Scottish Parliament, 1 September 2021

277 contributions from 63 members. The official report.

Covid-19 Recovery and Parliamentary Business

Liam McArthur (Liberal Democrat, Orkney Islands)

Good afternoon. I remind members that social distancing measures are in place in the chamber and across the Holyrood campus. I ask members to take care to observe those measures, including when entering and exiting the chamber. Please only use the aisles and walkways to access your seats or when moving around the chamber.

The first item of business is portfolio questions, and the first portfolio for questions is Covid-19 recovery and parliamentary business. If a member wishes to ask a supplementary question, they should press their request-to-speak button or, if they are joining us online, press R in the chat function at the time of the relevant question.

Covid-19 Recovery (Communities)

Jim Fairlie (Scottish National Party, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire)

1. To ask the Scottish Government how its policies and actions across Government are supporting communities to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. (S6O-00065)

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

Recovery from the pandemic is an urgent priority for the Government. The policies that we set out in May and delivered within 100 days were for bold, ambitious and transformative measures. I assure Mr Fairlie that we are only at the beginning of the Government’s programme and that there is much more that we can and will do to build a fairer and more sustainable country, as we continue to drive Scotland’s recovery from the pandemic. The 80 commitments that we delivered were co-ordinated and targeted policies for demonstrable and positive change for the people, families and communities who need it most, and for our economy, public services and environment.

Jim Fairlie (Scottish National Party, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire)

In my constituency, the north Perth and city centre Covid-19 community support group was formed during the pandemic as an affiliation of community groups from across the area, including Letham4All, North Muirton community council, Tulloch Net, and many others. The group mobilised more than 180 volunteers to help with everything from food shopping to delivering prescriptions to, quite simply, being someone to talk to.

Does the Scottish Government have any plans for sustaining and utilising the skills and resources that such community groups offer?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

I echo Mr Fairlie’s comments. I am familiar with a number of the organisations to which he referred—not least, North Muirton community council, which is in my constituency. Those organisations have provided critical services to members of the public in the city of Perth; I know that similar organisations have done the same thing in other parts of the country.

With our work with local government, we want to focus on a community-based approach to Covid recovery, and to sustain many of the good examples of community initiatives that arose during the pandemic and which can support individuals—in particular, people who are vulnerable or lonely—in our communities. That was what we envisaged when we passed the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 to enable much greater community participation and engagement, and it will be central to the Government’s response in supporting organisations to make a meaningful impact on their communities.

Murdo Fraser (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)

In communities across Scotland, many individuals are still waiting to make an appointment for a face-to-face meeting with their general practitioner. I know that the Scottish Government addressed that issue in its plan for national health service recovery, but will the cabinet secretary update us on what the target date might be for getting back to some degree of normality for those who want to meet their GP face to face?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

It is important to note that the process of meeting the needs of individuals during the pandemic has required many public servants, including general practitioners, to work in different ways, and they have all risen to that challenge. Some of the new models of operation are ones that we do not want to lose once the pandemic is over. Accessing public services through video consultation, which many GPs have started to use, is a beneficial way of ensuring that the maximum number of people get treatment when they require it.

Face-to-face consultations of course have a significant role to play, and general practitioners around the country are working hard, as is envisaged in the NHS recovery plan, to maximise the amount of face-to-face consultation that is undertaken. However, I would not want that to happen at the expense of our continuing to use the advances in technology that have enabled us to deliver healthcare and other services during the pandemic.

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

The cabinet secretary will recognise that carers are a key section of our community. They are struggling, and many of them are still isolating as case numbers rise to record levels. In some cases, care packages were withdrawn at the start of the pandemic, respite care was stopped and carers were left to cope alone. When will all those services be restored? Where is the remobilisation plan for social care?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

Those issues are covered in the NHS recovery plan and in the wider steps that we are taking to recover public services, which in many respects are being progressed by our local authority partners.

Partners are trying to re-establish services as safely and sustainably as possible. In a sense, Jackie Baillie answered part of her question in her own words, when she referred to the challenge of rising case numbers and the anxiety that that will cause individuals who have health vulnerabilities.

We are working in close partnership with a variety of organisations to make sure that we restore services to meet people’s needs, but restoration of services has to be commensurate with how safe it is to do so in the context of the pandemic. Of course, the First Minister will have more to say on that when she addresses Parliament this afternoon.

Alex Rowley (Labour, Mid Scotland and Fife)

There is a major issue with care in the community. I do not know how the Government can prioritise people, but in Fife, for example, the number of people on waiting lists for a care package has spiralled out of control. Will the Government look at how it can intervene? Fife Health and Social Care Partnership says that it simply cannot recruit the carers that it needs to provide the care that is required. The current situation is storing up a major problem, as we move into winter.

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

Mr Rowley has put his finger on a very significant issue—the availability of personnel to undertake certain essential tasks in our society. Across a range of sectors—Mr Rowley has understandably highlighted the situation in the social care sector—we are all hearing that there are simply not enough people coming forward for recruitment in certain occupations. The reduction in the number of people available, which is a consequence of the removal of freedom of movement as a result of Brexit, is undoubtedly having an effect.

We are working with health and social care partnerships to maximise the opportunities for recruitment, and we will continue to discuss such issues with local authorities and health boards as we support the recovery of care services, which is essential to ensuring that we meet the needs of individuals in our society.

Covid-19 Recovery (Inverclyde)

Stuart McMillan (Scottish National Party, Greenock and Inverclyde)

2. To ask the Scottish Government how its policies and actions across Government will support Inverclyde to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. (S6O-00066)

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

The Scottish Government has provided Inverclyde Council with £7,651,250 to support businesses in the area during the Covid-19 pandemic. As part of the economic stimulus package in 2020-21, we provided an additional £100,000 to Inverclyde Council from the regeneration capital grant fund to ensure the delivery of the new Craigend resource centre in Greenock.

Inverclyde Council has also been awarded up to £504,804 of funding from the regeneration capital grant fund in 2021-22 to support delivery of services for Inverclyde Shed’s meet, make and share project, which is also in Greenock.

In addition, Scottish Enterprise is working with the area to deliver regional business support plans and to support regional company-growth pilots.

Stuart McMillan (Scottish National Party, Greenock and Inverclyde)

The cabinet secretary is well aware of the challenges that Inverclyde faces, some of which it faced even before the pandemic. Skills Development Scotland’s recent report, “Regional Skills Assessments West Region”, which was published in July 2021, states:

“Inverclyde is not forecast to meet pre-pandemic employment levels in the period up to 2031”.

My area needs additional assistance to arrest our population decline and to deal with our ageing population demographic. In the light of that, is there anything further that the Scottish Government would consider doing to support Inverclyde to recover from the pandemic?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

The Government is very open to further discussions with the local community and the local authority on what steps can be taken. A great deal of planning has already been undertaken through the work of Glasgow City Region, which is, in essence, taking forward a range of projects that will have an impact on Inverclyde. The Government will be open to further dialogue beyond the propositions that are advanced in that proposal.

Glasgow City Region supports three projects in Inverclyde, which will promote growth in the area. The issue of population decline that Mr McMillan raised is one of the central issues in the focus of that work, and the Government stands ready to support Inverclyde Council and local partners in the most effective way that we can in order to advance some of the priorities that will assist in addressing population decline.

Covid-19 Recovery (Local Authorities)

Kaukab Stewart (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Kelvin)

3. To ask the Scottish Government how its policies and actions across Government will support local authorities in their recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. (S6O-00067)

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

To date, we have provided Scottish local authorities with an additional £1.5 billion in direct support through the local government finance settlement, over and above the regular grant payments for Covid recovery. It is important that we deliver a bold and ambitious recovery plan for Scotland.

My priority within Government is to work collectively and collegiately to ensure that that is the case.

I recognise the important role that local authorities have to play in that respect, and I am leading engagement to strengthen our partnership with local government in order to support recovery and to maximise every possible benefit for our citizens.

Kaukab Stewart (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Kelvin)

Will the cabinet secretary outline how the Scottish Government will engage with the hospitality industry in particular, and ensure that support is put in place to recover from the effects of Covid and the loss of business?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

We have provided a tremendous amount of support to the hospitality sector to enable it to shoulder much of the strain that has come during the period of restrictions. We are now operating in a context in which the hospitality sector is able to trade in a fashion that is fairly close to normal, and we welcome the contribution that the sector can make to the economy.

A number of ministers have been involved in a range of discussions with the hospitality sector. I have been involved in discussions principally with the Glasgow city centre hospitality community, with whom Kaukab Stewart will be familiar from her constituency interests and responsibilities. That community is very much focused on supporting the recovery of the city centre to enable more footfall and, as a consequence, to boost the work of the hospitality sector.

The Government is happy to engage further with the sector on positive steps that we can take to address the concerns and aspirations of the hospitality community.

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

What steps will the Scottish Government take to ensure that unrestricted Covid recovery funds for councils are spent on appropriate Covid recovery matters and with well-thought-out plans that ensure that funds get to the people and communities that need them and deliver value for money for the United Kingdom taxpayer?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

There is an interesting philosophical point in the question that Mr Kerr asked. There is a view—which has been pretty predominant within Parliament—that, when we distribute funds to local authorities, it is for local decision makers to decide how that money is spent.

For the Government to come along and second guess decisions that have been made at local level would, I think, possibly attract—[

Interruption

.] Mr Kerr is suggesting that that is not second guessing; however, I am not quite sure what would be happening if the Government was scrutinising funding decisions that are taken by local authorities. Indeed, I think, to be frank, that local authorities would rail against such a stance being taken by the Government.

I am happy to explore the points that Mr Kerr raised, if he is suggesting that the Government should intervene in those matters. If that is the Conservatives’ latest position, I will explore that. However, fundamentally, I believe that a partnership with local government is a reliable and effective way to ensure that communities are well supported in the process.

Covid-19 Recovery Consultation

Fulton MacGregor (Scottish National Party, Coatbridge and Chryston)

4. To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to encourage people to engage with and respond to the Covid-19 recovery consultation. (S6O-00068)

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

On 17 August, the Scottish Government launched a 12-week public consultation to review the legislative powers that have supported our response to Covid. It is a full public consultation that is open for views through to 9 November and aims to support Scotland’s recovery from Covid.

The consultation has been widely publicised on social media, and a dedicated web page with supporting information has been established. We have ensured that the 30 topics that the consultation covers have been brought to the attention of key stakeholders, and we are considering how best to include the voices of disabled people in the consultation process, following representations on that issue during the passage through Parliament of the Coronavirus (Extension and Expiry) (Scotland) Act 2021. I am pleased to say that the consultation has already attracted a lot of interest, and that more than 1,600 responses have been submitted so far.

Fulton MacGregor (Scottish National Party, Coatbridge and Chryston)

During the pandemic, swift progress was made to set up remote jury centres. It is important that services can continue to operate in a way that does not impede access to justice. Can the cabinet secretary outline the Scottish Government’s proposals for helping our justice system to renew and recover from the pandemic?

I should say that I am just out of a meeting of the Criminal Justice Committee, at which we had a really useful session with the justice ministers.

