Chamber and committees

Thank you.

Convener, did you notice whether anyone else wanted to come in on that?

I saw Morgan Vaughan nodding in agreement at some of those points, and I just wondered whether he wanted to come in.

We cannot eat trees, can we?

I will give some context to show why I asked those questions, to make it slightly fairer, I suppose.

Can I just ask a specific question about Ian Boyd-Livingston’s survey, convener? How many people were surveyed?

And what was the lowest and highest acreage of those involved?

I am worried about the fact that, as Tim Benton mentioned, there is parched ground on Scotland’s uplands even though, on average, rainfall in Scotland has been fairly consistent. We have had a few peaks and troughs but, on average, it has been consistent. We are also seeing flooding.

Is there not an argument for circularity here and for SEPA looking at a completely different way of ensuring that we do not have parched uplands and flooded lowlands?

I have a number of questions for David Harley. How much is SEPA investing in nature-based solutions for flood risk management, in financial terms? What is the current water storage capacity in Scotland, and how much does it need by 2050 to allow sufficient water abstraction to protect food security in Scotland?

But legislation to protect animal welfare is already in place. Why is the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission not looking at the current Scottish legislation rather than other aspects? If you are concerned about greyhounds—these are obviously commercial dogs—you must be concerned about other animals and, indeed, other dogs.