—now the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022—the Scottish Government has failed to publish a draft good food nation plan for consultation.
I hope that, in her closing comments, the cabinet secretary will tell us when we will see that draft plan. It needs to show how we embed farming and food production at every level of education and place a far bigger focus on procuring and promoting local food and drink. The Scottish Government, local authorities, the national health service and other public bodies spend more than £14.5 billion a year on services, works and goods, including food, but, for too long, public procurement has focused too narrowly on price and cost reduction. We have failed to maximise the benefits of low-carbon local supply chains, which is why we should ensure that discovering what is on our doorstep is not just a slogan and instead have a clear target of 50 per cent for the level of local sustainable food that is bought by the public sector, as proposed by Labour. Local procurement not only supports local businesses; it reduces our carbon footprint and poverty.
The importance of food and drink goes beyond their crucial economic importance, as they impact on our health, our environment, our record on animal welfare, and on tackling poverty. For far too long, far too many people in Scotland have lacked adequate access to good, nutritious food, exposing the gross inequalities that we face today. Although our food and drink sector in Scotland has grown, so too has the scandal of food poverty. It is absolutely right that we celebrate the success of Scotland’s food and drink sector and that we support the continued growth of what is a good success story, but we also need to rethink how we approach access to food.
The failure to enshrine in law the right to food when the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill was passed 15 months ago was a missed opportunity. The Parliament can change that by backing Labour’s right to food bill, which Rhoda Grant will introduce. In a nation that provides so much outstanding food and drink, it is to all our shame that so many children in Scotland still go to bed hungry at night, that the use of food banks is at record levels, and that many of those who work to put food on the tables in restaurants struggle to pay for food to put on their own families’ tables. That is a scandal that needs to end.
15:56
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this vitally important debate. I have been privileged to visit many stakeholders from across Scotland’s rural and seafood industries, from catching to processing to trading and beyond. It was clear that their successes are essential to the Scottish economy and, of course, to the local economy of my constituency of Banffshire and Buchan Coast. When the local sector thrives, so do local businesses. Families move in and support the population, and families provide labour to support education, health and many other critical public support roles. Indeed, it is not really far reaching to suggest that our food and drink industries sustain not just our physical bodies but our communities and give life to a wide range of other Scottish industries and sectors.
I love the visualisation that the story of our seafood industry is woven into the rich tapestry of Scotland’s history. Without that industry, the coastal communities such as the ones that I represent simply would not exist. Each of them is a testament to local ingenuity and is a story of a human commitment to provide. Our seafood sector is a cornerstone of seafood not just here but globally. Peterhead, in my constituency, is home to the largest fishing port in the UK and Europe’s largest white fishing port. It is the hub of Scotland’s seafood industry. There has been a harbour at Peterhead for more than 400 years and, throughout the centuries, the success of the town has been closely linked to the level of maritime trade and activity.
When I met representatives of the Peterhead fish market, I witnessed at first hand—very early in the morning—the enormous undertaking and organisation involved. It is apparent that the fish market is no ordinary marketplace. It is a testament to Scotland’s enterprise and its role in the global food economy.
On Saturday, I had a fantastic day out at SeaFest Peterhead, and it was great to see the cabinet secretary, Mairi Gougeon, there as well, enjoying the Blue Toon, as we call it. Given that it was the first such festival, it was an incredible success. It was not just a food festival; it was a showcase of what we have to offer. From the vast attendance numbers and the diversity of those who came to visit, it was apparent that there is a hunger—if members will excuse the pun—to celebrate what we have locally. From young to old, there was a true community spirit of pride and a desire to educate about what we have. That intergenerational conversation on issues concerning our rural communities is needed today more than ever.
At the Turriff Show in August, I met NFUS members and discussed how we can better incorporate the topics of fishing, farming and food security into our education system to entice our younger generations to continue that work and to—I am sure—improve what we have. I look forward to working with NFUS on that issue in the years to come.
Farming and fishing are rapidly evolving industries. It is abundantly clear that our food and drink sector—particularly our seafood sector—plays a leading role in supporting Scotland to thrive at home and abroad. On a local level, the opportunities that fishing provides are invaluable. From catching to processing and from packing to marketing, our blue economy offers those opportunities in abundance.
Although, first and foremost, we are talking about food, the Scottish fish sector is essential to Scotland’s soft power on the world stage. What does that soft power look like in numbers? Put frankly, fish and seafood are Scotland’s primary food export. In 2021, Scottish exports of fish and seafood were valued at £1 billion, or 204,000 tonnes, and they accounted for 60 per cent of total food exports. They also accounted for 63 per cent of total UK fish and seafood exports.
Although I would love nothing more than to reel off success after success, I must spend a moment discussing the many concerns that have been raised with me by farmers and fishers since I was elected. If we are to ensure the security of good-quality Scottish food and drink, it is incumbent on all of us in the chamber to listen carefully to those concerns and to address them. Among them, Brexit continues to be the number 1 concern. The loss of freedom of movement and free trade has done untold damage to our rural economy. Our prized seafood industry has been hit with an estimated 50 per cent increase in the cost of packaging items that are sent to the EU. Some shellfish exporters have estimated that the new barriers to trade with the EU have resulted in additional costs of £500 to £600 per consignment, which makes some exports unviable. In fact, Seafood Scotland has told us that post-Brexit labour shortages are having a huge impact on the seafood processing sector, with many businesses
“turning down growth opportunities due to a lack of labour.”
If the UK Government and the Labour Opposition in London will not listen, perhaps our colleagues could pass on the message of Mike Park, the chief executive of the Scottish White Fish Producers Association. Talking about Brexit, he said:
“We were the poster boys, we wanted out. But a lot have now reassessed their enthusiasm for Brexit because it has delivered nothing. It has left some very negative legacies and hasn’t provided any of the positives we were promised.”