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

The consultation invites views on 30 specific legislative proposals that have the potential to support Covid recovery, including proposals for justice system reform to ensure that the tangible benefits of modernisations and practices that have been adopted during the pandemic can be maintained, where that is appropriate. I stress, “where that is appropriate.”

Proposals will also cover the response to the impact of Covid on Scotland’s justice system specifically where backlogs have, unavoidably, built up. There is an opportunity in the consultation to address a number of the aspirations that are inherent in Mr MacGregor’s question, and the Government looks forward to engaging with members of the public on those points.

Covid-19 Recovery (North-east Scotland)

Gillian Martin (Scottish National Party, Aberdeenshire East)

5. To ask the Scottish Government how its policies and actions across Government will support the north-east to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. (S6O-00069)

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

We are actively supporting economic recovery in the north-east and have provided close to £100 million to businesses and additional funding of almost £150 million to councils to help to achieve that. We are also investing £157 million in the Aberdeen city region deal and the Moray growth deal, and more than £14 million to develop the skills that are needed to support regional economic recovery. Alongside that, we have recently confirmed our intention to commit £500 million of capital to support the just transition of the region and Moray, to support energy transition and to create jobs and maximise their future economic potential.

Gillian Martin (Scottish National Party, Aberdeenshire East)

I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer and I welcome absolutely everything that he listed. There is an opportunity, in Covid recovery, to address a number of Government objectives. Inequity in the ability to access fast low-emissions public transport is one that has long been an issue in my constituency and the wider eastern corner of north-east Scotland.

Will the Government, in its commitment to reopen analysis of the Dyce to Ellon rail line, look at the wider societal, environmental and economic benefits of such a rail link and base its decisions on wider criteria than simply projected passenger numbers? Will it commit to working with the people in my constituency and the neighbouring constituency on the case for the line, taking into account the workforce changes since Covid and the need for the jobs market to be accessible to people in rural areas who are seeking work?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

I am very happy to commit the Government to engage on that basis. The strategic developments to which Gillian Martin has referred are significant in the north-east of Scotland, and they provide the opportunity to contribute to achievement of the Government’s obligations on net zero emissions. We look forward to engaging on those points, which will be the subject of further analysis as we develop the projects.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

There are a couple of supplementaries. I would welcome brief questions and succinct answers.

Liam Kerr (Conservative, North East Scotland)

I met Fraserburgh Harbour Commissioners on Monday. The commissioners detailed in their master plan ambitious and exciting expansion plans, which could significantly support the north-east’s recovery from the pandemic and give even more reason to send trains up there, as well as to improve the roads. Does the Scottish Government support Fraserburgh Harbour Commissioners’ ambitions, and will the cabinet secretary back their expansion proposals?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

The Government engages on a range of projects around the country. Resources are challenging—I think that everybody knows that—but I certainly welcome the proposals to which Liam Kerr refers. My ministerial colleagues will be happy to engage on any proposals that come forward.

Michael Marra (Labour, North East Scotland)

Remobilising our national health service will be critical to our Covid recovery in the north-east, and ensuring that we have the staff in place to do that will be vital.

Will the Deputy First Minister help that process by supporting the district nurses in Dundee who, three years ago, were regraded from band 6 to band 7 but have not had the process honoured by NHS Tayside? Does he agree that the situation is disgraceful, after those nurses’ selfless service during the pandemic? Will his Government intervene to ensure that the upgrading is honoured immediately?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

As Mr Marra will be aware, the issue is the responsibility of NHS Tayside to determine. The board must make decisions that are appropriate based on all the advice that is available to it. I will certainly draw Mr Marra’s representations to the attention of NHS Tayside as a consequence of our exchange today.

Covid-19 Recovery (Parliamentary Procedure)

Alexander Stewart (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)

6. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to ensuring that any legislation it introduces to support the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic does not seek to allow regulations to be made or changed without being subject to the affirmative parliamentary procedure. (S6O-00070)

George Adam (Scottish National Party, Paisley)

I thank Alexander Stewart for asking the first question that I will answer as a minister.

The Government is currently consulting on 30 public health, public services and justice system proposals that have the potential to support Covid recovery. Given the range of topics and potential scenarios that are covered by the consultation, the Government cannot commit to the standard affirmative procedure applying in all circumstances in bills that we introduce following the consultation.

However, I assure the member that we will consider carefully how we ensure that the Scottish Parliament is able effectively to scrutinise regulations that the Scottish Government brings forward in future. Of course, any bill that the Government introduces will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny and there will be the opportunity for the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee and other committees of the Parliament to consider fully the procedures that apply to delegated powers.

Alexander Stewart (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)

Under the current coronavirus legislation, regulations do not have to be proactively put before the Scottish Parliament if the Scottish ministers consider that they need to be made urgently. Does the minister agree that it is not acceptable to enact, or approve without a vote, regulations that affect everyone’s lives? Will he rule out the inclusion of provisions in that regard in any legislation under the temporary coronavirus powers?

George Adam (Scottish National Party, Paisley)

As the situation with the pandemic has changed, ministers have had to take swift action in relation to legal restrictions and requirements, and the emergency coronavirus regulations have been required to take effect quickly. That is the case not only when restrictions require to be imposed quickly, but when they require to be lifted because they are no longer necessary.

The procedure allows for a swift response to put restrictions in place and to lift them when they are no longer needed. There is a time and a place for us to take action to make things better for the people of Scotland.

Covid-19 Pandemic Public Inquiry

Annabelle Ewing (Scottish National Party, Cowdenbeath)

7. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline the timescale for the independent public inquiry into the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. (S6O-00071)

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

The Scottish Government will establish a Scottish public inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005 by the end of this year in order to scrutinise decisions that were taken during the course of the pandemic so that lessons are learned for future pandemics.

The Scottish Government is currently inviting views on the inquiry’s draft aims and principles, which will shape the terms of reference. Discussions are also going on with the United Kingdom Government on the planned UK inquiry in order to ensure that all areas that need to be considered are covered in a way that gives confidence to bereaved families and others.

Annabelle Ewing (Scottish National Party, Cowdenbeath)

Given the importance of the issues involved, is it anticipated that there could be staggered reporting as the inquiry progresses, by way of interim reports, such that important lessons can be learned and recommendations made in a timely manner?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

Annabelle Ewing makes a reasonable point, but the process of and timescale for the inquiry will be matters for the chair of the inquiry, who will operate independently of ministers.

We can, of course, set out some of our expectations as a consequence of our discussions with interested parties. A very good example of how phased reporting can illuminate issues that an inquiry is wrestling with is provided by the inquiry

into historical abuse, which Lady Smith chairs: a number of case studies have been reported and the approach has provided clarity and certainty for many individuals who have suffered in that regard. There are models that can operate in the spirit that Annabelle Ewing envisages, and I will consider the issue as we establish the terms of reference.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Question 8 is from Siobhian Brown, who joins us remotely.

Covid-19 Recovery (Spending Decisions)

Siobhian Brown (Scottish National Party, Ayr)

8. To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it has had from the United Kingdom Government that decisions on spending on the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic will be taken in Scotland. (S6O-00072)

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

The United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 has undermined any assurance around decisions on Covid recovery spending in devolved areas being taken in Scotland. The act’s spending powers cover a wide range of areas, including some that relate to Covid recovery. Any such spending could bring the prospect of unco-ordinated spending and policy incoherence, which could hinder, rather than support, Covid recovery. The way that the UK Government has used the powers so far offers little assurance—rather, it has been the opposite.

Siobhian Brown (Scottish National Party, Ayr)

Does the cabinet secretary agree that it is crucial that no more devolved powers are stripped from the Scottish Parliament and that decisions on Covid recovery spending in Scotland should be placed firmly in the hands of the Scottish Parliament?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

I agree with that point. The Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament have made it crystal clear that the UK Government’s 2020 act is unwelcome legislation that undermines the Scottish Parliament’s powers. It is crucial that the Scottish Parliament’s powers are respected. Those powers were supported by people in a referendum in 1997 and they have subsequently been enhanced by various legislative instruments that have been passed. Our decision-making structures should not be undermined or eroded by the UK Government.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport

The Deputy Presiding Officer

The next portfolio is net zero, energy and transport. A number of members have already indicated that they want to ask supplementary questions and we are breaking new ground by having four different ministers answering questions in this session, so I would be grateful for brief questions and answers whenever possible.

Pavement Parking Prohibition

Pam Duncan-Glancy (Labour, Glasgow)

1. To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to implement the provisions on pavement parking prohibition in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019. (S6O-00073)

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

Officials are continuing to consult local authorities to develop the secondary legislation and parking standards guidance and to consult the public on areas that are contained in the legislation. In addition, local authorities require about 12 months to undertake assessments to consider whether they wish to exempt, subject to the criteria, any areas of pavement from the prohibition. As such, the majority of the secondary legislation is likely to be in place by 2022.

Pam Duncan-Glancy (Labour, Glasgow)

It is now almost two years since the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 received royal assent. What funding is the Government providing to aid the implementation of the provisions to ban pavement parking? What assessment has been done of any funding that it has provided to date?

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

As the member is aware, implementation of the parking elements was

hindered by Covid and Brexit, but work is now well under way. An initial £1.6 million of funding for assessments has been distributed to councils alongside the draft chapters of the parking standards guidance document.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Question 2 is from Colin Beattie, who joins us remotely.

Net Zero Emissions (Community Groups)

Colin Beattie (Scottish National Party, Midlothian North and Musselburgh)

2. To ask the Scottish Government what further guidance and support it will provide to community groups to help them meet the goal of net zero emissions. (S6O-00074)

Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)

We must engage communities across the country in our journey to net zero. Communities are being supported via the climate challenge fund as well as through the developing network of climate action hubs and towns. We are also launching a number of national initiatives in the run-up to climate week.

Our new website netzeronation.scot aims to help the public and communities to understand how they can play their part in tackling the global climate emergency, and it provides resources for community action. The website also signposts to further practical and financial support that is available to communities through other initiatives.

Colin Beattie (Scottish National Party, Midlothian North and Musselburgh)

In my Midlothian North and Musselburgh constituency, there are well over 250 community groups with varying sizes and levels of activity. What financial support might be made available to those groups to assist them on their journey to net zero?

Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)

A number of Scottish Government funding packages are available to communities. For example, the Penicuik Community Development Trust in the member’s constituency was awarded just under £116,000 in the current financial year from the climate challenge fund for its Penicuik carbon challenge project, which offers free support to help residents and groups to reduce their carbon footprint by tackling waste.

The funding that is available to support communities on their journey to net zero includes the Scottish Government’s community and renewable energy scheme, which provides advice, loans and grant funding. Up to £5.25 million is available in the current financial year to support local community groups to develop renewable energy projects, supporting the growth of community and locally owned energy projects. There is also the Energy Saving Trust programme, which delivers a range of initiatives such as the e-bike grant scheme and provides support to community-based organisations to move to active travel. Further community support is available through the love local campaign, which is being rolled out nationally.

There are a range of different funding streams that community groups can access. I encourage any community group that is looking for advice on them to look to the netzeronation.scot website for further information, or to the Scottish communities climate action network website, which also contains a considerable amount of information on the area.

