Chamber and committees

I agree with all the comments so far. An important part of access is the cost, particularly for those who are vulnerable and cannot afford regular travel. I know that many young people in the islands use a ferry service in the way that people on the mainland might use a bus service. It would be useful to know what consideration the Scottish Government has given to that. The roll-out of concessionary travel for under-22s on the buses is starting in January, but it would be interesting to know whether the Government has done any analysis of the cost of extending that to ferries. I know that the transport minister announced several weeks ago that the fair fares review will look in detail at the structure of ferry prices and how that will impact on people who are struggling.

That would be good, because it is an important issue.

Fishing gear, alongside wet wipes, has been identified as a particular problem. The MCS survey shows that it often washes up on our beaches, and it is a difficult problem to deal with. What are we doing about fishing gear?

My other question is about the resources and waste common framework. You said that you are entering meetings with the other Administrations, and I presume that alignment on DRS will be included in the conversations, along with extended producer responsibility. Do we have a sensible basis on which to move forward on circular economy decisions across the UK? Is that framework operational?

So we are still on track for the original date of April.

You announced the consultation on the establishment of the agency today, and you are talking about the set-up being next year rather than—

It is a complex landscape; there are many different rooms in Brussels to be in or out of. I ask Dr Marks then Professor Pittock the same question.

I have a follow-up question. The Law Society of Scotland’s submission makes the point that formal mechanisms for monitoring our international engagement are needed. Given the potentially complex picture that you have just outlined, what should those mechanisms look like? Dr Marks suggested that there should be a memorandum of understanding between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament. How can we get a grip of what the work looks like? I am not suggesting that there should be a list of every Burns supper that takes place—that might be a bit too much—but what should the formal mechanisms of scrutiny look like?

Perhaps we can start with Dr Hughes, then others might want to comment.

Listening to those comments, I was struck by Dr Hughes’s reference to a “multitrack paradiplomatic process” and wondered where sub-state legislatures and governance might fit into that alongside the actions of states. Do you have more examples of that? One that springs to mind for me comes from a discussion that I had with a Canadian mission in Brussels, from which I learned that there had been quite a lot of bilateral discussions between Québec and Wallonia during the talks on the EU-Canada comprehensive economic and trade agreement. Do you have any examples of sub-state actors being involved in wider multilateral discussions that might point to how Scotland could be involved with the UK in that respect?

Do the witnesses have any brief reflections on what remains of the UK presidency in the run-up to COP27? What do you see as the key milestones or objectives that the UK needs to aim for?

Also, what about the linkage with the biodiversity COP? We saw some significant text in the Glasgow pact on biodiversity and the nature emergency, but what do you think alignment with COP15 on biodiversity should look like?