Chamber and committees

There is a lot in that, so forgive me if I miss anything.

You can correct me if I get anything wrong. Are you asking about the later parts of the bill, where we talk about the continuation of the various schemes?

We have set out in the route map what our transition will be and for how long we expect current schemes to stay in place. The powers in the bill will ultimately enable us to do that.

You touched on the sunset clause. It is felt that it is unusual for an enabling power to have a sunset clause attached to it, so that is why we want to repeal the sunset clause. It is just not all that helpful. It would be better for us to repeal it and ensure that we have the time through the transition than for us to set a firm end date for when we should have used it by. Again, it is about providing flexibility and enabling the transition that we have set out in the route map.

It will give information on the transitions that can be expected as well, but the route map broadly sets out when we expect the new parts of the framework to come into effect.

Again, it is not the intention that the code is to be used in that way. As I hope I have outlined, we intend the code of practice to be helpful to our farmers and crofters rather than a tool for cross-compliance or anything else.

Again, I cannot say that—Sorry. John wants to come in.

It is not possible to put a simple definition of sustainable and regenerative agriculture in the bill. As I touched on at the start of the meeting, we published in the route map a definition and an example of the overall goals of regenerative agriculture. Bearing in mind that we have not designed the code of practice yet, we cannot say definitively what will be in it, because we want to consult on it and get it right on improving animal welfare, increasing the resilience of production to climate change and capturing carbon in soils and vegetation, which is more general than the prescriptive level that you are talking about.

I would be happy to follow up on that, because I know that there are other examples of legislation that sets out guidance or asks people to refer to guidance. I would be happy to provide the committee with more information on that.

On the enhanced tier and the proposed measures as a result of that, we have tried to give examples and to show our thinking. This is not about us mandating to individual businesses in future frameworks and support that they must do this or that; it is about giving farmers and crofters the flexibility to select the measures that are right for the land type and farm business that they operate. The list of measures that we have published is not definitive by any means. It is about offering flexibility and choice to enable people to do that, not strict prescription.

I envisage that the measures that we are proposing would be considered within the broad definitions that we will potentially set out. The work that we take forward and how we develop the code will be really important.

I am sorry if I misinterpreted the question, but that is where I would expect that funding to come from.