Net Zero Targets (Small and Medium-sized Businesses)

Brian Whittle (Conservative, South Scotland)

3. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the net zero secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding action to support small and medium-sized businesses to reduce their carbon emissions, as part of wider efforts to reach net zero targets. (S6O-00075)

Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)

I regularly meet ministerial colleagues to discuss the collective action that is being taken across the Scottish Government to support our net zero ambitions.

In advance of the 26th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP26—we have made targeted commitments to drive opportunities for Scottish businesses and supply chains—for example, through an additional £2 billion of infrastructure investment over the current parliamentary session to stimulate demand and create jobs in the transition to net zero. As part of our climate emergency skills action plan, we will build a toolkit to help small and micro businesses develop the skills and knowledge that they need to adapt to the demands of the transition to net zero.

We are also working across the Scottish Government to finalise plans for the Scottish climate week, which will run from 13 to 19 September and will support small and medium-sized enterprises across Scotland to hold events or take forward climate action with their teams.

Brian Whittle (Conservative, South Scotland)

The cabinet secretary may be aware of research by accountancy firm Grant Thornton UK LLP that suggests that roughly only half of businesses have a net zero strategy, despite strong recognition among the business community of the value of strong environmental performance. With such a high proportion of Scottish businesses in the SME sector, will the Scottish Government put a higher priority on supporting that kind of innovation in SMEs in relation to net zero instead of constantly targeting the few big businesses that Scotland currently has?

Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)

Everyone has a collective responsibility to play their part in helping to achieve Scotland becoming a net zero nation by 2045, whether that be at an individual, community or business level, as an SME or a major corporation. They all have a part to play in helping to support us in achieving that target, and we are already taking a range of actions. I have mentioned the net zero nation campaign, which is presently being rolled out in order to inform individuals, communities and businesses about the actions and opportunities that they can take forward in achieving net zero.

Those are all part of the on-going plan, but it is equally important that we help businesses to seize the opportunities that will arise as we become a net zero nation through the new technologies that will have to be developed and the deployment of those new technologies across domestic and non-domestic premises. All of that will provide opportunities for SMEs across the country to play their part in the range of work that we are taking forward, such as the skills academy and in other areas around green skills.

Monica Lennon (Labour, Central Scotland)

According to research that Citizens Advice Scotland published earlier this year, Scottish businesses were less likely than businesses across the United Kingdom to have introduced decarbonisation measures. Will the Government adopt all the recommendations in that report? Can the cabinet secretary say how much funding is available for the toolkit that he mentioned?

Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)

Monica Lennon’s question relates to the answer that I just gave to Brian Whittle. It is important that all parts of our community, including businesses, play their part in helping us to meet our net zero nation aim. That is why the on-going communication plan covers engagement with business organisations, helping to support them to inform their members about the work that they can take forward in order to become net zero businesses.

The reality, from my engagement with businesses at both the SME and corporate levels, is that they recognise that becoming net zero will be a key part of their business and that people want to see businesses playing their part in achieving net zero. That is why we have funding streams through a number of programmes that can support businesses to get loans and grants to assist them in decarbonising their operations. A big part of that will be about making sure that we build on that work as we progress.

I do not have a specific figure for the toolkit, but it is an important part of what the business community has asked us for in order to assist and support those businesses that do not have plans in place just now to take the necessary action.

Rest and Be Thankful Landslips (A83)

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

4. To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent, and plans to spend, over the next four years, on the mitigation of landslips at the Rest and Be Thankful on the A83. (S6O-00076)

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

Since 2007, we have invested £87 million in the maintenance of the A83, including more than £15 million in landslide mitigation works to provide additional resilience at the Rest and Be Thankful, such as debris netting, bunds and improvements to drainage.

Subject to the annual budget process and spending review, our current plan is to spend a further £8.8 million over the coming years on short-term mitigation measures. There is also budget set aside for progression of the medium-term and long-term works in Glen Croe, which shows our absolute determination to invest in the road in the short, medium and long terms to help keep Argyll open for business and enable residents and visitors alike to travel to and from the area.

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

The minister has acknowledged that £15 million has been spent and a further £8 million is in the pipeline, and £1 million has recently been spent on extending the catch pits at the Rest and Be Thankful. Does he think that that will be enough to withstand a large landslide of, say, 100 tonnes of debris? If so, why does Transport Scotland keep on closing the road when it rains? Does he believe, therefore, that now is the time for all alternatives to be explored in order to maintain access to Argyll?

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

As Jackie Baillie well knows, because we have met to discuss the issue, there are no certainties about this; we are in the hands of mother nature. I know that Jackie Baillie would not sit there and suggest to me that we should not conduct those measures—we need to do so in order to minimise the risk there. A great deal of effort goes into ensuring that any risk associated with the route is minimised. I absolutely agree with her, and I hope that I can give her some assurance if she does not have it already. A parallel process is taking place: every mitigation possible is being deployed and, at exactly the same time, work is going on to develop proposals for the medium and long terms in order to provide the outcome that we all desire.

Jenni Minto (Scottish National Party, Argyll and Bute)

Can the Scottish Government give an assurance to residents, businesses and visitors of Argyll and Bute that the mitigation work that is currently under way is not to the detriment of a long-term solution? Can the minister share with Parliament the timeline for finding that solution?

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

As I have just said to Jackie Baillie, there is a parallel process that includes the current mitigation work, the medium-term development work and the long-term work. We are currently in the phase of gathering data in order to inform the best choice of specific route. That should be concluded by the end of this year. At that point, all being well, we will have a clearer picture of the workable options.

We will then move to the development of a final proposal for a medium-term solution. There are, of course, many unknowns, such as ownership of the land depending on the route, engineering requirements and ground condition, but we are working with all haste on that. I do not want to give hostages to fortune, but it is feasible that, towards the end of next year, we will have a firm, shovel-ready proposal to take forward. That is where we hope to be at that point.

Net Zero (Housing)

Mark Griffin (Labour, Central Scotland)

5. I draw members’ attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests, as I am the owner of a rental property in North Lanarkshire.

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has commissioned of the likely costs to homeowners and landlords of reaching net zero emissions in housing by 2045. (S6O-00077)

Patrick Harvie (Green, Glasgow)

Scottish Government analysis suggests that the total capital costs of converting our building stock to zero emissions by 2045 is in the region of £33 billion. That includes the installation of zero-emissions heat and energy efficiency measures in both domestic and non-domestic buildings. It does not take account of the business-as-usual investments that households and businesses would need to make in order to replace fossil-fuel boilers as they reach the end of their lives, nor the additional investment that is likely to be needed in wider energy infrastructure. The Government has commissioned a range of further research to understand the wider costs that are associated with the heat transition, and that work will be published once it is finalised.

Mark Griffin (Labour, Central Scotland)

Recent announcements on the decarbonisation of all properties across all tenures in the wider Glasgow city region put the cost at £9 billion to decarbonise their heating and make them energy efficient. Two thirds of those properties—300,000—are owner-occupied. While some owner-occupiers will be able to afford to make a contribution, we know that many, including in my region, will not. Can the minister set out the Government’s plans to support low-income owner-occupiers who have little savings, the expectations on those owner-occupiers and the support that the Government will provide to enable them to participate fully in the journey towards 2045?

Patrick Harvie (Green, Glasgow)

No one doubts that that is a mammoth challenge for us all, which will have a wide range of

impacts on people in different tenures and economic circumstances. The Scottish Government already makes support available—for example, through the home energy Scotland loan scheme, which involves interest-free unsecured loans of up to £38,500 per home to enable owner-occupiers to install energy efficiency and heating measures and a cashback scheme that provides eligible households with up to £13,500 towards zero-emissions heating systems and energy efficiency measures. A range of other schemes are also in place, including area-based schemes, which have been extended to include zero-emissions heating, and the Scottish Government has also introduced a top-up grant to support that process.

The member is well aware that we will continue to research the scale of the challenge and the steps that both this Government and the UK Government need to take. The actions of the latter will be necessary to make zero-carbon heating systems affordable by comparison with fossil-fuel ones.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I will allow a brief supplementary question from Liam Kerr.

Liam Kerr (Conservative, North East Scotland)

The cabinet secretary recently told me that it would cost £17,000 per property to upgrade off-gas-grid homes from EPC bands E to G to EPC band C. There are around 500,000 off-grid homes, more than 100,000 of which cannot be fitted with a heat pump; so, even if it were just those upgrades, it would cost more than £1 billion—

The Deputy Presiding Officer

That is not brief, Mr Kerr.

Liam Kerr (Conservative, North East Scotland)

What analysis has been done of that process and who will be expected to pay?

Patrick Harvie (Green, Glasgow)

I have already indicated a significant range of measures by which the public purse helps to meet those costs. Obviously, the public purse cannot meet all of them, nor should homeowners do so. We all have to rise to the challenge.

In relation to heat pumps, most of us recognise that not one single solution is right for every property in every location. We do not intend to take a mandatory approach to imposing a single solution for all properties. As with Mr Griffin, I am sure that the Government will want to keep Mr Kerr and all parties informed of further work in that area.

ScotRail Service Reduction

Colin Smyth (Labour, South Scotland)

6. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported proposals by ScotRail to no longer run 300 train services from May 2022. (S6O-00078)

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

I will provide a full picture of the ScotRail proposal. I am sure that Colin Smyth is not deliberately trying to give the impression that service levels overall have been reduced. The fact is that, under these proposals, we would see an increase of 100 services per day on the current level.

By way of example, the Glasgow to Carlisle via Kilmarnock and Dumfries line, in the member’s region, would benefit.

The review seeks to create a national rail service that meets the country’s needs and travel patterns. ScotRail has examined, pre-Covid, an expected future demand and developed a proposed timetable that seeks to match service patterns with uptake, with scope for additional future capacity, while recognising the need for financial and environmental sustainability.

The proposed timetable is a new starting point, not the end point. It has been designed to accommodate pre-pandemic levels of demand while removing much of the unused capacity on the network. As more people return to using rail, further services for which there is a demand will be introduced. The public consultation provides an opportunity for ScotRail customers and businesses to help shape a reliable and responsive timetable change, and I encourage people to make their views known.

Colin Smyth (Labour, South Scotland)

I am sure that the minister does not want to mislead people by implying that the overall number of services will not be reduced compared to the pre-pandemic level, because that is exactly what the proposals are about. Frankly, we will not get people back on our trains by taking their train away. I ask the minister this specifically: will the Scottish National Party-Green Government rule out reducing the overall number of rail services compared to pre-pandemic levels when that new timetable is introduced in May 2022?

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

It is, frankly, baffling that a member of the Scottish Parliament can sit here and call for a never-ending increase in services, with no consideration for the cost. The direction of travel that was set by this Government pre-pandemic saw services increase and stations open up—that is the journey that we are on. We are currently—[

Interruption

.]

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Listen to the response, please.

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

As a parliamentarian, I have yet to encounter any set of draft proposals that is perfect or, indeed, that is not ultimately amended in some form as the associated processes work through. It is therefore important that people work through the consultation. However, in doing this work, we have to be realistic because we cannot run services that are little utilised. As we build back, we need to match services to demand and build from there. Alongside all of that, we will be delivering a raft of improvements, such as decarbonisation of the network, new stations and a modal shift for freight from road to rail.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

We have a quick supplementary from James Dornan.

