Chamber and committees

I remind members who are using electronic devices to switch them to silent.

Our first item of business is a decision on whether to take item 5 in private. Do members agree to do so? Members who are participating remotely should type N into the chat box if they do not agree; otherwise, I will presume that we are content.

We agree to take item 5 in private.

I think that we have Emma Harper back, so we will take a question from her.

There are no further comments, so that concludes our business in public.

We lost the link, but I think that we got half of it.

That gives me the opportunity to highlight a situation in Whalsay in Shetland. A subsea cable is going there, but not everyone on the island will be connected. I have taken that up separately, but it is an issue that demonstrates that not everybody is being reached as anticipated.

I would like to ask about the islands connectivity plan, which will replace the ferries plan by the end of 2022. Orkney’s and Shetland’s internal ferry services are excluded from the islands connectivity plan. Can you explain the reasons for excluding the northern isles from the plan? What can be done to provide communities with the lifeline ferry services that they desperately need?

Alasdair Allan has a supplementary question.

We know how complex population decline is. Better transport links can help to stop the outward flow. We have seen what fixed links or tunnels can do in places such as the Faroe Islands, where there is evidence that they have increased populations and brought people out from the centre. What is your view on that, cabinet secretary? Could such a policy change help to stop island depopulation?

We have a question from Emma Harper. Just for the record, she is no longer acting as a substitute member, as Jim Fairlie has returned to the meeting.

Emma’s screen appears to have frozen. We will move on to a question from Karen Adam. If we can come back to Emma, we will.

I am conscious that we have reached the end of our allocated time, but Jim Fairlie has a question that he would like to put to you.