Chamber and committees

Can you give us an indication of what other things you could be getting on with? I know that you are meeting people, but are there specific chunks of work that might be coming our way or something like that?

I know, but that is part of what is going on. There is a feeling that, because of the extension to 2030, we will not have any reporting, but the policy note says that the rural support plan will require that legacy schemes are reported on.

Okay, that is helpful. There will be reporting and you just have to do something technical to allow the reform to move forward. I feel like we need some diagrams. Perhaps that would be helpful.

When will we see the first rural support plan?

I am just wondering about what our papers say about the “wider Agriculture Reform Programme”. Do you use that programme to engage with wider stakeholders?

It would be good to understand how that works. Could you perhaps unpack that for us and tell us with whom you are engaging through that programme in writing?

On the basis of what I have read in the responses to the committee’s call for views, our discussion with the minister, the fact that this is a technical SSI, the fact that the rural support plan will require reporting to be carried out and the fact that various schemes will be transitioning and changing, I put on record the fact that I do not have a problem with the SSI and that I would like it to be passed today.

In a way, I already put my views on record before we got into the debate. However, we need clarity on the current situation with the SRDP and as we move into the rural support plan. I mentioned diagrams earlier, which I think might help. There needs to be clarity in that respect, because I think that that has perhaps been part of the missing piece. By that, I mean that people have not picked up on the fact that there will be reporting and that things will be going on as part of the rural support plan. It has been flagged up to me that the sector, and the people involved in it, have not understood that fully, even though information is out there. I have to say that I had a look at the websites for it, and it is not necessarily easy to understand and pick it all up. Perhaps some more work needs to be done in that area.

Emma Roddick has a supplementary.

Hang on a minute, Willie. I will bring in Katie Hagmann to respond very briefly, and then we will have to be really brief.

For the next questions, I must ask colleagues to start with Councillor Hagmann. Councillor Hagmann, can you bring in just one of your colleagues to respond, given that we are really tight for time? I know that that is difficult, because you all have valuable things to say but, as you have indicated, you can follow things up in writing.

Thanks for that—it was really helpful to get that illustration. We definitely need more time with you in the future.

I will now bring in Mark Griffin, who joins us online.