James Dornan (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Cathcart)

Can the minister tell us what has changed in rail services in Scotland since the SNP came into power in 2007?

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

A very great deal—and for the better—

is the answer. Under this Government, communities and businesses have benefited from significant investment across Scotland’s railways. We have seen that in the number of seats on trains, the stations that have reopened and decarbonisation. As I said earlier, that is the direction of travel. To characterise it more fully, prior to the pandemic there were 190,000 more seats on our trains compared to 2008.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

We have a very brief supplementary from Graham Simpson.

Graham Simpson (Conservative, Central Scotland)

Minister, is this a taste of things to come when ScotRail is nationalised?

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

That is exactly the kind of question that I would have expected from Mr Simpson. The direction of travel that has been set by this Government is clear: investment in rail, decarbonisation of rail and a great deal of support for rail. That is where we are going.

Water Scarcity Reporting

Elena Whitham (Scottish National Party, Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley)

7. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that water scarcity reporting is accurate and reflective of all areas of Scotland. (S6O-00079)

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency is responsible for the forecast, monitoring and reporting of the situation facing Scotland’s water resources; it produces a weekly report on that. Of course, on the ground, information from local authorities is crucial in understanding the impact that drought is having on water supplies. That is why a dedicated reporting line has been set up, enabling local authorities to provide real-time information to the Scottish Government and SEPA. The Scottish Government very much values the monitoring and assessment work that goes on in that regard.

Elena Whitham (Scottish National Party, Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley)

It was alarming to have constituents contact me during the summer to advise me that their private water supplies were lower or dry and that we were at a standing start for supplying emergency drinking water. I would like to have noted my thanks for the assistance from the Scottish Government to my many constituents who are not on the mains water supply due to the rurality of their properties. I ask that the minister commits to ensuring the robustness of water scarcity reporting so that both spheres of government can react to the real humanitarian crisis when indicators suggest that private water supplies are at risk.

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

I understand Elena Whitham’s concerns and, as someone who relies on a private water supply, I understand the concerns of those who have experienced water scarcity. In recognition of those scarcity events this summer, the Scottish Government acted quickly to fund a scheme for the provision of supplies of bottled water. That scheme is on top of an existing, non-means-tested grant of £800, which is already available to owners and users of private water supplies, to make improvements to their system. The national water scarcity plan sets out clearly how water scarcity levels are determined by SEPA and how those are informed, using a scientific approach and current research.

Glasgow City Council (Connectivity Commission Recommendations)

Pauline McNeill (Labour, Glasgow)

8. To ask the Scottish Government what support it plans to provide to Glasgow City Council to implement the recommendations in the report by the Connectivity Commission, including funding for the proposed metro system. (S6O-00080)

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

Pauline McNeill will be aware that that work was commissioned by Glasgow City Council and it will be for the council to determine whether it wishes to implement the

Connectivity Commission’s

recommendations.

However, we are progressing the second strategic transport projects review, which is considering the case for a Glasgow metro, and the Scottish Government is working collaboratively with Glasgow City Council on that. Decisions on future funding will be made after STPR2 is concluded and as part of the Scottish budget process.

Of course, the Glasgow city region local authorities have more than £1 billion in their growth deal infrastructure fund, of which the Scottish Government committed £500 million, to use for investment in infrastructure such as the Glasgow metro.

Pauline McNeill (Labour, Glasgow)

The minister is aware that it is one of the biggest projects that Glasgow intends to support in order to transition to sustainable transport—it is a really important project. However, press reports indicate that the private finance that the leader of the council is seeking looks uncertain. Does the minister share my concerns that the funding needs to be nailed down and that Glasgow City Council’s intention to at least partly fund the metro system with private finance raises questions about whether the necessary progress will be made in a reasonable timescale? I accept that the work is a collaboration, but I hope that the Scottish Government can assure me that it will take a strong interest in it. Glasgow is Scotland’s largest city. We desperately need a project that will help us transition to net zero, and that looks like it could be the one.

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

Briefly, the fact that the project features in STPR2 is a recognition of its national importance.

Covid-19

Alison Johnstone (Presiding Officer, Lothian)

I remind members that social distancing measures are in place in the chamber and across the Holyrood campus. I ask that

members take care to observe those measures,

including when entering and exiting the chamber, and that they use the aisles and walkways only to access their seat and when moving around the chamber.

Murdo Fraser (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)

On a point of order

, Presiding Officer. You will be aware that important Government announcements should be made first to the chamber before they are given to the press. At 14:40 this afternoon, in advance of the statement to the Parliament that the First Minister is about to make, key details—in particular, proposals to introduce vaccine certification—were posted on social media by the BBC. I am sure that you agree that that is a discourtesy to Parliament. Will you investigate whether that has been a breach of standing orders by the Scottish Government?

The Presiding Officer

I thank Murdo Fraser for his point of order. I have not had an opportunity to view the information to which he refers, but it is certainly my expectation that any and all statements be made in the first instance to the Parliament wherever possible. That would seem to be the case on this occasion, so I will look further into the issue.

The next item of business is a Covid-19 update in the form of a statement by Nicola Sturgeon

. The First Minister will take questions at the end of her statement so there should be no interventions or interruptions.

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

Today, I will update Parliament on the state of the pandemic in Scotland, discuss the recent surge in cases and give our best assessment of the current situation. I will also outline the additional action that we are taking to try to slow transmission and reduce the spread of the virus.

I will start with the latest daily statistics, albeit in summary form, as they were published around an hour ago. There were 6,170 positive cases reported yesterday, which is 11.5 per cent of all tests carried out. There are 629 people in hospital with Covid, which is 44 more than yesterday, and 59 people are in intensive care, which is five more than yesterday. Sadly, a further nine deaths have been reported in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of deaths under the daily definition to 8,127. As always, my condolences are with everyone who has lost a loved one.

On vaccination, 4,108,804 people have received a first dose, and 3,691,066 have now had both doses. That includes 95 per cent of people over the age of 40 who are now fully vaccinated, as well as 71 per cent of 30 to 39-year-olds and 51 per cent of 18 to 29-year-olds. However, 74 per cent of 18 to 29-year-olds have had a first dose, so we expect the proportion becoming fully vaccinated to continue to increase in the days ahead. Finally, almost exactly half of all 16 and 17-year-olds have now had the first jag. Vaccination in that age group started relatively recently, and work to increase uptake further is on-going. All 16 and 17-year-olds who have not yet had a first dose should have received a letter yesterday inviting them to an appointment.

As members are aware, we still await advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on vaccinating all 12 to 15-year-olds, and I hope that the evidence will allow the JCVI to give a positive recommendation very soon. If that is the case, we stand ready to implement that recommendation.

I will talk more about the importance of vaccination later, but I will first address the surge in cases that we have experienced over recent weeks. Case levels are 80 per cent higher now than they were last week, and are five times higher than they were four weeks ago. Test positivity has also risen, from around 5 per cent at the start of August to 11.5 per cent today. As we indicated at the time, it was always likely that, as restrictions were lifted, we would see cases rise. The virus is highly infectious, so as people mix together more, it will take the opportunity to spread. Indeed, cases are rising across all of the United Kingdom and in many other countries.

However, in Scotland, unlike in England and Wales, schools have been back for some time, and we expected that that would create a further pressure not only as a result of increased interactions in schools, but because we know that there are certain ways—school drop-offs, for example—in which adults tend to mix more when schools are back. Despite expecting to see some increase in cases, the scale of the increase in recent weeks has been extremely concerning. There is no doubt that that underlines the fact that the delta variant is significantly more transmissible than previous strains.

Just as vaccines have changed the game for us in a very good way, delta has changed it in a very challenging way. That has been evident to us in the past few weeks. That is why we have been reminding the public in recent days that, if we are to avoid any re-imposition of restrictions—even in a limited way—as we all want to do, we must all play our part to slow transmission.

We have been urging everyone to comply with all the basic mitigations that are still in place, such as the use of face coverings, and to carefully follow all public health advice. If we all do that—later, I will again set out exactly what we are asking people to do—I am hopeful that we can turn the corner without having to re-impose any restrictions. However, I stress that the next few days will be crucial in our assessment, and it is inescapably the case that we must turn the corner and see the sharp increase in cases level off and then come down.

I will explain again why that is important, even with vaccination levels as high as they are. It absolutely remains the case that vaccination has significantly reduced the link between cases of Covid and serious health harm from Covid. The proportion of people with the virus who end up in hospital is much lower now than it was pre-vaccine. Indeed, that is why the record number of new cases that has been reported in recent days has not caused a record number of hospital admissions. That is very positive, but it must not make us complacent.

Although the link between new cases and serious health harm is now much weaker, it has not been completely broken—either here or anywhere else in the world; like us, many countries are grappling with the delta variant. We can see that clearly in the recent data. On Friday 20 August, 312 people were in hospital with Covid; today, there are 629. The number of people in intensive care has risen more slowly, but it has risen. On 20 August, it was 34; today, it is 59. Of course, hospital figures do not capture all the health harm caused by Covid. For example, they exclude people who do not require hospital treatment but still go on to suffer long Covid.

There is a matter of basic arithmetic at play. If the recent surge in cases was to continue—if, for instance, cases were to rise to 10,000 or more a day, which is something that I hope will not happen but is by no means impossible—that would have serious consequences. A lot of people would fall seriously ill and, obviously, some people would die. Also, the national health service would come under even more severe pressure.

To reiterate, that is a matter of basic arithmetic. At the start of the year, daily reported cases peaked at around 2,600, and, at that time, which was pre-vaccine, around 13 per cent of cases were ending up in hospital. Today—this is good news—around only 2 to 3 per cent end up in hospital. However, 2 to 3 per cent of 10,000 cases a day will cause similar pressure on our NHS as 13 per cent of 2,600.

This pressure is building at a time when many staff have been flat out for more than 18 months and when the NHS is working hard to deal with the backlog of other cases that has been caused by the earlier waves of the pandemic.

The situation that we face is fragile and serious. We must stem the rise in cases. Obviously, it would not be responsible for any Government in the face of the virus and the harm that it can still do to rule out reintroducing any restrictions. Indeed, in my view, that would be grossly irresponsible. However, we do not want to reimpose restrictions, even in a limited way. We know only too well how much harm restrictions cause to businesses, young people’s education and to our overall wellbeing. If that is to be avoided—as I very much hope that it can be—it will take all of us again making a conscious and concerted effort to comply with all the basic mitigations that we know from experience can slow down transmission. Of course, that applies to individuals as well as businesses.

I will set out some of the work that the Government is doing, including on one particularly significant issue, and what we are asking everyone to do.

Over the past two weeks, cabinet secretaries have been engaging closely with business and sectoral organisations across the country to encourage significantly increased compliance with existing baseline measures. That, of course, includes the wearing of face coverings, encouraging stringent hygiene and support for continued home working where possible.

