Chamber and committees

I am sorry to interrupt you, Jenni, but I see that Geoff Ogle had indicated that he would like to come in on the back of Jim Fairlie’s question. I beg your pardon, Geoff.

I am sorry, but I am going to have to stop you there, Jim. We are fast running out of time. Before we move on to questions from Alasdair Allan, Geoff Ogle has indicated that he would like to respond.

Your submission suggests that

“an inclusive approach to the consultation”

is anticipated, but that it

“could be bolstered if the Bill required the names of all consulted to be published”.

Would you like an amendment to be lodged to that effect?

We move to questions from Jenni Minto.

No—that is quite all right. We will move to Alasdair Allan.

Thank you. We move to questions from members. We have about 90 minutes for the session.

What do the witnesses understand as the main food-related issues that Scotland faces? We should bear in mind that, back in December 2018, there was a consultation on the legislative proposals, which were published in September 2019. A lot of the feedback noted the need for policy coherence and the need to address environmental impacts, food insecurity and public health and to support and incentivise business to play a part.

The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill seems pretty empty; there is not a lot in it. What is your impression of the bill? Will it address some of Scotland’s food-related issues and build on the successes of the past?

I will bring in Professor Brennan first.

We will now try to bring Mercedes Villalba back in.

In session 5, the Scottish Government undertook to work with Parliament to agree an appropriate and proportionate decision-making framework for parliamentary scrutiny of the commitment to maintain regulatory alignment that would provide an appropriate level of consultation at the early stage of policy development. Where are we at with that?

Rural fishing communities face additional pressures across the board, including from the changing climate and the need to protect the marine environment. A report from last session’s Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee suggested that inshore fisheries groups should be funded. What consideration did you give to funding them in your budget?

That is fine. I would appreciate that.