In conclusion—[Interruption.]
Ms Adam, please resume your seat for a second. Could I have less chitchat across the benches? Please resume, Ms Adam.
Thank you, Presiding Officer.
I acknowledge the harsh realities that the sector faces, and I pay tribute to all those who have worked on and pushed ahead while bearing the weight of Tory political decisions. I thank them for sustaining us throughout it all, and we celebrate their resilience.
16:03
I am delighted to speak in this important debate. I speak once again at a time when we are still deep in a climate and nature emergency. We saw what a real emergency response looks like during the pandemic. Scientists say that the climate and nature crises will cause even more damage than Covid, so let us show the way and act like our future depends on it.
Of course, food and drink are inextricably linked to climate and biodiversity. Our farmers and crofters know better than most how changing weather patterns affect crops, how water scarcity can impact production and how heat stress affects livestock and dairy yields. We all noticed the veg shortages in February, which the British Retail Consortium put down to
“Difficult weather conditions in the south of Europe and northern Africa”.
Scotland’s farming, fishing and food and drink sectors are tremendous assets to our country. Much has already been said about their £15 billion contribution to our economy and the 120,000 people—many of them in rural communities—who are employed in those sectors. However, to continue thriving in a world in which the climate is changing while reducing its significant contribution to the climate and nature crises, our food sector must adapt, and it must be fully supported and incentivised to do so.
Change can be daunting, but not changing is not an option. The world is turning and we cannot stand still. We all have a stake in a food system that works for the public, for the planet and for producers. We need a national conversation about what we want our food system to look like. Do we want to produce more of our own food in Scotland? What is the right balance between imports, exports and self-sufficiency? Should we use more of our land to grow our food, or would we benefit more from producing crops for whisky and animal feed? How can we increase our resilience?
The coming years will provide a golden opportunity to shape and strengthen our food system, with the forthcoming agriculture bill and payment framework, just transition policies for the agriculture and marine sectors and, not least, the good food nation plans, which have been mentioned.
I am proud to have played my part in shaping the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022, which enshrines principles such as the role of a sustainable food system, resilient supply chains and the right to food. The resulting public sector plans will be powerful tools for influencing what food is produced, to what standards, where it is sold, how much it costs and how it gets on to our plates. For example, local authorities could establish procurement contracts with local providers of wild venison, organic fruit and veg and selectively sourced seafood. That would give smaller producers a steady income, increase the market for those sustainable products and encourage others to move into production, creating a virtuous circle.
I would also love to see good food nation plans include support for networks such as the Highland Good Food Partnership, which supports local businesses and encourages collaboration on community food growing, food banks and tackling food waste.
Will the member take an intervention?
I will keep going, thank you.
Networks such as those show how food can bring communities together.
I will now focus on some of the primary producers of our food, such as the fruit and veg growers, horticulturists and market gardeners who work hard to grow food for our shops, veg boxes and dinner tables. They are key workers in green jobs, but many do not receive the public funding that other farmers get if their farm is too small, if they do not keep livestock or depending on the type of land that they farm.
Fruit and veg growers deserve more support, and that should be reflected in the new farm payment framework that will follow next year’s agriculture bill. It is fantastic that the Scottish Government has extended funding for the fruit and vegetable aid scheme, providing up to £6 million over the next two years through producer organisations, but most of that will not make its way to small producers. More support for market gardens and large fruit and veg farms would create thousands of good green rural jobs and contribute millions to our rural economy. It would also ensure that public money delivers public goods: healthy and sustainable food for people in Scotland.
I thank everyone who works in Scotland’s food and drink sector—they all play an important role in feeding the nation and/or contributing to our economy. That is why we must use levers such as the good food nation plans, farm support payments and other public funding wisely to support the whole sector to adapt in a changing world, increase its resilience and thrive as we truly become a good food nation.
16:09
I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate on valuing Scotland’s world-class food and drink sector, particularly because it is taking place during Scottish food and drink fortnight. Scotland’s food and drink sector is one of the key drivers of our economy. We are fortunate, particularly in my South Scotland region, to have some of the most amazing and delicious products and pure natural resources to be found anywhere in the world.
I know that it has been said already, but it is worth repeating that, with an annual turnover of £15 billion and overseas export sales of more than £6 billion, which represents nearly a third of all UK food exports, the food and drink industry is a major contributor to Scotland’s economy.
There are more than 17,000 food and drink businesses, which employ around 129,000 people, many of whom are in remote and economically fragile rural and island communities, such as communities in Dumfries and Galloway. Exports of Scottish food and drink were valued at a record £8.1 billion in 2022. That is up £1.9 billion, which is 30.6 per cent, compared with 2021. However, despite the fantastic efforts of our food and drink producers, it is clear that Brexit continues to pose huge challenges to Scotland’s food and drink industry due to the loss of free trade and the imposition of new obstacles to the movement of goods. Indeed, the Ethical Dairy, which is a producer in Galloway, stopped sending goods to Europe and Ireland altogether because of Brexit bureaucracy. It was just going to cost too much. No matter how innovative the industry is or how wonderful our produce is, if we cannot get that produce to markets, the sector will face challenges.
From attending the majority of the agricultural shows over the summer—including at Stranraer, Wigtown, Dumfries and Kelso—it is clear that numerous challenges are impacting the sector, and removal from the EU single market plays a big part in that. The food and drink sector has borne the brunt, particularly through the loss of freedom of movement of people and free trade. Now, with clear evidence of Brexit causing food bills to rocket, we are all affected. The Opposition likes to point out that many factors influence food inflation, but other countries and citizens do not have to contend with Brexit. It is really important that we speak about that.