I am very grateful to businesses for the efforts being made to keep staff and customers safe, and I am particularly grateful to those businesses that are continuing to support home working. It is vital that those efforts continue. I know that they are not easy for business, but they are much less onerous to them than any further restrictions would be.

We are continuing to support urgent measures to improve ventilation in schools—for example, the purchase and use of CO2

monitors. We are also looking urgently at options to support better ventilation in priority workplaces.

We continue to do everything possible to drive up the already high uptake of vaccine. Getting vaccinated remains the single most important step that any of us can take to keep ourselves and others safe. Therefore, ensuring that as many people as possible get vaccinated remains an absolutely key priority.

As I have mentioned, we expect updated advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation soon on vaccination of 12 to 15-year-olds and on booster jabs for vulnerable groups such as older people and those with compromised immune systems.

We will, and stand ready to move to implement any such extensions to the vaccine programme as soon as we get the JCVI recommendations to do so, which I hope very much will be soon.

We are also taking targeted steps to increase uptake among groups who are already eligible for vaccination. I mentioned earlier that an invitation letter has recently been sent to all 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds who have not yet had a first dose. Mobile vaccination units will be used during university and college freshers weeks to encourage students who have not already done so to get vaccinated.

We will also concentrate further effort in the days ahead on encouraging anyone in the under-40 age group who has not yet had the vaccine, or has not had the second dose, to do so now.

It really is impossible to overstate the importance of vaccination in getting us safely through this phase and the winter months ahead. By getting vaccinated, we help to keep ourselves and others safe. The reverse of that is equally true: not getting vaccinated, if you are eligible, puts you and others at greater risk, and it makes it less likely that we can make it through the winter without having to reintroduce some restrictions. To everyone out there who has not already had their jags, I say, “Please do your civic duty—please get vaccinated now, for your own sake and for all of us.”

The final issue that I want to address is vaccine certification, for when entry to venues is dependent on people being able to show that they have been fully vaccinated. In recent months there has been a lot of discussion about vaccine certification. As I have indicated before, the Government has been considering very carefully whether—notwithstanding the understandable equity and ethical concerns—vaccine certification could, in some settings, help to protect public health, reduce the necessity for any further restrictions and, of course, boost vaccine take-up.

The Scottish Government has made it clear that we do not believe that vaccination certification should ever be a requirement for receipt of any key services or in settings where people have no choice over attendance—for example, public transport, education and access to medical services or shops. We continue to hold very firmly to that position. However, we consider that limited use of vaccine certification could help to control spread of the virus as we head into the autumn and winter.

For any decision of that nature to have an impact before winter, we would have to take and implement it quickly. However, I recognise that it is a significant decision so, in my view, it should be expressly authorised by Parliament. I therefore propose that, subject to the Presiding Officer’s agreement, we have a full debate and vote on the matter next week. To help to prepare for that, I will set out now what the Government, after much consideration, has concluded would be appropriate.

We propose that, subject to Parliament’s agreement, vaccination certification should be introduced later this month—once all adults have had the opportunity to be fully vaccinated—for the following events and venues: first, nightclubs and adult entertainment venues; secondly, unseated indoor live events with more than 500 people in the audience; thirdly, unseated outdoor live events with more than 4,000 people in the audience; and lastly, any event of any nature that has more than 10,000 people in attendance. We do not currently consider that it would be appropriate to introduce certification for the hospitality industry as a whole, and we hope that it will not be necessary to do so. However, we will keep that position under review.

We are also very aware of the need to take account of people who, for good reason, cannot get fully vaccinated with both doses of the vaccine. For example, we envisage that children and people with particular medical conditions would be exempt from certification requirements. However, we consider that in order to help to protect individuals and the country as a whole, and to reduce the risk of further restrictions becoming necessary, people over 18 years old who are eligible for vaccination should be required to show that they have received both doses before entry to premises and events such as I have mentioned.

It is already possible to request that a paper copy of your vaccination record be posted to you to allow you to travel. From this Friday onwards, well in advance of any certification scheme coming into operation, we will also provide a QR code. That means that you will be able to download a copy of your vaccination record to keep on your phone or to print.

The introduction of Covid vaccine certificates, even in the limited circumstances that I have set out, is a significant move and not one that we would ever take lightly. That is why I believe that it should have parliamentary approval in advance. However, it is worth stressing that although we have had to weigh the decision carefully, we would be in no way unique in taking the step. The UK Government has announced its intention to introduce certification for England, and several European countries—including France, Italy and Ireland—have already introduced certification. In fact, the certification rules in several other countries cover a far wider range of venues than those that we are currently considering for Scotland.

Many of the events and venues that will be covered by a certification scheme are important—they matter to our economy and to our cultural and social life, which is why we want to enable them to stay open safely. However, they are not essential services, and their nature, which involves bringing together many people in relatively small areas, means that despite their very best efforts—I know that they make their best efforts—they can contribute significantly to spread of the virus. By ensuring that people who enter those settings are fully vaccinated, we would be taking a proportionate step to help to make those settings safer for everyone attending and, by extension, for all of us.

As I said, I fervently hope—vaccine certification aside—that we will not have to impose any further legal restrictions. Of course, that depends on all of us making a concerted effort now, through our own behaviours, to stem transmission. We know that we cannot let cases continue to rise at the pace of recent weeks. We must slow down the pace. That is important for all of us as individuals, but especially for those who are most vulnerable to Covid.

We know that many of the people who are at highest risk, including many of those who were advised to shield at the start of the pandemic, are particularly anxious about the current situation. They worry that if they go out of their homes, especially with the number of cases being so high, they could be put at risk by people not wearing face coverings, not washing their hands or not trying to keep a safe distance. That should be a reminder for us all. When we take basic precautions, we are not simply protecting ourselves—although we are doing that, and it is important—we are making life easier and safer and helping to reduce anxiety for many others, too.

I will close by once again stressing the actions that each and every one of us needs to take in order to do that and to help to get cases down without further restrictions. First, as I stressed earlier, if you are eligible and have not yet done so, please get vaccinated. That remains the single most important thing that we can all do to keep everybody safe. There are drop-in vaccination centres in every mainland health board area. If you have not been vaccinated yet, or if you had your first dose eight or more weeks ago and have not had a second dose, you can just turn up at your nearest centre and get the jag.

Secondly, please test yourself regularly with lateral flow devices. If you do that and if you have the virus but do not have symptoms, you still have a chance of finding that out before inadvertently passing on the virus to others. You can get free lateral flow tests through the NHS Inform website. They will be sent to you in the post or you can collect them from local pharmacies or test sites.

If you test positive through a lateral flow device or if you have symptoms of the virus, make sure that you self-isolate and book a PCR—polymerase chain reaction—test. If you are a contact of someone who has tested positive, you might also be told to self-isolate pending a PCR test, as I was at the start of the week. In any of those situations, please make sure that you self-isolate. That remains a really important way in which we can all slow down the spread of the virus.

Thirdly and finally, please follow all the guidance that is still in place. Please remember that it is still a legal requirement to wear face coverings in indoor public places such as shops, on public transport and when entering and moving about in hospitality settings. That is a simple but important way in which we can all protect one another.

More generally, please meet outdoors as much as possible. I know that that gets harder as the weather moves into autumn. If you are indoors, open the windows—good ventilation makes a big difference—and avoid crowded places. Indeed, for the next couple of weeks, perhaps all of us should think carefully about the number of contacts that we are having and, perhaps, reduce the number of those that are unnecessary. Even though it is not the law any more, keep a safe distance from people in other households if you can, especially indoors. Minimise direct physical contact such as handshaking, and keep washing your hands and surfaces thoroughly.

Having to take those steps is frustrating for us and for people across the world, but it really does make a difference—we know that from experience. It helps to limit the spread of the virus, and we must do that. We must do it to keep ourselves and our loved ones safer, and to help to ensure that we can avoid the need for any further restrictions.

The next few days are crucial. The Government is doing everything it can, and will continue to do so, but as has been the case throughout, we need your help, too. So, please, get vaccinated, get tested and tighten up again on following all the rules and guidelines. I again thank everyone across the country who is doing that.

The Presiding Officer

The First Minister will now take questions on the issues that were raised in her statement. I intend to allow around 40 minutes for questions, after which we will move on to the next item of business.

Douglas Ross (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

Covid rates are very high, which is a reminder that the virus has not gone away. We have to learn to live with Covid-19—[

Inaudible

.]—a better place because of the success of the vaccination programme across the country.

We have to focus on the vaccine and on test and protect, because we cannot force more restrictions on the people of Scotland. We know that that would risk their mental health and result in job losses.

Appearing before a Scottish Parliament committee this morning, Barry McCulloch from the Federation of Small Businesses said that many small business owners are naturally concerned about the prospect of further restrictions and lockdowns, and that businesses are in survival mode. He is right. We need the Scottish Government to listen to our businesses and respond to their concerns.

Our NHS is also nearing breaking point. People cannot see their general practitioner in person, they are waiting hours on end for ambulances and they are being told to stay away from accident and emergency departments. Even if they get in, they are facing horrendously long waits. Let us be clear. Covid is not overwhelming our NHS, as the First Minister said in her statement; her health secretary’s failures are overwhelming the NHS. He has shown poor leadership and inaction, causing delays that have overwhelmed the health service.

The First Minister has just announced her plans to introduce vaccine certification when, just a month ago, John Swinney, her Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery, said that that was the wrong way to handle the situation. What has changed between John Swinney saying what he said last month and what the First Minister said in her announcement today? When will the Scottish Government provide businesses with specific guidance on how to manage the scheme? Will they be expected to police it? If so, will the Government provide them with further support? [

Interruption

.]

Finally, I note that the First Minister said that she will not introduce vaccine certification to hospitality venues at the moment but will keep it under review. Will she ensure that there is meaningful dialogue with the hospitality sector during that period and that she listens to its concerns? If she believes that vaccine certification is required in hospitality venues, will that require a vote in Parliament and parliamentary approval?

The Presiding Officer

I hope that the First Minister was able to catch the questions.

The First Minister

I did hear the questions. I am not sure what the noise in the background was, but I am sure that it was understandable.

I will try to take the questions in turn. It is important for us all to focus on the detail and the complexities of the situation. We are 18 months in and we are still not in a normal political situation in which who said what, when and whether a politician is still saying the same thing that they said a few weeks ago is as relevant as it is in other times. We are all trying to assess the evidence, learn as we go and make sure that we consider carefully all the pros and cons of every decision. I hope that all politicians will continue to do what most have done throughout the pandemic and engage with that in detail and in substance.

Nobody wants to impose greater restrictions. I absolutely understand the concerns of businesses and individuals that the virus might increase at a pace and in a way that would make them unavoidable, but I do not want that to happen. Nobody wants that to happen. Equally, I do not want people to die avoidably from Covid, and I do not want to see more people becoming seriously ill. I also do not want the pressure on our health service to build such that people who have other conditions cannot be treated timeously. It would be an irresponsible politician who ruled anything out in the face of an infectious, mutating virus, and I am not going to do that.

We all have a part to play here. The Parliament is the collective leadership of Scotland, and we all have to come together to persuade people of what we need to do to avoid further restrictions. Instead of going on about how terrible restrictions would be—we all agree with that—let us focus on saying to people, “Here is what will help us to avoid that.” That is what I tried to set out in my statement today, and I hope that we will all get behind those essential public health measures.

