Chamber and committees

I would be happy to follow up with you specifically or to provide the committee with further information relating to that.

Absolutely. I have already outlined in quite a lot of detail the significant capital pressures that we are facing. That fund can vary highly from year to year, of course, depending on storms and weather events such as we have had. If you look at last year, you will see that we spent only £84,000 from within the overall envelope of £1 million of funding. The situation is also highly variable on the basis of where storms occur, as the ports and harbours on the east coast tend to be more exposed than those on the west coast.

We can, we hope, utilise the available funding, should there be other such events, but again I say that it can be a variable fund. It has been reduced due to the pressures that we are facing, but it had has been underspent over the course of the previous financial year. We will have to continue to monitor that closely.

In relation to our payment strategy for the coming year, we made changes to ensure that money reached bank accounts as soon as it possibly could. Industry had called for that, and it was also a response to the impact of the cost of living crisis over the past couple of years

I think that the UK Government brought forward its initial payment schedule last year. We have brought forward our own payment schedule, and we are paying farmers at the earliest ever stage. We have done the same with other schemes such as LFASS, knowing how important it is for farmers to have that money come through at the earliest possible stage.

The AECS funding is in place.

The abattoir piece of that work was quite substantial, and there had been surveys and other pieces of work undertaken. Certainly, when I go to events such as smallholder festivals, or when I visit farms across the country, abattoir provision is one of the foremost issues that comes out every single time. That was a key focus of the work to develop the small producers pilot fund, and it is why we have had that recommendation and why we are supporting that approach within the pilot fund. I am quite excited about the potential of the support and what it can do.

I do not believe so, but I am happy to follow up with the committee in writing and to provide the information as to exactly how that £15 million has been split and where the changes in the budget lines would be, if that is helpful.

You are absolutely right. This has been a long on-going process. There are proposals relating to offshore MPAs as well as to inshore MPAs and priority marine features. I am sure that David Signorini will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that the consultation is due to commence towards the end of this year. I think that that is the current timescale.

Absolutely. Within my broader portfolio, we can look at spending that will be relevant. I was asked a question earlier about funding for crofting, which is, of course, a vital and important spend for our island communities. We also have funding for the islands growth deal, which is developing and delivering some very important projects.

On wider spend across the piece, I come to the committee every year and talk about the national islands plan, which ultimately outlines and showcases how every portfolio is delivering for the islands against the strategic objectives that have been set out in the islands plan. It is not just funding through the islands programme that is relevant: various other funds are relevant—for example, housing, health and education funding—and will have an impact on our islands.

It is in the overall national islands plan and the report that we can do on that. Of course, addressing depopulation does not come down to just one specific intervention. You will see that spend right across portfolios in what we are doing in housing, skills, transport and other areas.

We will try to capture that within the addressing depopulation action plan, which will set out the different actions that we are taking across Government to address some of the challenges. I am afraid that I do not have a straightforward answer, because all portfolios have to work on it together. That is why the majority of portfolios are represented on the population task force—because it is within everyone’s interests and we all have a part to play in delivering on that. However, the detail will be in the document that we will publish.

No, in the overall settlement to the Scottish Government, the real-terms cut is 1.2 per cent .