The Scottish Government is doing all that it can within its resources and powers to help the sector. Supporting our local food businesses provides important markets for local producers. The Scottish Government has provided £17.5 million to businesses and groups in the food and drink sector, including the oyster festival in Stranraer. I am glad that Colin Smyth mentioned that, as I will be goin there masel this Saturday. The oyster festival in Stranraer has received £15,000 of combined funding from the Scottish Government and Dumfries and Galloway Council. Again, I look forward to oysters in Stranraer this weekend. It is worth pointing out that Loch Ryan is home to Scotland’s only native oyster beds. I thank Stranraer Development Trust for all its efforts in organising the oyster festival, which is helping to shine a light on the toon that I was born in and grew up in.
Scotland’s ambitious 10-year collaborative food and drink recovery plan targets strong growth against Brexit impacts. “Sustaining Scotland. Supplying the World. A strategy for Scotland’s food and drink industry” aims to mitigate the damage inflicted by the Covid pandemic and Brexit. The strategy aims to support the sector to grow faster than similarly sized competitors, such as those in Ireland and Norway. The Scotland Food & Drink partnership projects that it could support a 25 per cent increase in turnover for the sector by 2028, from a projected £16 billion to £20 billion. The actions include restoring promotional activity to pre-pandemic levels to reach new markets, and recruiting and retaining a highly skilled workforce to adapt and tackle skills shortages in the sector. That will support rural small businesses, such as businesses across Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders.
Scotland’s food and drink sector lost many of the benefits that it once had in trading with the EU, and that makes me crabbit. Although the full economic consequences of Brexit are yet to be realised, businesses now face additional expense when trading, and some food producers have found that their goods can no longer be exported to the EU. Brexit also hampers domestic production, with labour shortages caused by the loss of freedom of movement.
Pre-Brexit, Scottish producers sold 20,000 tonnes of seed potatoes to EU customers each year. The Windsor framework allows seed potatoes to go to Northern Ireland, but the EU market is still closed to Scottish seed potatoes. That is 20,000 tonnes.
Many of Scotland’s food industries are still suffering from lower imports and exports to the EU, including a 38 per cent fall in fruit and vegetable exports between 2019 and 2022. The Opposition might go on aboot how Brexit disnae matter. It absolutely does matter, and we have to keep reiterating that, because the sooner we are back in the EU as an independent country, the better. Scottish firms are trying to export to Europe, but they face significant additional costs and bureaucracy at a time when their margins are already being squeezed.
Will the member take an intervention?
I think I have aboot 30 seconds before I close.
I hear what Karen Adam is saying about our prized seafood industry, which has been hit with a 50 per cent increase in the cost of packaging items that are sent to the EU. I know from a recent visit to a seafood company in Galloway that the new export health certificates are costing the salmon sector alone approximately £1.3 million a year.
I welcome the support that the Scottish Government is providing to our food and drink sector. I thank the south of Scotland producers for all their hard work, and I hope that Scotland will take its rightful place in the European Union to protect and enhance our food and drink sector.
16:15
I recognise the world-renowned food and drink producers across Scotland. As we have heard, my constituency boasts amazing artisan cheese and ice-cream makers, and famous butchers in Castle Douglas—not to forget the oyster festival in Stranraer, which takes place this weekend and which I, too, look forward to attending.
I have listened intently to the debate. The one thing that we have yet to hear from the Scottish Government is what it ultimately wants our food and drink industry to deliver. Long before now, the Scottish Government should have been open and honest about what exactly its desired outcomes for a future agricultural policy are, which include how much food it wants Scotland to produce.
We need to know what level of food production is wanted in Scotland for the next few decades and beyond—how many litres of milk, how many kilos of beef, lamb and pork, and how many tonnes of fruit, vegetables and cereals we need. If we knew that, we would understand better the level of imports that the Scottish Government deems to be acceptable, given the potential additional carbon footprint and possible impact on biodiversity of imported food.
Given the current global situation, food security is of utmost importance. However, there has been a vacuum of information from the cabinet secretary when we should have been hearing her outline a future agricultural policy and explain how she hopes to achieve her desired outcomes.
Our food producers have been seeking answers for years and have—naturally—grown frustrated at the lack of direction. Our Scottish food and drink producers are among the best in the world, but they are still being kept in the dark about how much food they need to produce and even about basics such as the Government’s definition of regenerative farming.
We need to know all that information to inform decisions about how much land will be needed and to plan for the future with a degree of confidence. The food and drink industry needs clear direction on future farming policies.
The member alights on an important point about decisions on land use. We have a finite amount of land and there are options—for example, the decision whether to use land for agriculture or forestry is critical. Do we need to be much more focused on such issues as we think about agriculture and land use?
Absolutely—I thank Daniel Johnson for his helpful intervention. It is critical to know how much food we need to produce and then to look at how much land we need to produce that food on. As the member said, we do not have an infinite amount of land and we have to make important decisions about that, but the position is still unclear.
We need clear direction on farm policies, including policies on the use of gene editing to create produce that is better suited to a climate-changing Scotland and to reduce any negative impacts on biodiversity. However, the SNP-led Scottish Government—almost certainly influenced by the coalition partners in the Green Party—has chosen to take the narrow-minded approach of opposing the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023. Sadly, and not for the good of our agriculture sector but for constitutional reasons, the Government will blindly attempt to keep pace with our European neighbours. The act simply diverges from outdated rules that were inherited from the European Union by removing more precise breeding techniques such as gene editing from the scope of restrictive genetically modified organism rules and adopting a similar regulatory stance to that in other countries around the world, including the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, Brazil and Argentina.
Despite widespread appeals from scientists, farmers and breeders, who have all highlighted Scotland’s remarkable world-leading research strengths in places such as the James Hutton Institute and the Roslin Institute here, in Edinburgh, the Scottish Government has remained tone deaf and has steadfastly refused to accept new technology that offers faster and more precise delivery of desired traits and, as a consequence, offers many opportunities to develop more sustainable, productive and climate-resistant farming systems, which would, in turn, add to Scotland’s vibrant food and drink sector.