We have been considering the issue of vaccine certification very carefully, as members and those people who watched the two virtual meetings of Parliament over the summer will have heard me say. We have not ruled it out—we have been very clear about that—but we have made sure that we have considered carefully some of the ethical and equity issues and the practical issues that are involved. We have now come to a point where we think that a limited and careful use of vaccine certification can have a role to play.

However, given the significance of the use of vaccine certification, as I said in my statement, I think that it is right that Parliament votes on it and authorises it. If we were to decide to extend its use to other settings, I think that it would be equally important that Parliament had the ability to authorise that. I will therefore set out the details of that, and of what we will ask Parliament to vote on, more fully next week.

We are far from alone—we see this across the UK and much of the rest of the world—in being in a situation in which the delta variant has significantly changed the game. It is a different variant of the same virus, but in many respects, because of its greater transmissibility, it feels like a different virus. We must respond to that properly. As was the case with earlier strains of the virus, the same basic mitigations can help to slow it down. That is why we must continue to get those messages across and to ask people to continue to do all the important things, including getting vaccinated.

Anas Sarwar (Labour, Glasgow)

I offer my condolences to all those people who have lost a loved one. The nine deaths in the past 24 hours are a tragic reminder that lives are still at risk and are still being lost as a result of the virus. I again thank Scotland’s heroic workforce, not least our national health service and care workers, who continue to work under immense pressure.

It is clear that the virus is out of control. Case numbers are soaring and have reached record levels this week; hospitalisations continue to climb; thousands of Scots are self-isolating; and there is widespread confusion about the quarantine and testing requirements. PCR test kits are running out in some areas, and contact tracing is being carried out only in less than half of cases. Test and protect is clearly not fulfilling its function. The First Minister is right to say that we can never rule out restrictions, but the tools that the Government is responsible for are clearly not working. Restrictions cannot be a fallback for Government failure.

I look forward to seeing the proposals on vaccine certification next week. What direct engagement has there been with the sectors that are involved in order to make sure that they are part of the processes and procedures that will follow from the decisions that are taken on certification?

On the vaccination programme, I welcome the mobile clinics on university and college campuses, but can we go further and have them in schools, so that we can target 16 and 17-year-olds, at large workplaces and at large events?

We need to start planning for winter now. What specific planning is being done for the winter pressures that will arise not just because of Covid, but because of flu and the wider pressures on the NHS? When will the booster programme begin? What plans are in place to ensure that the roll-out of the flu vaccine and the booster vaccine can happen simultaneously?

The Government’s strategy—if there is one—and the tools are not working, and the virus is clearly out of control. What is the strategy? Is it virus suppression, virus elimination or herd immunity? At the moment, we are achieving none of those.

The First Minister

Anas Sarwar should know the answer to that last question, because it was set out in our revised strategic update. I announced it to Parliament and he asked me questions about it at the time. Our strategic objective is to reduce the virus and keep it at levels that are sufficient to reduce the harms from the virus. If that was not known to Anas Sarwar, I gently suggest that it should have been. [

Interruption

.]

Anas Sarwar says that our strategy is not working. Every country is grappling with a highly transmissible strain of the virus. We had a spike in cases in early July, when our case levels were the highest in the UK. We then had a period throughout the rest of July and much of August when we had the lowest case levels in the UK. Our schools have gone back ahead of those in other parts of the UK, so we are again seeing a rise. The situation that we are grappling with is not different from the one that most other parts of the world are grappling with.

Anas Sarwar is wrong. I also take issue with his point about winter planning in the NHS. If he is saying to me that we should be starting winter planning now, I could not disagree with that more strongly. We started winter planning a long time ago. If we were starting it only now, that would be seriously remiss of us. Last week, we set out the NHS recovery plan, which is integral not just to the medium to longer-term recovery of the NHS, but to ensuring that the NHS is equipped to deal with the variety of pressures that it will face in the winter.

Test and protect is working, and it is working extremely well. PCR test kits come via the UK Government and they have been received. There have been some pressures on them in recent weeks, but those pressures have been met by new supplies arriving. Most people are getting their PCR test result within 24 hours. Test and protect is working well and contact tracing is being targeted on the highest risk areas first. That system will always be under pressure when case numbers are high, but it is working well and I am deeply grateful to those across the system who are putting in so much effort to make sure that it is working well.

On the booster campaign—again, I have said this so many times directly to Anas Sarwar and others—we await the JCVI recommendation. If we did not take the JCVI recommendations on this, we would simply be taking decisions that many people would rightly turn around and tell us did not have the right evidential base. However, we are ready to get the booster campaign under way as soon as the JCVI gives its final recommendation. We have interim recommendations, which have been the planning basis for that.

People can hear—and will have heard before—that I am frustrated that we have not yet got updated advice on 12 to 15-year-olds. I hope that, like many other countries, we can start to vaccinate in that age group soon and that the JCVI soon feels able to say that the evidence allows it to recommend that. Again, we stand ready to do that as quickly as we are able to.

We are looking at different ways to reach 16 and 17-year-olds. Some health boards are already looking at taking vaccination directly into schools, and that process will continue. We will continue to do all those things.

However, to come back to the central point, this is an infectious virus that has got a lot more infectious. All of us need to make sure that we are playing our part, and as politicians and leaders of the country, all of us need to play our part in getting those messages across. The Government will continue to lead by example in doing that.

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Liberal Democrat, Edinburgh Western)

The First Minister will understand the real concerns of Liberal Democrats and others about the introduction of what some have described as medical identification cards. The Government has, in effect, moved to a position whereby people will be compelled both to receive medical treatment and to provide their personal data in order to access certain freedoms. That is an illiberal step.

Other information technology systems, particularly around test and protect, have proved insufficient to the challenge of big data in a Covid context. Does the First Minister have faith in the IT systems that will back this up, considering that systems are creaking everywhere else? Will she tell Parliament whether this measure will be time bound or here to stay, if we have to live with Covid? Does she understand the very real concerns of those who are worried about the impact on civil liberties?

The First Minister

Anybody who has heard me talk about vaccine certification will know that I understand the concerns and share some of them. This is not a move that any Government should take lightly. However, frankly, I am also deeply concerned and have been for 18 months—as I know that everybody has been—about the harm that Covid does. We therefore need to consider every possible tool at our disposal that helps us to protect people from the harm of Covid. Increasingly, after so long, we particularly have to consider any tools that can help us to reduce the harm of Covid without needing to impose wider and more blanket restrictions on people’s way of life. Using vaccine certification in a very limited way can help us to do that.

The kinds of venue that I have spoken about—large-scale events, night clubs and adult entertainment venues—are important to our economy and to many people’s cultural life. I am not underplaying the importance of night clubs to young people, for example. However, they are venues in which, despite the best efforts of those who run them, the conditions make it more likely that the virus will spread. Taking the proportionate step of asking people to make sure that they are fully vaccinated to protect themselves and others would therefore be an appropriate thing to do.

The IT systems that are supporting our efforts on Covid are not “creaking”. Everybody is under pressure from Covid, but all the systems and back-up arrangements for anything like this have to be robust. That is why we have taken such a careful approach, and it is why we are taking time, for example, to finalise and launch the app that will support some of this, which will happen later this month.

These things are really important. I think that they have a part to play, but I also think that it is important that Parliament gives its authorisation.

On the longevity of all of this, I do not think that it is either possible or sensible to be definitive about that right now. This is a global pandemic, which we are still in. For as long as any measure can help us to reduce the harm that Covid does, we should consider having it in place.

John Mason (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Shettleston)

Can the First Minister say anything about the Government’s thinking on face coverings, moving forward? I am thinking particularly about schools—there was a suggestion that face coverings would be used in them for a limited period—places of worship and perhaps sports stadia, where people are sitting outside.

The First Minister

Face coverings play a really important part in helping to stop the spread of the virus. We will regularly review requirements to wear face coverings, and any reviews will take account of a range of factors such as the impact on transmission as well as social and economic considerations.

Face coverings continue to be worn by staff in all school communal areas and by staff and pupils in secondary school classrooms. In indoor areas of sports stadiums, such as stairwells, toilets and concourses, the wearing of masks also remains mandatory. We continue to meet stakeholders across all sectors to discuss guidance on face coverings. We know, for example, that the issue is particularly important for faith communities.

Face coverings are a measure that, like any measure, should not be kept in place for longer than we deem it necessary. For as long as it is necessary, however, I think that most people—I appreciate that it is not everybody—consider that it is a reasonably small price to pay to help keep themselves and others safe and, we hope, avoid the need for greater and more stringent restrictions.

Murdo Fraser (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)

On vaccine certification, we know that there are still adults who have difficulty in accessing vaccinations for a variety of reasons. Indeed, as of today, 17 per cent of over-18s in Scotland have not been doubly vaccinated. Given that backdrop, would the Scottish Government consider allowing evidence of a negative Covid test as an alternative to vaccine certification as a means of entry to the venues that the First Minister has outlined?

The First Minister

I will come to that point directly in a moment. On the point about some people finding it difficult to get to vaccinated—I mean this quite generally; I am not making a political point—there are some people who cannot get vaccinated because of a health condition or age, and it is important that any vaccine certification scheme takes account of that, but I would seriously question whether anyone who is eligible has difficulty in getting vaccinated that prevents them from doing it right now. There may be some, in which case we will work to overcome that, but there are drop-in centres in every part of mainland Scotland and people have been offered appointments. I would say to people that, if you are eligible to get vaccinated, there is no reason not to do so. If there is some reason that I am not aware of, get in touch with NHS Inform or your local health board, and I am sure that a way will be found to overcome that.

It is really important that all of us get that message across. If you are eligible, there is no reason why you cannot or should not be getting the vaccine right now.

My segue into the next part of the question is that I do not think that we should say that we will allow a negative Covid test to effectively let people off the hook of getting vaccinated, if they are eligible. Vaccination is really important to keep the country safe. We are not proposing that we would do this initially, but in the longer term there is an argument for considering whether we would add a negative test to the certification. If someone was unable to get vaccinated, instead of a straightforward exemption, a negative test might be an alternative. We are not proposing to introduce that initially, but it is one of the things that we will keep under consideration.

Bob Doris (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn)

Constituents of mine have had issues with accessing local services such as cafes and restaurants when visiting France, as Scotland’s paper Covid vaccination certification is not accepted. Only a valid QR code, as recognised by France’s pass sanitaire system, is permitted, so I welcome this afternoon’s announcement.

The UK Government has issues with the European Commission regarding having the UK certification and QR code accepted across Europe, although I note that some countries, including France, are the exceptions to that. Is the Scottish Government confident that, once we roll out the QR code system here in Scotland, it will be accepted internationally? Have representations been made to European countries and the European Commission to make sure that it will be accepted for Scots who are visiting Europe?

The First Minister

Yes. That is an important question. We have been engaging actively with the Commission to ensure that our app meets the required standards. The Scottish Government is part of the UK Government’s application to join the EU’s e-health gateway scheme, along with the other devolved nations. We have already successfully tested our QR codes with Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Ireland and Northern Ireland, and we continue to expand the list of countries that we have tested ahead of the release of the QR code on Friday.

