Chamber and committees

Thank you very much for that perspective.

How could a Scottish food commission or other body help to ensure that the participation of stakeholders provides oversight that feeds into the drafting of the good food nation plans? Should such a body be established before the work takes place?

Vicki Swales, earlier in our conversation, you mentioned establishing some kind of Scottish food commission. Will you expand on that? Dr Shields mentioned the Land Commission. Is that a good model for the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill?

I want to pick up on the role of a Scottish food commission, or whatever oversight body we might have. In the interests of time, I will direct my question to Iain Gulland, as he might have some experience in that respect from his work at Zero Waste Scotland.

Some stakeholders have called for the proposed body to produce an annual progress report on the state of food, which would reflect how well the country was doing against objectives or targets in the good food nation plans, or possibly in the bill. Those reports could be examined by parliamentary committees, just as the UK Climate Change Committee’s reports on emissions reductions are examined by the NZET Committee. Would that be an important function for an oversight body? How could progress reports encourage and incentivise the private sector to play its part in delivering a good food nation?

It is great to hear about the full-on work that you are doing to ensure that there is a woven, holistic approach by going to the different committees.

My next question, which is a two-part one, is addressed to Claire Hislop but, if anyone else wants to come in on it or the previous question that I asked, that would be great. First, the bill lists three types of relevant authorities that will be tasked with producing a good food nation plan: local authorities, health boards and any other specified public authorities. Would you recommend any other specific bodies to include in that list?

Secondly, last week, several witnesses suggested groups that those authorities should consult in drafting their plans. The suggestions have included integration joint boards, which are responsible for ensuring that good food gets to those who receive social care. I would like to hear your thoughts on that suggestion and whether you would recommend any other bodies or groups that should be consulted during the production of plans.

Claire Hislop can start. If anyone else wants to come in, they should type R in the chat box.

I will ask about the themes of public and private sector roles. We heard from previous panels about the role of public authorities in a good food nation. What responsibilities should public authorities take on in relation to procurement, health promotion and education about food and the food system? To what extent does the bill enable and support them to fulfil that role? We have started to touch on those topics, but I would like to have a bit more thinking on them.

That is a good point. I know a lot about community development and co-ordinating things on a community level. Do you think that we need to have a Scottish food commission, along the lines of a Scottish Land Commission, as some people have called for, or do you think that, as Jo Teece said, the role could be performed by Public Health Scotland?

I thank the members of the panel. It has been a really good conversation. They have opened up the discussion by bringing in issues such as soil indicators and food waste.

My questions are on the theme of participation, oversight and accountability. The first is directed at Dr Shields. Does the bill provide sufficient opportunity for meaningful participation from food industry workers, stakeholder groups and members of the public? I am thinking, in particular, of people whose voices are seldom heard in food policy design.

Is there a specific witness that you would like to answer that question?

Okay. Who would like to answer? If you could put an R in the chat function, that would be helpful.