I do not want to see producers going into battle with one hand tied behind their backs when it is their ambition to protect the clean, green brand of Scotland’s £15 billion food and drink industry. The Scottish Government needs to come clean over its misguided hostility towards gene editing technologies and provide proper justification for its position, rather than just having a desire to remain aligned with the EU.
The EU is now changing its stance and is rightly recognising that the world is changing dramatically and that food security is now increasingly more important. Covid, the war in Ukraine, the cost of living crisis, a more aggressive climate change shift and a growing population and a demographic shift across the world have all sharpened the minds of the EU and turned them towards gene-edited crops. Where will that leave the Scottish Government? Will we see a massive, late but very welcome U-turn on the precision breeding issue? Will ministers now listen to the science rather than the anti-science, anti-growth—indeed, anti-everything—Green Party?
The European Commission appears to be moving away from its farm to fork policy as it realises that it would be a prescription for disaster, as it would not only increase hunger but undermine climate and environmental goals.
Gene editing research has moved on, with amazing policies to reduce inputs of artificial fertilisers, chemicals and water. With the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions often incorrectly being laid at the doorstep of livestock production, GE is opening up major opportunities to improve the sustainability, productivity, health and welfare of farmed animals.
Should we be judicious and careful going forward? Yes, absolutely, but let us listen to the science, not ill-informed scaremongering, when it comes to setting farm production policy. We need a food system that is efficient, productive and environmentally sustainable to provide nutritious food with an increasingly small environmental impact. That can happen only if it is based in reality and not on wishful thinking.
I call Pauline McNeill, who is joining us remotely.
16:22
Scotland’s food and drink industry is vital to our economic growth. Food and drink is now Scotland’s biggest employer and the industry is worth a mighty £15 billion. The food and drink that we produce from our abundant natural resources is revered around the world for its quality and history, and the production of Scotch whisky and other spirit drinks is of particular importance to Scotland. I have enjoyed listening to members promoting the produce in their local areas in their contributions.
Times have been tough for the sector. Many members mentioned Brexit, which clearly had an impact on the sector, the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequences that have flowed from that, and, of course, the war in Ukraine, which has fuelled an unprecedented cost of production crisis. Few people foresaw that crisis, but it shows the global nature of how quickly food insecurity can arise and how important it is to keep an eye on geopolitics.
Relentless market pressures and changes to the regulatory environment have added to the many stresses in the sector. Scottish businesses are still navigating a difficult climate, which is likely to remain turbulent for the next few years. For many, the focus will be on stability and remaining viable.
I will talk about Glasgow, in my region, which is Scotland’s largest city. The hospitality industry is critical to the supply chain of the food and drink sector and it has been hugely exposed to rising costs, including utility costs and many others.
There is a lack of confidence in public transport. There has been a huge impact on the taxi trade and a failure to properly support it, which has had an impact on cities such as Glasgow. The taxi trade is vital to keeping the beating heart of a city centre thriving.
Growth and resilience are important, as Colin Smyth mentioned in his contribution when he talked about the bus industry. Young people rely on the night bus service in Glasgow to get home from work in the hospitality sector. Many parents who were driving their sons and daughters home from a late shift were met with the introduction of the low-emission zone in Glasgow. The way in which that was done was a disaster. I fear the proposed congestion charges, simply because hospitality is so vital to a city such as Glasgow. If the public lack confidence to come into Glasgow or there is a perception that people cannot do that, and if we do not have the standard of public transport necessary to meet the city’s needs, that will impact on recruitment and jobs.
In August, the owners of some of Scotland’s most popular hospitality venues shared their concerns over the future of the industry in light of recent closure. Michael Bergson of Buck’s Bar and Thundercat pointed to the lack of rates relief, which is still a big issue here compared to England. It creates the impression that Scotland is not doing enough for the sector. The issue is of great concern to me. I met leading members of the food and drink sector in Glasgow to discuss how to navigate the current inflationary pressures and impacts on customer spending powers that are making trading difficult.
I also host the cross-party group on hospitality, which is diverse and includes the wedding sector, the music sector and pubs and clubs. It meets in Parliament regularly. In a city region such as Glasgow, which is geographically important to the sector, it is important to make those connections. Emma Harper and others talked about the connections with the oyster and salmon industries. As Christine Grahame mentioned local businesses, I will mention Cafe Gandolfi, which has been in Glasgow for decades. It is a great example of an iconic restaurant that serves fresh food from all over Scotland. I want to ensure that cafes and restaurants such as Cafe Gandolfi can continue to take advantage of Scotland’s strong sector. We can take it that the sector is facing many issues in which it needs Government support.
Aside from economic growth, we must ensure that our food system in Scotland is contributing to the health and wellbeing of everyone. No matter where someone lives, what they earn or their personal circumstances, it is important that they get access to fresh and affordable food. Food is a basic human right. Members such as Rhoda Grant, Colin Smyth and those from other parties have championed that cause. It is to their credit that they have changed the attitude to the availability of food and the concept of the right to food security. Many Scots are going to bed hungry and relying on food banks and the kindness of strangers—that is an outrage in a country so rich in natural food resources.
I want to mention the work of Homeless Project Scotland, which is a wonderful organisation that is saving lives by feeding people on the streets of Glasgow. As we have heard from other members, one in three children in Glasgow is living in poverty. Food insecurity in Scotland is caused by too much poverty, not too little food. For better access to food, particularly for those who live in areas of multiple deprivation, there must be facilities offering a healthy choice of nutritious and fresh food.