More generally, it is the role of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to liaise with international countries on behalf of the UK. The Scottish Government has been working closely with the FCDO and Border Force to ensure that its Covid status solutions are recognised and accepted world wide.

Work is on-going, and I absolutely recognise the importance of making sure that all of that is done to a satisfactory standard.

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

For months, members across the Parliament have raised concerns about test and protect being overwhelmed and underresourced.

Today’s contact tracing figures from Public Health Scotland expose the difficulties at the heart of test and protect. In the past week, only 43 per cent of cases have been completed and the average number of primary contacts has dropped to an all-time low of 1.5. No wonder the virus is spreading.

As the First Minister just said, the focus is on highest-risk cases, which means that it is only on people who have tested positive. The testing of close contacts appears to have been all but abandoned. The First Minister understands the importance of test and protect in controlling the virus, so will she provide it with the necessary resources to properly track down and contain Covid-19?

The First Minister

Test and protect is properly resourced. We continue to keep its resourcing under review and we continue to work with it to ensure that it can meet the demands on it. The demands will always be higher when cases are higher.

We often get the sense from the Opposition’s questions that the virus is circulating only in Scotland, but countries across the world are grappling with Delta.

On contact tracing through test and protect, I know from my experience this week that close contacts are being asked to get tested, and I know many other people who are in that position. People should put a lot of faith in test and protect.

People should also remember that, as I have said repeatedly throughout the pandemic, test and protect is not our first line of defence: we are our first line of defence. We must all behave in a way that tries to limit transmission. That is the key message that we all have a duty to communicate to people right now.

Christine Grahame (Scottish National Party, Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale)

I noted what the First Minister said about the JCVI in her reply to Anas Sarwar, but can she share with the Parliament her preferred timetable for booster vaccines for the very vulnerable, the elderly, and health and care workers, for example, which must surely alleviate pressure on the NHS and reduce deaths?

The First Minister

I am tempted to say that, assuming that the evidence is that it is safe to do it, I want to get that done as quickly as possible—that is certainly true in relation to vaccinations for 12 to 15-year-olds; as soon as we get a recommendation, which I hope will be soon, we want to get on with that.

I am tempted to say the same for a booster campaign. However, one of the issues that the JCVI is looking at is the optimal interval between someone’s first dose and a booster dose, so although the temptation for people like me is to get on with a campaign as soon as possible, if we would reduce a booster’s effectiveness by doing that now, as opposed to in a month’s time, that is a material consideration. That is why we need to wait on the final recommendation.

The important thing for us right now is that we are ready to go as soon as the JCVI says that that is appropriate. Some other countries are starting to schedule booster vaccines—I think that Israel is the earliest country to do that; it was also quite early with the original vaccination programme. As soon as the evidence tells us that it is right to do, we are ready to get on with it.

Marie McNair (Scottish National Party, Clydebank and Milngavie)

I am sure that the First Minister shares my concern about the high level of positive Covid-19 cases across East and West Dunbartonshire. Will she say what additional measures are being taken to tackle that worrying trend and address the challenges in areas with the highest prevalence of cases?

The First Minister

I have indicated our intentions, subject to parliamentary approval, on vaccine certification. Notwithstanding that, the current systems that are in place for outbreak management will continue. We continue to maintain

daily watch lists, which provide information on trends to inform us about the status of the virus across the country.

In relation to the areas that the member asked about, we have provided NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde with more than £11 million of funding as part of the targeted community testing programme. That is supported by the mobile testing fleet that the Scottish Ambulance Service runs, and we provided the Ambulance Service with additional funding, to increase its capacity. A range of things are being done to support the local response appropriately, and it will be important that that continues throughout this challenging phase.

Annie Wells (Conservative, Glasgow)

The news that eight health boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, are in the top 20 Covid hotspots across Europe is concerning. Although we are all thankful that the vaccination programme has been an incredible Scottish and UK success story, it has been revealed that just four in 10 people who downloaded the app are still using it. Given the latest World Health Organization statistics on the prevalence of the virus in Scotland, does the First Minister agree that those test and protect figures are unacceptable? If so, what further measures is her Government taking to promote the app’s use at every turn?

The First Minister

The app is an important part of test and protect, but it has never been the whole part of it. I take every opportunity to remind people to download the app, use it and ensure that it is turned on so that it can provide the support that we want it to. I hope that every member across the chamber will do that, too, and take the opportunity to remind our constituents of that.

We also have to remind people to do all the other basic things: wear face coverings, wash hands, keep a safe distance, even though that is not the law, and ventilate rooms. Based on previous experience to a large extent, I believe that, if we do all those things, we can turn the corner and start to see case numbers level off and come down. Again, we know from experience that that will not happen by itself; it will happen only when we do the things that stem transmission.

The Government takes the lead in having responsibility for doing all the things that we have to do and for persuading the public to do likewise. However, as the collective leadership of the country, all of us across the chamber have a role in ensuring that we get such messages across.

Neil Gray (Scottish National Party, Airdrie and Shotts)

I thank the First Minister for her statement. Some of my constituents who are due to go to university are getting mixed experiences and expectations in relation to whether they will get face-to-face teaching. Will the First Minister clarify whether face-to-face teaching can take place? What are her expectations for how universities communicate that to their students?

Given the concerningly high case numbers in Lanarkshire, what support is being provided to NHS Lanarkshire at this extremely testing time?

The First Minister

We continue to work closely with universities and colleges on preparing and publishing guidance for the new academic term. That work has been informed by expert advice that the Covid-19 advisory sub-group on universities and colleges has provided.

I can confirm that in-person learning can take place. However, we understand that most universities and colleges will operate a blended learning approach, which will involve some learning continuing to be online at least for the start of the academic year, and I support that. I expect institutions to clearly communicate that to students, because that is their responsibility and there will not be an entirely consistent picture across different courses, given their nature.

In relation to NHS Lanarkshire, we continue to liaise with and provide support to all NHS boards to help them to cope, both in a public heath sense in terms of local outbreak management and through the NHS recovery plan and the winter planning that is already under way. NHS Lanarkshire receives support as part of that.

Gillian Mackay (Green, Central Scotland)

I have some concerns about how the introduction of vaccine certification could affect disabled people, those with underlying health conditions and those from the global south who might not be able to access proof of vaccination from the countries in which they were vaccinated. How will the Scottish Government ensure that the introduction of vaccine certification will not negatively impact those whom I have already mentioned and those who are most at risk from the virus?

Will the Scottish Government write to the UK Government to ask for an extension of the furlough scheme to be available, should Scotland need it?

The First Minister

On the latter point, we will continue to argue for the extension of the furlough scheme. I thought that we had reached an agreement earlier in the pandemic that financial support that must come through the UK Government because we do not have borrowing powers would flex, depending on the public health situation in each of the four nations. I hope that that agreement will be respected.

That said, I should underline the point that I made earlier: I do not want to be in the position of imposing any restrictions if we can at all avoid it. Therefore, I hope that that is a hypothetical point but, nevertheless, it is an important one that we should understand.

The points about vaccine certification are well made. I have made some of them myself as we develop the proposals further before bringing them to Parliament. For example, I have indicated today that we are already envisaging exemptions for some people who cannot get vaccinated. There are issues with people who have been vaccinated in other countries and how we recognise that here. Of course, some of the work that is being done on international travel and recognition of vaccination will have a part to play in that.

We will set out more detail when we bring those proposals to Parliament for debate next week, but I encourage any member who has practical or detailed questions right now to send those to us and we will try to make sure that we address them all as we develop the proposals.

Gillian Martin (Scottish National Party, Aberdeenshire East)

In a similar vein, I have a question about certification decisions. We had an update that the QR code will be launched on Friday; I assume that that is an interim arrangement and that an app will be launched. A QR code might be open to abuse by being shared among people who might not be vaccinated. Can the First Minister provide any more detail about when the app might be launched and how it might work?

The First Minister

Gillian Martin is absolutely right: the QR code that I spoke about that goes live on Friday is not a substitute for the app. The app is currently under testing; it is important that we test it properly. It is scheduled to be released on 30 September. It has been designed to meet European Union standards for international travel, which I referred to earlier, and it will provide access to individuals’ vaccination records that are held by NHS Scotland. The app will be released later in September after all the robust testing that is required; the QR code is an interim measure until that happens.

Sandesh Gulhane (Conservative, Glasgow)

A recent Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland survey shows rising levels of stress among key medical and dental staff. With the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care attacking general practitioners and causing my colleagues a lot of distress, and Covid pushing my NHS colleagues to the brink through exhaustion, is it any wonder that the survey shows that 50 per cent of GPs and 70 per cent of dentists are likely to leave their profession, which would push our NHS deeper into crisis? How will the First Minister ensure that my colleagues do not leave? It would be an unmitigated disaster if they did.

I refer to my entry in the register of members’ interests as a practising doctor and member of the MDDUS.

The First Minister

No member of the Scottish Government, including the health secretary, has attacked GPs. It is, to be frank, disgraceful to suggest otherwise.

When I launched the NHS recovery plan at the Golden Jubilee national hospital in Clydebank last week, I made the point that GPs have been working extremely hard throughout the pandemic. At the start of the pandemic, I visited a general practice to launch the roll-out of the Near Me service, so even though face-to-face consultations have, understandably, been restricted, GPs have been seeing patients online and in other ways, including home visits.

To say that we do not want to move away from the virtual arrangements that have worked well during the pandemic and get back to a more face-to-face approach in primary care is not attacking GPs. It is incumbent on us all not to engage in such suggestions.

The point about the stress, anxiety and exhaustion of many members of the NHS workforce, though, is very well made and is one that we recognise. That is why a significant part of the NHS recovery plan talks about the support that is being put in place for the mental and physical health and wellbeing of NHS staff.

In our discussions, we often talk about hospitals and health centres—the bricks and mortar of the NHS—but the NHS is nothing without the dedicated people who work in it, so it is vital that we support them. That is one of the reasons why I am proud—much as I would love us to be able to go further—that we have this year given agenda for change staff in the NHS the highest pay rise in any part of the UK.

Rona Mackay (Scottish National Party, Strathkelvin and Bearsden)

The United Kingdom Obstetrics Surveillance System published research last month that showed that the number of pregnant women being admitted to hospital with Covid-19 across the UK is increasing, with many experiencing acute symptoms. What message does the First Minister have for pregnant women who are unsure about getting the vaccine?

The First Minister

Pregnant women should come forward for vaccination. I recognise that there have been concerns, but many people working in midwifery and obstetrics, for example, have also said that pregnant women should come forward. It is safe to do so; in fact, the risks from not being vaccinated outweigh any risks from vaccination.

Vaccination uptake levels are high, which is obviously a good thing, but we know that anyone who is not vaccinated right now poses a greater risk to themselves and creates vulnerability in the population as a whole, so we want everybody who is not yet vaccinated to come forward. We will be making particular efforts with the under-40s group in the days to come. Again, I appeal to all members to ensure that they communicate the message clearly to the people in their constituencies whom they serve.

