Chamber and committees

Fergus or Gail, do you want to add anything?

It does seem somewhat confusing. Fergus or Gail, do you want to add anything?

I want to clarify something. My understanding is that the community right to buy will be put out for consultation this summer and reported on in 2025. Is that right? Is that your understanding?

I thought that it was your evidence session, deputy convener.

Sorry, Bob—I do not want to stop you, but I note that it would make it easier for me, because I am a simple soul, if we talked about hectares rather than square metres, just so that I understand.

I will press a little bit on management plans. Don Macleod said that, when it came to the costs of drawing up plans, they were not rounding errors. Let us say that you have a medium to large-sized estate with three communities on it, you go out and consult them, get their input and draw up the management plan, which, for landowners, is probably for 20 years rather than five years, because nothing happens in five years. Is a cost of £25,000 unreasonable for that?

When I read that, I was concerned that, if somebody bought something for a hill farm, the Government might come along and tell them to take all the sheep off the hill, as that was not contributing to net zero. Would that concern you?

It might put them off or it might encourage them.

Monica Lennon has some questions.

As always in this committee, we are up against time constraints. I will push people to ask quick questions and respond with quick answers, where possible. I think that Mark Ruskell has a supplementary.

Could the Government issue a letter recognising the community in 40 days? The average is 70 days, is it not?