I also know that there are plans to increase Glasgow’s food growing capacity by scaling up allotments and community growing as the development of urban farming in the city. Data shows that 20 per cent of people who were referred to food banks in the Trussell Trust network in mid-2022 were in working households, which shows a rise in in-work food poverty.
The Scottish Government has promised a national plan for ending the need for food banks. We must focus on that and on giving people the right to food, alongside focusing on the viability and sustainability of our food and drink sector.
Gordon MacDonald will be the final speaker before we move to closing speeches.
16:28
In Scotland, our trade surplus in goods is driven by fantastic, world-class quality food and drink, whether that is the abundance of seafood in Scottish waters, including top-quality salmon, or Scotch beef and lamb reared on our farms. We export soft fruits such as strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, alongside barley, wheat, oats and—of course—whisky. The sector delivers £8 billion of export sales, which adds to the trade surplus that is generated here, in Scotland. Our food and drink products are in high demand in markets across the world because we offer a diverse range of products with broad international appeal that have a reputation for quality, provenance and luxury.
Scotland and, to a lesser extent, Wales are the only countries of the UK that have a trade surplus in all goods and services. The most recent Office for National Statistics figures highlight that we had an overall surplus of £21 billion in 2021. We sell more to the world than we import—generating a surplus that benefits the UK economy—unlike the north-west of England, Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands, the West Midlands, the east of England and south-east England, which all consume more than they produce and have an overall goods and services trade deficit.
Before I focus on the whisky industry, I should remind members that I am the co-convener of the cross-party group on Scotch whisky.
In 2022, the value of Scottish whisky exports was £6.2 billion, which equates to 1.67 billion bottles of whisky—or 53 bottles of whisky every second—exported to markets all over the world. Scotland’s whisky accounted for 77 per cent of Scottish food and drink exports and 25 per cent of all UK food and drink exports. The Scotch whisky industry exports to 174 countries around the world. The largest market is in India, which alone purchased the equivalent of 219 million bottles of whisky, followed by France and then the United States.
Those export sales help to support employment in Scotland, where 11,000 people are directly employed in the whisky industry. They also support 42,000 jobs across the UK. The number of Scottish people directly employed in the whisky industry is up from the 9,300 jobs estimated in 2008, as the number of distilleries has increased from 109 in 2009 to the 146 that we have today. The result is that we have more than 22 million casks lying maturing in warehouses in Scotland—the equivalent of 12 billion bottles of whisky.
However, the UK Government must be careful that its actions do not undermine investment in the industry. In the 2023 spring budget, the UK chancellor increased duty on whisky by 10 per cent, resulting in the duty and VAT amounting to 75 per cent of the average bottle price and widening the difference between the taxation of spirits and that of other categories of alcohol. In 2009, spirits duty per unit of alcohol was 23p. It is now 31.6p—up 43 per cent over the past 14 years.
We have a UK Government that takes 75 per cent of the cost of a bottle of whisky in tax but provides no support for energy costs despite distillation being energy intensive. The industry was also excluded from the energy bill relief that was offered by the UK Government.
The increase comes at a time when year-on-year growth and profitability are being undermined by the UK decision to leave the EU, despite the people of Scotland voting to remain. Analysis highlights that 44 per cent of businesses indicate that Brexit is the main cause of difficulties in trading overseas and attracting agricultural workers, particularly at harvest time, with high inflation and energy costs impacting on profitability and creating continued difficult trading conditions for the food and drink industry.
Brexit has also resulted in Scottish products losing their protected geographical indicator status, similar to the status that products such as Parma ham and champagne have. There is a new reciprocal agreement with the EU to give some protection to our products but that will not necessarily carry the same cachet as before with consumers.
I might not yet have any distilleries in my constituency of Edinburgh Pentlands, but I am fortunate to have the Scotch Whisky Research Institute. The institute, which is based at Heriot-Watt research park, conducts research covering the entire whisky-making process. The aim is to examine all aspects of the process from barley to bottle to improve sustainability and efficiency and to introduce new technology where appropriate.
On my visits to the institute, I have seen how it takes product safety and quality seriously. Another aspect of its work revolves around stopping counterfeiting and protecting the authenticity of Scotch whisky. Our whisky is a premium global product, and the work of the institute’s product protection group ensures that only spirit matured in oak casks in Scotland for at least three years can be called Scotch whisky.
Given the importance of Scotland’s food and drink industry to the Scottish and UK economy, I welcome the £5 million that the Scottish Government is investing in a new strategy and its ambition to support the industry’s aim to grow turnover by 25 per cent by 2028.
We move to closing speeches. I call Daniel Johnson to close on behalf of Scottish Labour.
16:34
The debate might have been about the resilience of the food and drink sector, but if there is one theme that has genuinely united members across the chamber, it is this: we might be talking about resilience, but food and drink represents a real strength in Scotland and a huge opportunity for the future—of that there is no doubt.
It gave me great pleasure to attend the Scotland Food & Drink 2023 awards last Thursday at the Edinburgh international conference centre, and that was very much the theme: the innovation, and the real dynamism and entrepreneurialism, across the sector. I have to say that, even though the event was a dinner, there were so many categories that it made me feel very hungry no matter how much I ate.
It is clear to me that the food and drink sector is part of Scotland’s future. A number of members rightly mentioned the whisky industry, but it is worth putting some of those facts into context. Yes, whisky is one of our top exports, but it represents 25 per cent of all UK food and drink exports and 1.5 per cent of all UK exports full stop.
Whisky is a real global success story; what is more, we have the real benefit of having a category of drink that is synonymous with this country. That is something that countries around the world would give their right arms to achieve.
However, there is still more that we can do. While there is a success story here, we might look at other countries such as France. In this country, food and drink are worth some 5 per cent by employment; in France, they are worth 15 per cent. That is a good example, because France has delivered both quality and scale in its food production.
