Chamber and committees

I asked about what a just transition looks like for west coast and island farmers.

I have a very quick question. Could you widen out what you said in answer to Ariane Burgess’s question about the level of consultation and who the consultation was with?

I thank the witnesses for joining us today.

Davy McCracken, you spoke about the impact of forestry on different farms and, indeed, how that impacts on farms that do not have forestry on their land. Most of the panel have commented on whole-farm farming, and I am interested to hear your thoughts on whole-community farming and how you think that the regional land use partnerships and frameworks will support active farming.

I represent a west coast constituency with islands, and I am also interested in your thoughts on how a just transition will work for the different types of farming across Scotland.

It is interesting that you referenced the Scottish Land Commission. Andrew Thin made comments about the pressures that farmers and crofters are facing in relation to carbon rights and, more widely, about tenant farmers’ access to climate change measures. Can you expand a wee bit on that, please?

Thank you. The question is directed at Christopher Nicholson. What level of contact has the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association had with the Scottish Government about the needs of tenant farmers and about future agricultural policy? Could you expand a bit on what you said in your opening remarks about what the just transition would look like for tenant farmers?

That is a really interesting comment. It might be one of the few silver linings to have come out of the pandemic that communities have found different ways to work together and different people have come out of communities with different ideas, which helps to expand cultural ideas.

I was really pleased to hear that you envisage a network across Dumfries and Galloway, and I am interested to hear more about how you plan to expand the existing network from Dumfries to the likes of Kirkcudbright, Castle Douglas and other places.

I noticed that Ms Cullen nodded when I talked about £10,000 going further in a smaller environment. Would you like to give us your thoughts on that?

Mr Baker, I was excited to hear about your vision for Dumfries and Galloway, the Borders and the rest of Scotland. I would like to hear a bit more about how you plan that to work and how we can progress to having that across Scotland. I am very sorry that Ms Campbell has just left, because I had a specific question about rural festivals and the impact of all the requirements and the lack of travelling, not only on the performers but on the communities, given that such festivals bring a lot of benefits, including for wellbeing.

I am also interested in the point that Ms Campbell made with regard to the minimum level of funding being set at £50,000. Coming from a rural community, I know that £10,000 goes much further there than it might in the centre of Edinburgh, for example, so any other panel member’s thoughts on that would be useful.

I will keep my question short in order that we hear more from the witnesses. What are your priorities for post-EU-exit fisheries policy, specifically around the national benefit objective and the climate change objective set out in the Fisheries Act 2020? What are your priorities for the development of joint fisheries statements and fisheries management plans?