Chamber and committees

I welcome our second panel of witnesses this morning: Councillor Margaret Davidson, leader of Highland Council, who joins us by telephone; Douglas Hendry, executive director of Argyll and Bute Council; and Derek Mackay, governance and elections manager for Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.

We have a range of questions, and I will ask the opening question. Are you satisfied with the recommendations that are set out in Boundaries Scotland’s report regarding your council areas? I ask Douglas Hendry to start. We will then go to Margaret Davidson and Derek Mackay.

Thank you. We will probably have a bit of time to explore some of the detail of those differences. Margaret, can you share your perspective in that regard?

We are getting to the time when we need to wrap up. There are some questions remaining, on which we could write to you, but I want to give you each the opportunity to talk for a minute or so if there is anything else that you want to tell us this morning, while we are all here together. If you feel strongly that there is something that you want to let us know, I will give you a bit of time for that. We will start with Margaret Davidson, followed by Derek Mackay and Douglas Hendry.

Thank you for joining us this morning, cabinet secretary. It is good to hear you laying out the diverse challenges that you are facing and the work to transition our rural areas in response to the climate emergency and biodiversity loss. You talked about this a little in response to Jim Fairlie’s questions, but I am curious to hear some more detail on how that will show up in new agriculture and land use policies.

The programme for government talks about doubling the amount of land that is used for organics. Currently, I think, 1.9 per cent of land is used for organics in Scotland. The European Union is calling for organics to account for 25 per cent. Obviously, we cannot suddenly make that leap. Do you see the doubling of the amount of land that is used for organics, which would still be a small amount, as a step in the direction of larger increases in the future? We have five years in which to do that doubling, and it takes time for land to transition to organic production. Underneath all of that, we are really talking about improving soil fertility and soil health if we want to provide something for future generations. I would love to hear the cabinet secretary’s thoughts about organic farming in the long term.

Thank you.

I thank Jim Fairlie for deepening the conversation and the cabinet secretary for her answers. Jim and I will be having a chat over tea about regenerative and organic farming and how they work together. Perhaps they are a bit like Russian dolls.

Moving on to the product from organic soil—food and drink—I know that we have been talking about long-term plans and the future, but the committee is also keen to hear about the implications of EU exit on the food and drink sector, the functioning of imports and exports nine months on from the end of the transition period and whether there are any on-going issues in any particular sectors.

I have one more question, which combines your islands remit and the issues of housing and land. Over the recess, I visited Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles. I am a Highlands and Islands MSP, and the big issue for me is repeopling and keeping in place people who want to stay in their villages. Housing is a big part of that. The other part of the equation is jobs, but the issue of housing seemed to come up everywhere I went. A lack of land on which to build houses is also an issue. For example, on Barra, the land is all under crofting tenure and there is not much space to build housing. In other places—for example, on Harris—although the land is owned by a community trust, it is in places that are extremely difficult to get to, so house builders do not want to take on the job even though the funding to do it is in place. Where does your role as the cabinet secretary with responsibility for islands fit with supporting the building of housing for island communities?

I warmly welcome to the meeting our second panel of witnesses: Councillor Alison Evison, president, and Sarah Watters, director of membership and resources, COSLA. Councillor Evison, I invite you to make some opening remarks.

Thank you very much. We have a range of questions to ask you.

Given COSLA’s role in representing the interests of local government in Scotland, what should the committee focus on over this parliamentary session? Moreover, the committee is keen to play a role in helping people to understand and appreciate the importance of local government, so we would very much appreciate it if you could add anything that might support our thinking on how we can do that.