Chamber and committees

So, you would go to NatureScot, but I take it that the prosecution would take priority over anything else.

We will have a change of temperature with my questions on trees. This whole thing is new to me, but I was surprised to learn that the policy aim is to have 21 per cent of Scotland covered by forests by 2032. I do not know whether that would be terribly popular with lots of people. I would like to know whether those trees are going to be Sitka spruce. I remember the whole of Galloway being covered by Sitka spruce. I also understand from the Scottish Land Commission that an unintended consequence may have been an increase in land values.

I am learning as I go, so I may be asking things that are very stupid, which I am well known for. I note that the criteria for getting grants have a great deal to do with what is planted and where. I appreciate that the consultation concluded just this month, so this question might be premature, but can you give me your thoughts on how the grant system might operate so that we get the right trees in the right places, communities and farmers are in the main content and we can reach your 21 per cent target?

I am sorry to interrupt, but can we also ask about rescue and rehoming centres? Some of them are quite well meaning but amateur. Will that also be part of the work?

I did not hear the answer because somebody coughed. Am I correct in saying that, although a ban on snaring does not appear in the bill as laid, serious consideration is being given to lodging an amendment to introduce such a ban at stage 2?

Can I follow that up?

Or whether it is a company in the Bahamas.

Therefore, to put it in simple language, I should not have any concerns about estates that have two or three companies operating on them that are registered abroad. You will still be able to revoke the licence. There will not be problems about intimation or anything such as that. You could put it in a newspaper or the internet, but you will be able to revoke the licence—you will not need to actually serve someone with a notice.

But that is what it means.

What are the current limitations on the SSPCA investigating anything? When must it just stop? What has been considered with regard to extending those powers?

That is, indeed, better done through primary legislation, in my view.

I asked earlier about amendments on snaring. Is it possible for even a draft of the SSPCA powers amendment to be put before the committee during our stage 1 contemplation, whether or not it is in its final form? That would give a steer on which anybody in the committee might take a view. Indeed, the Government might change it, or somebody on the committee might take a view to amend the proposed amendment in one way or another.