Chamber and committees

That raises a question. Màiri McAllan will be the lead minister; does that mean that the bill will come to our committee or the net zero committee?

Yes.

Thank you for that opening statement. It is clear that your remit includes the Scottish food agency, agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, animal welfare and crofting, but there are significant overlaps with the portfolios of the various cabinet secretaries. In particular, your portfolio overlaps with that of the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport. Last week, we had a session on the food and drink supply chain, an area in which there is a potential overlap with the remit of the Economy and Fair Work Committee.

How do you intend to deal with those overlaps? How closely will you work with the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport, particularly when it comes to issues such as biodiversity and land reform?

We will jump back to fisheries. Karen Adam and Beatrice Wishart have questions on policy.

Last night, Alasdair Allan, one of our committee members, led a very interesting members’ business debate on ferries. Ferries are, by their very nature, 100 per cent connected to islands. If we were to look at further pieces of work on ferries to the islands and, potentially, the make-up of CalMac Ferries’s board and so on, are those issues that you would take up, given that they are solely an islands affair, or is that something that we would take up with the transport minister?

You touched on current issues in the food and drink supply chain. It is somewhat disappointing, but not surprising, that you focused on Brexit. Can you assure us that, when you look at the issues that face sectors such as food growing, you are taking the time to look at all the issues that they face and that you are not focusing on Brexit? We heard last week that there is a perfect storm. Covid is playing a huge part. The lack of labour that you mention is not solely down to Brexit; there is a lack of labour in Germany, Poland and other European countries. Are you looking fully at other issues?

One of those issues is the Scottish inability—at the moment—to grow our own rural workforce. There are issues in land-based training that we need to address fairly rapidly, to ensure that we have the workforce for the future, such as professional dairymen and land managers. How will you bring forward policies to improve our land-based training to ensure that we have a home-grown workforce, in order to address some of the issues that not only Brexit but the impact of Covid will bring?

You touched on some policies on emissions reduction that you were going to bring forward for COP26. Given that that is only a few weeks away, it is natural to suggest that you will have some fairly well-informed ideas on how you will achieve those emissions reductions in agriculture. Will you lay out what those policies might be, and will you rule out the inclusion of a reduction in the production of red meat?

We move to questions on agriculture.

The Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee produced a report last year that identified specific issues with capacity and funding for inshore fisheries groups. You have already said that they are important. Are there plans to improve funding so that those groups can carry on the good work on inshore fisheries?

I will bring in Jenni Minto for a supplementary question on fishing, before moving to Beatrice Wishart.