Our challenge is, how do we do that? How do we achieve that sort of scale of economic contribution from the food and drink sector? How do we get other categories such as whisky to the level at which they are synonymous with this country and are seen as a real strength? I will focus on that as we look at the future of the industry.
However, it is also important to reflect on some of the other points that have been made. In particular, my colleagues Rhoda Grant and Colin Smyth were absolutely right to concentrate on security and the links between food and poverty. While we are in the midst of a cost of living crisis, we have to focus on the fact that there are many in this country who cannot afford to eat.
We should consider the fact that 40 per cent of our food is imported, as Rhoda Grant pointed out. Setting targets for food procurement in local authorities would do a great deal to address that, because we cannot ignore the links between food, poverty and health. At a time when we see obesity levels rising and life expectancy reducing, thinking about the quality of food and ensuring that it is affordable is absolutely key, as Colin Smyth pointed out.
I highlight the contribution from Edward Mountain, who said something quite important. He said that, although we may focus on our success, we also need to be realistic about the context and the challenges. Salmon is a major export that is right up there with whisky, but we cannot ignore some of the real issues that the industry throws up, such as wastage.
Edward Mountain was right to highlight the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee’s recommendations, and I encourage people in the industry to look at those. Our aquaculture industry is a strength, but we need to find a way of making it sustainable so that we can be truly proud of it and ensure that it continues to make a contribution.
On the subject of realism, however, much of the debate seemed to lapse into some of the usual confusion around borders that we see from members on both the Conservative and SNP front benches. We heard the slightly absurd assertion from Rachael Hamilton that somehow gene editing was the cure to all the border issues and the delays that exporters are facing. To be frank, that is absurd.
Likewise, however, we heard from the SNP the assertion that all the problems with delays and bureaucracy that are experienced at the south coast would somehow disappear if we took those problems and placed them in Gretna. That is, equally, nonsense.
Will the member take an intervention?
In a moment.
In order to be credible on that, one has to face the fact that exporting has become a hugely more difficult proposition, especially for small and medium exporters. In a recent Financial Times reportage on that, I listened to one tea producer stating that the length of time that it takes to get goods to Europe has gone from two days to 21 days. If Rachael Hamilton can explain how gene editing solves that, I give way to her now.
There are many benefits of gene editing. Daniel Johnson was clearly not listening to the message about it in my speech. I would like to know whether Scottish Labour members agree with the Scottish Conservatives on bringing forward a gene editing bill or whether they would like to align with Europe.
On that, we absolutely have to be led by the science. There are a great number of things to be looked at around gene editing, particularly on sustainability and ensuring that we have crop yields. However, to say that it is an answer to border problems is, frankly, absurd.
What is more, I am deeply concerned by any proposition that we deviate from keeping pace with Europe. Ultimately, food products need to be exported to countries that are close to us. If we increase the barriers to exporting to Europe, we will make that task more difficult. We only have to look at the DRS and the very real issues that were thrown up by those proposals to see the problems that borders cause. We were facing the proposition of Scottish brewers not being able to sell their products in Scotland because of having differential labelling between Scotland and the rest of the UK. Do not pretend for a second that issues that are caused by borders are solved by creating additional borders; they are not. Instead, they are compounded. That is nonsensical thinking by both front-bench Conservatives and front-bench members of the SNP.
Food and drink is a huge strength of Scotland and is genuinely part of brand Scotland, as Michelle Thomson said. If we are to make good on it, we need a joined-up plan that is integrated with the rest of our economic policy, and we need a comprehensive industrial strategy. Perhaps for next year’s food and drink debate, the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy will join his colleague on the front bench.
16:41
I draw members’ attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests, as a partner in the farming business J Halcro-Johnston & Sons, and as a member of NFU Scotland and Scottish Land & Estates.
I am pleased to close the debate for the Scottish Conservatives. It is a debate on a subject that is close to my heart, obviously, as well as being so vital to my Highlands and Islands region.
As my colleague Rachael Hamilton rightly said in her opening remarks, although MSPs might disagree on today’s motion and amendments, we all recognise that Scotland is blessed with a world-class food and drinks sector, with people and communities right across our country—from Selkirk to Shetland to Stornoway—producing the highest-quality food and drink, which are enjoyed all round the world.
In a previous role as an advisor to various MSPs, I was never prouder than when one of them would visit Orkney—my home—and enjoy at first hand the fantastic food and drink that is on offer there. Jamie McGrigor, in particular, would wax lyrical about the quality and variety of produce that was available at the Orkney county show. Folk from communities right across the Highlands and Islands, and across Scotland, can boast the same of their local areas.
We are right to celebrate Scotland’s food and drink sector—which at least the first few lines of the Scottish Government’s motion do. However, disappointingly if not unexpectedly, we then get into the politics of the matter—politics that mean everything to Scottish nationalist ministers and absolutely nothing to Scotland’s farmers, fishermen and food and drink producers. Although it suits the Scottish Government to take that line, and factors such as leaving the European Union and the impact of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine cannot and should not be ignored, SNP ministers cannot ignore their role in creating, through their policy platform, increased uncertainty for Scotland’s farmers, fishermen and other workers from across the food and drink sector.
As Rachael Hamilton and other members have rightly pointed out, we still do not know the details of the agriculture bill, and those of us who live on and work Scotland’s land are wondering how our sector will be supported in the future. Farming in places such as Orkney can be hard enough—as it is in many communities across my region—without a Government in Edinburgh that still will not tell us what hoops it wants us to jump through. Perhaps the cabinet secretary will tell us how we should invest in our farms when we still do not know how that will be funded.
