Chamber and committees

Given the new Green and Scottish National Party co-operation agreement, do you believe that the Scottish budget, in terms of voting it through, is a done deal? What do you feel is the right way for Parliament to scrutinise the budget? It is clear that you now have partners in the Government who will support the budget. Can you comment on whether there is an agreement for the Government to look at setting the same trajectory as England in terms of environmental goals and the public-money-for-public-goods policy?

I know that this session is focused on environmental questions, but I would like to take you back to a point that you made earlier, cabinet secretary.

We know that future farm support is guaranteed until 2024. However, the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s analysis of the Scottish budget shows that there is a risk of there being a £190 million tax receipt shortfall next year, and a shortfall of up to £500 million over the subsequent four years. The Scottish Government also faces slower growth in income tax revenues compared with the rest of the UK. After 2024, where will the agricultural support budget come from?

That does not really answer my question about where the money will come from in the Scottish budget.

Jim Fairlie asked about the national test programme. The National Farmers Union Scotland has called for front loading of £10 million so that we can support Scottish agriculture in relation to carbon audits, baselining, soil testing and nutrient management. Have you agreed to that?

It is on record that the national test programme will be rolled out in spring this year. I hope that the committee and the Parliament can get an announcement very quickly, rather than continually being referred to the oversight implementation board, because we are looking for certainty.

I take you on to the comments from the UK Climate Change Committee, which highlighted agriculture as an area of concern in its 10th annual progress report, “Progress reducing emissions in Scotland—2021 Report to Parliament”. It said that no strategy is in place to achieve emissions reductions and that the ambition is not deliverable.

Farmers need to make decisions and to have the ability to plan, so they need to be given certainty with regard to the schemes that you are supporting in the budget. Why has the funding for the agri-environment climate scheme been cut from £55 million to £34.2 million? In addition, we know that the application system is very restricted and has attracted huge criticism from farmers.

Can you give examples of any constraints that your policy decisions might place on farmers in Scotland, if you do not adopt the same approach, that would not affect the integrity of the important UK internal agricultural market on which Scotland relies?

I want to pick up some of the conversations that the committee has had about depopulation of the islands. Cabinet secretary, do you recognise that, prior to Brexit, there were long-standing issues with the general perception of some of the types of part-time work and jobs that are on offer, the geographical and transportation challenges, the lack of affordable housing, and so on? We recognise that those are long-standing issues and that they perhaps have been exacerbated by Brexit. However, we are still attracting workers, if not necessarily into Scotland.

It is disappointing that the Scottish Government is not concentrating on ensuring that the industry is attractive to the domestic workforce.

I echo exactly what you have said. However, I missed the date that the regulations will come into effect. Was it also 1 January?

The reason is that, for the reasons that you have stated, the committee will not have the opportunity to scrutinise the impact that the regulations might have. I would like to get some clarity on that, if I may.

This is proving why it is much better to have a physical meeting than a virtual meeting.

Paragraph 23 in paper 1 states:

“The UK and Scottish governments argue this instrument ‘must come into force as soon as possible’”.

If there are shared interests, there is a shared objective. There seems to be another reason for a delay.