Chamber and committees

Absolutely—I will be happy to send further information. I know from my visits to various processing facilities that the scheme has had a positive impact. It has helped to leverage in funding for equipment and machinery, which has also helped with business efficiency on the whole.

Yes.

You are absolutely right. I would not want to think that tier 1, 2, 3 then 4 is necessarily the structure. They are all interrelated.

I agree with the SAOS that tier 3 and 4 are really important. Tier 3 is for wider collaboration and support and tier 4 is for the agricultural knowledge and innovation system that we have been developing. We are also looking to work on the continuing professional development that is available through that. I emphasise that we recognise how important those parts of the framework are. We have set out where we think the overall proportion of the balance of the funding would be in the new tiers, but that will be phased in over time, as we have set out in the route map.

Yes. I am happy to keep the committee updated.

Again, we need to implement the new tiers of the framework. It is not possible for me to set that out.

You are absolutely right. First of all, I would just highlight the consultation that we undertook last year on the national islands plan and the fact that we are now working on a new plan that best meets islanders’ objectives and what they want to see. That will be a really important piece of work.

We have a number of strategic objectives in the current national islands plan, and the islands programme has been established to help to deliver on some of them. However, I remind members that this portfolio and the islands budget are not, on their own, intended to satisfy all those objectives. After all, there is transport; there is housing; and there is other investment that comes from other portfolios.

Over the past few years, the islands programme has delivered more than £12 million of investment across 61 projects and 50 islands, and it is trying to deliver on some of the objectives that we have set out. Just recently—indeed, within the past few weeks—I visited one of the projects: the new nursery that is being built in Kirkwall on Orkney, which I think had the biggest allocation ever from the islands programme. It has not yet been completed, but it is on the way. That highlights some of the impact of that work and funding.

What is also important in this year’s budget is that we are recognising in the resource element of the funding the immediate cost of living pressures that are particularly acute for people living on our islands and the increased cost of living that they face. We have tried to utilise that funding by allocating it to local authorities so that they can use it as best as they see fit to help their communities.

Alongside that, we are working on the carbon-neutral islands programme and providing funding for various projects through that. Indeed, the programme has already delivered some important projects across each of the different islands. We have another fund running this year that involves a competitive bid process, and we really hope that it will help deliver on the objectives that we have set out.

On the whole, I think that the islands programme is an important element of the wider pieces of work that are happening across Government and of how we are delivering for our island communities.

It is happening imminently. I understand that the board considering the projects met in the past couple of weeks to consider the matter, and the announcements are due imminently.

I sincerely hope that we will be able to utilise that funding but, of course, I have not heard what the outcome of that process is or what the projects will be. I am very alive to that issue, but I hope that we will see the funding fully utilised.

If it is possible for us to do so. Again, I want to ensure that the funding that we have is fully allocated and that we are able to spend it, and I will be fully aiming to do that.

Thank you, convener and committee members, for the opportunity to speak to you on the delegated powers in the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill. I am committed to working with members to ensure that we deliver good law. I know that members will have a range of questions on the powers, but I want to make a couple of opening comments to give some background to the overall approach to the bill.

As set out in the delegated powers memorandum, the overarching policy objectives of the bill are to help to realise our vision for land reform and sustainable and regenerative agriculture. The bill covers the on-going management and transfer of large landholdings. It will also help to secure the viability of tenant farming and enable tenant farmers and small landholders to participate in delivering our vision for agriculture. Specifically, the bill covers four principal policy areas: land reform, a new land management tenancy, agricultural holdings legislation and small landholding legislation.

As I outlined in my response to the committee’s initial questions, I want to ensure that the bill provides the correct balance between primary and secondary legislation so that the key measures are in the bill and proper scrutiny of the measures that are made under the bill takes place. With that, I welcome the committee’s views, as well as those of stakeholders more widely, to ensure that the bill strikes the correct balance.