However, as important as it is, the problem is not just about funding. Too often, it is because of the Scottish Government’s policy agenda that businesses are forced to adapt. As I said earlier, farming communities such as mine in Orkney have been left without abattoir facilities on the islands. Many of those who farm on Scotland’s islands are left to rely on increasingly unreliable ferry links to get produce to markets. Some are limited in their ability to sell online because the SNP’s reaching 100 per cent—R100—broadband programme has not reached them, and probably never will. Even farm diversification, in particular agritourism, risks being hit by damaging plans to introduce short-term lets licensing, which could, having been designed to deal with a problem in Edinburgh, have the biggest impact in rural Scotland.
Agriculture is just not a priority for the Scottish Government. I can give an example to highlight that: £6 million is being spent in Orkney to eradicate stoats. I support that initiative; we agreed early on to allow traps to be sited on our farm. Does the cabinet secretary understand, however, why many local farmers are frustrated when millions are spent on the stoat problem while funding to control the greylag geese that cause serious damage to agricultural land, and are a problem to many farmers on many of our islands, runs to only tens of thousands of pounds?
Farmers, are facing challenges head-on, as we always have done, but we are doing so with a Government whose coalition partner is a party that sees agriculture as the enemy, that demonises our fantastic red-meat sector and that, instead of promoting a brilliant and healthy home-grown product, would rather talk it down, restrict its consumption or even see it being banned. It is little wonder that so many farmers have lost faith in this SNP-Green nationalist Government.
It is not only our farmers who have lost faith, because the Scottish Government appears at almost every turn to be working against the interests of rural and coastal communities and the local businesses that support so many jobs and livelihoods. The plans for highly protected marine areas were ill considered and were rejected by coastal communities, who recognised the damage that they would do. Those plans have been dropped for now, but given how readily the Greens accepted that U-turn, it is understandable that many people feel that it was simply a case of beleaguered nationalist ministers kicking the can down the road so that the scheme could be reintroduced at a later date.
Speaking of kicking cans down the road, how many millions of pounds and how many hundreds of thousands of hours have been wasted because of the Scottish Government’s determination to push ahead with its ill-thought-out plan for a deposit return scheme? We know that that has left the taxpayer millions of pounds out of pocket, but how many small businesses were forced to prepare for a scheme that was then dropped? They paid out thousands—sometimes hundreds of thousands—of pounds to make changes to their businesses but will not see any return on that money any time soon, if ever. Millions of pounds from across the sector are now lost to future investment.
After the events that we have experienced in the past few years, no one should need an explanation of the importance of securing and enhancing food security. That is why our amendment highlights the benefits of gene editing. The UK Government has led on gene editing, recognising the opportunities that it brings for food health and security, and for the economy. As colleagues have said, even the European Union now appears to be moving slowly towards that position. Scotland, which has a fantastic research and innovation base, is well placed to take advantage of that new approach, but the Scottish Government must get behind it.
I appreciate that the Scottish Greens will not support our position on gene editing: their increasingly isolated views and position on the subject are well known. However, people in the SNP who are from agricultural backgrounds, or who represent rural Scotland and our farmers and crofters, should recognise that there is nothing in our amendment today for them to disagree with. I hope that they will support our amendment at decision time, although they probably will not.
Although Scottish Conservatives are putting Scotland’s rural and coastal communities at the centre of our policy agenda by placing food production at the heart of the new agriculture bill, investing in producers to keep food prices affordable for consumers, and boosting support for technology and innovation, SNP members will follow their whip and vote with their Scottish Green colleagues, because they are now beholden to their anti-business and anti-rural nationalist bedfellows. Rural Scotland sees that.
I invite Mairi Gougeon to wind up the debate on behalf of the Scottish Government. Take us to decision time, please, cabinet secretary.
16:48
I thank members from across the chamber for their contributions to the debate. The range of interventions that we have heard shows the level of challenge that the sector faces, but, of course, it continually rises to meet those challenges with energy and ambition.
I will start with the positives of the debate. Any time we debate food and drink, one highlight comes from the many examples that members showcase from their own constituencies as they talk about the great work that is happening right across Scotland. In her opening contribution, Rachael Hamilton gave the examples of Hardiesmill and Peelham Farm, two farms that I am very familiar with and both of which I have visited. They are fantastic examples, not only because of the amazing quality of their produce but because of the sustainable and regenerative farming practices that they showcase. We also got a nice little tour of Christine Grahame’s constituency.
It was fantastic to hear Karen Adam talk about the importance of the fishing industry and Peterhead SeaFest, which took place at the weekend. She is right: it was the Blue Toon at the weekend, and it was great to see such a fantastic turnout for the event, which is a real celebration of what Peterhead has to offer.
It was also really good to hear from Colin Smyth, Emma Harper and Finlay Carson about the cross-party delegation that we are going to be sending to Stranraer at the weekend. I look forward to our impromptu cross-party group there.
As ever, many important points were raised during the debate and I want to make sure that I cover as many of them as possible. First, I turn to the discussion on the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022. A few members raised the act in their contributions and there were some key points that I want to cover. We have a vision of Scotland as a good food nation, and I am really looking forward to launching our consultation on the national good food nation plan. That plan is going to be wide ranging and cross cutting, and it will reflect the spectrum of food-related issues that contribute to our nation’s social and economic wellbeing, the environment, people’s health and physical and mental wellbeing, economic development, animal welfare, education and child poverty.
I remain fully committed to Scotland being a place where everyone takes an interest in their food, where the food sector workers are committed to serving and selling good food, where everyone has ready access to healthy and nutritious food, where dietary-related diseases are in decline and where we produce our food in a way that is sustainable and works for both the climate and nature.
When will the draft plan be published? It is 15 months since the bill was passed.
We are still on time and on schedule in terms of the timescales that we set out for publishing that. I will set out the detail on that in due course and it will be coming forward shortly.
The good food nation goes hand in hand with our commitment to local food for everyone. That is about supporting locally based production and circular supply chains, cutting food miles and enabling more people to enjoy food that was grown locally, while also delivering on our “A Trading Nation” export strategy as well as the visions that we have published for agriculture and sustainable aquaculture.
