Chamber and committees

I am. I did not want to go into licensing, convener, because it will come up later. I did not want to take somebody else’s questions. The issue could be developed in those questions.

Before I ask my questions, I want to respond to Edward Mountain’s point by putting on record the fact that, in his review, Lord Bonomy—who has been quoted a lot today—concluded that restricting the number of dogs

“could seriously compromise effective pest control in the country”.

The minister’s response to the convener indicated the resource that might be needed to determine the number of dogs that would be covered by a licence. We have talked about licences a lot today. The issue is an important one, because we need to get this right. There has been a cut of £700,000 to NatureScot’s budget. Given all the evidential requirements that you have just listed, will NatureScot be able to do its job across Scotland, from north to south and east to west?

The bill distinguishes between environmental and livestock protection, but how does one differ from the other in relation to animal welfare?

Thank you.

How would you inform them? Are your data systems compatible?

Would you advise the committee to take evidence on that?

Do you not see there being any challenges through the Supreme Court?

Thanks, convener, although the back-and-forth between the cabinet secretary and the EHRC is obviously still happening, so we need to keep up to date on that.

We have heard a lot about data gathering. We heard from Professor Alice Sullivan, who believes that data gathering is important in ensuring that services are provided as such, and we heard from Senator Regina Doherty, who said a similar thing.

Do you agree with the guidance for public bodies from the chief statistician of Scotland, which advises collecting data on biological sex only in a small number of instances? That would make it impossible to monitor the impacts on women. How do you see that being addressed?

As this is only my fourth or fifth session with the committee, can you tell me whether the Government has analysed whether there has been any impact on services, resources or the participation of women in public life?

Thank you.