Rachael Hamilton and Rhoda Grant referred to what they saw as missed opportunities in the 2022 act. However, the act created the overall framework. Where we will really make the difference across many of the points that have been raised today and bring together the key areas of food policy is in the good food nation plan. That was always the intention. As I have outlined, I really look forward to launching the consultation on the draft plan and getting the feedback.
Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?
I am sorry—I need to make some progress.
I want to return to Rhoda Grant’s contribution. I very much agree with a lot of the points that she, Colin Smyth and Daniel Johnson covered in the debate and most of what is covered in her amendment. However, I want to touch in particular on the right to food, which Rhoda Grant mentioned. As she will be aware, we had many discussions on the subject during the passage of the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill. The right to food is a fundamental human right and this Government has committed to incorporating that right into Scots law, but to doing that through the forthcoming human rights bill.
That bill is the appropriate place to do that because of the complex interrelationships between rights and obligations across the four treaties. That is why we want to bring that together in a single coherent and integrated framework. I am happy to reaffirm that commitment today, because we want to strengthen domestic legal protections by making those rights enforceable in Scots law.
Will the cabinet secretary empower the Scottish food commission to bring a right to food into reality? We have a right to food now—it is a human right—but actually, when we look around, we see so many of our citizens not being able to access food. Will she charge the food commission with making the right a reality for people?
That is where we also set out, as part of the passage of the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill, recognition of the right to food and the fact that, through that plan, that is what we are ultimately giving effect to. However, I am more than happy to continue that conversation with Rhoda Grant, given the member’s bill that I know she is proposing. I know that it is a vital topic, so I am more than happy to follow it up in discussions with her.
I will continue to focus on the contributions of Rhoda Grant and Colin Smyth, given the number of important points that they highlighted. I agree with much of what was said, particularly about poverty and the fact that so many people are dependent on food banks in a nation that is rich in so many ways, not least in the quality of the food that we produce. Taken together with our figures on food waste, which are truly shocking, those are problems that we must address.
I will clarify one point. Rhoda Grant requested more detail on the plan to end the need for food banks. The first plan was published on 5 June this year. I would be happy to follow up and provide more detail on that.
Procurement is another hugely important area that was raised by several members. It is an area in which there is agreement between us all—ultimately, we all want the same thing. However, at the same time, it is a very complex area. The legislation that governs procurement is complicated and it prohibits any discrimination against imported produce. That is why we have provided broad support measures to ensure that local producers can access public sector contracts, including the supplier development programme, with up to £150,000 being available over the course of this financial year, and the food for life programme, which now operates across 17 local authorities to support more locally sourced and healthier food in schools. We also have a Glasgow-based pilot on expanding the food for life principles across the public sector. We have provided that with £490,000 of funding this year.
Further, we have committed to updating “Catering for Change” to set out the principles that relate to the sustainable procurement of food and catering services in the public sector to align procurement behind sustainable, low-carbon farming and food.
Rhoda Grant and Rachael Hamilton mentioned what they would propose in relation to targets. We will investigate that. More detail will follow, alongside other work on the good food nation plan.
To touch on another point that Colin Smyth raised about some of the concerns that he picked up from his region, I know how important the food processing, marketing and co-operation grant is to businesses. I have heard those concerns directly. Unfortunately, we had to put a pause on that scheme due to pressures on the Scottish budget this year. However, we have taken the opportunity to carry out an independent review of the scheme, through Scotland Food & Drink, to identify how it can best meet the needs of Scotland's food processing sector within the new reality of single-year funding. That review has concluded, and we will carefully consider the recommendations that have come about.
Another important point that I want to touch on, which has been raised by quite a few members, is the focus on our primary producers—our farmers, crofters and fishers—without whom we would not be having this debate. On the calls for clarity and detail in agriculture, I know that members will be well aware—because we have discussed it at length in previous debates—that we are working closely with our farmers and crofters to co-develop our work in agriculture to make sure that we have policy that works, is deliverable and does what we need it to do for food production, climate and nature. As I have set out previously, that co-development takes time.
However, we have set our direction and the future direction of travel, which we published in “Delivering our Vision for Scottish Agriculture” last year. We have published our route map, which outlines when the key decision points are, when information will be available and what support is available now. With that, we published a definition of regenerative farming, which Finlay Carson asked for in his contribution. We have announced the conditions for support that will be implemented from 2025.
In her contribution, Ariane Burgess raised an important question and made important points about how we support small producers. We are committed to doing that.
Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?
I need to make progress, as I am approaching my closing comments.
I also want to address the points that Jamie Halcro Johnston made in his interventions on the importance of abattoir facilities across Scotland. We have been doing work on a small producers pilot, which has included a survey of abattoirs, to better tailor our support. That work is continuing. I highlight that those are very important points that we are considering because we know that supporting our small producers is hugely important.
I have one final point to make. Edward Mountain normally makes considered contributions. Unfortunately, his speech today did not feel quite so considered—there was some utter nonsense in it. That also applies to Jamie Halcro Johnston’s comments about our commitments to a future agriculture bill. In line with our published commitments, we will be introducing that this year.
We have touched on aquaculture, which, as has been identified, is a significant contributor to our rural economy, providing well-paid jobs. Our vision for sustainable aquaculture addresses some of the concerns that the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee has previously raised, and we see a strong future for the sector in Scotland.
I reiterate that our food and drink sector is a Scottish success story, but we cannot stand still. Yes, there are challenges, but the industry strategy rightly shows that resilience, sustainability and growth can go hand in hand. We have a fantastic larder on our doorstep—in our waters and on our land—and fantastic local producers to make the most of it. I call on each and every member to join me in celebrating them, which they richly deserve.
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