Colin Smyth (Labour, South Scotland)

The Government has, in effect, ended test and protect in our schools. It is necessary for a student to have a negative PCR test before returning to school when their close contact with someone who has tested positive takes place in a school setting, rather than, for example, during an overnight stay, and they are not displaying symptoms. What assessment has been made of the extent to which that change in policy is contributing to the current rise in the number of cases, including in transfer between school and home?

The Educational Institute of Scotland has called for a reversal of that policy. However, given reports that people are having to travel some distance to get a PCR test, and given the delays in test and protect following up close contacts, would we have the test-and-trace capacity even if the policy was reversed?

The First Minister

Yes. Anybody can see from the data for the past few days that although we have had record numbers of cases being reported, we have also had record levels of testing. We have testing capacity through test and protect. I will continue to defend the people who work in test and protect, because they are doing a great job. We will continue to support them with the resourcing and capacity that they need.

It is not true, and not helpful, to say that the test and protect approach has been abandoned in schools. What we did, as we set out to Parliament, was modify the approach. We knew that, in the previous term, many young people were being asked to isolate and were therefore missing out on education when they probably did not have to do so. We are now taking a more risk-based approach, which is kept under constant review.

As with anything, if we feel that we need to go backwards—we do not want to do it—and put in place greater protections, that will be done. We are also taking a number of other steps to ensure that school settings reduce the risk of transmission. Ventilation and CO2

monitoring are key parts of that.

Stuart McMillan (Scottish National Party, Greenock and Inverclyde)

Reports have been circulating about a shortage of testing kits in the walk-in PCR testing centre in Greenock, in addition to people being sent elsewhere for PCR tests. Can the First Minister provide an assurance that the facilities and kit at the centres will be replenished to help the people of Greenock and Inverclyde?

The First Minister

I alluded to that earlier. I am aware that last week some people experienced difficulties in accessing tests due to a shortage of kits. The UK Government supplies the test kits, and the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care has raised the issue with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. Nevertheless, as there have been those pressures, we have been getting new supplies to ensure that testing kits continue to be available.

As we do on all aspects of testing, we continue to liaise closely. At an earlier stage of the pandemic, there were pressures on Lighthouse laboratory capacity. We worked collaboratively to resolve those; that will be the case in this situation, as well. It is vital that PCR testing is available for those who need it, as long as we are in a situation in which there are rising or high levels of cases. I know that the Greenock site was fully booked earlier last week, so we will continue to work to ensure that capacity exists there.

As I think I said earlier, most people get their PCR test results back relatively quickly. That is important, especially now that the rules on self-isolation for close contacts have changed.

Jenni Minto (Scottish National Party, Argyll and Bute)

My question follows on from Stuart McMillan’s question. What action is the Scottish Government taking to increase Covid-19 testing capacity in Argyll and Bute?

The First Minister

I thank Jenni Minto for that important question. For people with symptoms, we have extended PCR home test kit coverage and the 119 courier collection service to the islands of Bute and Mull. Local partners have the option of extending provision further, if that is required.

There is also a walk-through local test site and there are a number of mobile testing unit deployments and 10 small-scale test sites across Argyll and Bute. People with symptoms can book a test at those sites or order a home test kit through NHS Inform. People who do not have symptoms can access lateral flow tests by ordering them online, getting them from a community pharmacy or going to a community test site. Local residents can find the site locations and opening hours on their local authority website.

15:54 Meeting suspended.

15:56 On resuming—

Food and Drink

Annabelle Ewing (Scottish National Party, Cowdenbeath)

The ne

x

t item of business is a debate on motion S6M-00990, in the name of Mairi Gougeon, on supporting success in food and drink in Scotland.

Mairi Gougeon (Scottish National Party, Angus North and Mearns)

I am delighted to bring the debate to the Parliament, enabling all MSPs the opportunity to show their support for food and drink in Scotland, just ahead of food and drink fortnight. The pandemic has taught us a lot about what really matters. We realise that being able to go to the shops and buy whatever we need is a privilege not to be taken for granted. We have learned that sitting down to eat as a family or household provides nourishment that is also social and emotional.

Today I want to celebrate the contribution of the food and drink sector to Scottish life, not only in feeding us but in providing opportunity and employment, protecting and enhancing the environment and helping to define who we are as a nation.

Our producers, farmers and fishermen showed tremendous resilience as they navigated the pandemic, and they now face the stark realities of a new operating landscape brought about by a reckless Brexit deal. The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the sector to recover and to pursuing our goal of Scotland being a good food nation. Creating this good food nation will bring us many benefits. We aim to achieve a decline in dietary-related diseases and a healthier population.

Rachael Hamilton (Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)

Is the Government able to achieve its manifesto ambition to cut childhood obesity by 2030?

Mairi Gougeon (Scottish National Party, Angus North and Mearns)

The member will be aware that the work to tackle those issues is on-going.

We are aware of the need to consider the environmental impacts of our food consumption and production. A good food nation should be a more sustainable food nation. Scotland already has a reputation for producing world-class quality food. Our aim is to build on that reputation and secure our future as a destination of choice for those who value quality local food and a place to which other countries turn in order to learn how to become a good food nation.

Willie Rennie (Liberal Democrat, North East Fife)

Does the minister understand the farming community’s frustration that we still do not have a future farm policy in place? It will be the driver for our cuts to agricultural emissions, but it does not look as though we will have a policy in place for another two years. Do we not need a bit more urgency?

Mairi Gougeon (Scottish National Party, Angus North and Mearns)

There absolutely is urgency. That is why we established the agriculture reform implementation oversight board just last week, and it will be driving forward the recommendations of the established farmer-led groups. We recognise the urgency, and we want to drive and deliver that change.

We have seen the stresses and strains that Brexit and Covid-19 have placed on our food system, so it is more important than ever that our food policies ensure that we are more resilient, and that people in Scotland can access affordable, healthy food that is locally produced, sourced and available. We are working to make that ambition a reality through a wide-ranging programme of measures on food and diet across the five key areas of health, social justice, knowledge, environmental sustainability and prosperity. The next step is to introduce a good food nation bill that will provide the statutory framework needed to support the development of our future food policy to benefit the wellbeing and health of people in Scotland.

Many have called for the right to food to be included in that bill, but the right to food is best considered as part of a single, coherent package of legislative proposals via the human rights bill, which will set out for the first time and in one place the wide range of internationally recognised human rights belonging to everyone in Scotland. That will include a right to adequate food as an essential part of the overall right to an adequate standard of living, as reflected in our shared policy programme with the Scottish Green Party. [

Interruption

.] I will not take an intervention at the moment; I need to make progress.

I know that many were disappointed when we had to shelve plans for the good food nation bill in the previous parliamentary session due to the pandemic, but I assure members that we intend to introduce that bill early in this session.

Ambition and policy on food is no use without an industry, however, and I do not need to tell members that, as one of our largest employers, our food and drink industry is both economically and culturally vital to Scotland, sustaining jobs in some of our most fragile and rural communities. It is also one of the sectors most adversely affected by Brexit, which is threatening jobs and businesses all around the country, undermining the sector’s ambition to double turnover to £30 billion by the year 2030. That is why a key priority last year was to put in place a recovery plan for the sector, the first sectoral recovery plan of its type. Working closely with the food and drink partnership, particularly the industry body Scotland Food & Drink, we have collectively committed £10 million in support so far.

Finlay Carson (Conservative, Galloway and West Dumfries)

The United Kingdom Government offered extended powers in the Agriculture Bill to enable devolved Administrations to develop their own subsidy system. Wales and Northern Ireland took up the offer, but the SNP Government did not. Can the cabinet secretary explain why the SNP Government is snubbing the offer for extended powers through the UK Government’s post-Brexit agriculture policy?

Mairi Gougeon (Scottish National Party, Angus North and Mearns)

That is absolute nonsense when it is the UK Government that is decimating the food and drink industry in Scotland right now.

There is no doubt that some sectors suffered due to the pandemic, particularly those dependent on a vibrant export market or those affected by outbreaks. However, the effects of Covid have only added to the severe and significant impacts of Brexit. Put simply, the Tories could not have designed a worse Brexit deal and all that we warned of is now coming to pass. I know that some would like us all to pretend that Brexit is done and dusted, but that will not wash. They know, we know and, indeed, our hard-pressed food and drink businesses know that worse is to come. With further custom and border checks still due to be implemented—some starting this autumn and others in January 2022—the full impact of Brexit is still to be realised.

To add insult to injury, the much-lauded trade deals being secured in an attempt to replace the reported £18 billion being lost across the entirety of trade as a result of being ripped out of the single market are nothing but a damp squib. What have we got to show for the UK-Australia future trade agreement? [

Interruption

.] I will not take an intervention at the moment.

The same as we had before, only now Australia gets to bring more of its food products into our markets, competing tariff free with our own producers of quality red meat in particular. Previous UK Government modelling suggested that the agriculture and semi-processed foods sectors would lose out from an Australia trade deal, so we have every right to be nervous about the impact of that trade deal, which frankly is only the start. We were not involved in the negotiations that resulted in the agreement and we are not involved in the negotiations that are still going on, despite the impact that the deal will have on devolved responsibilities.

Daily, we hear of new and emerging challenges: shortages of heavy goods vehicle drivers and workers in processing and manufacturing, as well as associated skills shortages across the industry. Labour and skills shortages like those lay bare the extraordinary recklessness of this hard Brexit.

Jamie Halcro Johnston (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

The cabinet secretary raised the issue of HGV drivers. Obviously, there is a shortage of those across Europe and supply chains have struggled on that basis. However, one of the other issues facing communities like mine in the Highlands and Islands is the lack of local infrastructure, such as the ferries, for being able to get produce off the islands. We called for a minister to come and give a statement on ferries. Will the cabinet secretary, as the cabinet secretary for the islands, give her backing to one of her colleagues coming here to give us a statement on when our island communities can expect reliable ferry links?

Mairi Gougeon (Scottish National Party, Angus North and Mearns)

It is convenient for the member to gloss over the issue of HGV drivers, when we know—from the letters and briefings that we have seen from industries—that migration is one of the key issues, which the Tory amendment completely ignores. [

Interruption

.] No, I have already taken an intervention.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Can we have less noise from sedentary positions, please?

Mairi Gougeon (Scottish National Party, Angus North and Mearns)

Thank you, Presiding Officer.

We should not forget that, as businesses faced Brexit border disruptions and barriers to trade, which cost UK food exporters £700 million in January alone, the UK Government dismissed industry concerns as “teething” troubles. Those teething troubles are now a chronic problem. Only last week, organisations from the Scottish food and drink industry issued a joint letter, which called for immediate action from the UK Government to solve the growing labour crisis, and NFU Scotland echoed that call in its own letter to the UK Government. I have also written to the UK Government to reinforce that strong messaging from industry, but I feel that it will fall on deaf ears, as all other pleas have.

Scottish seafood is exported to more than 100 countries and brings £1 billion a year to the Scottish economy. Brexit has caused real problems in maintaining workforce in the seafood sector. We continue to press the UK Government to put in place a workable immigration policy that permits European Union workers to enter the sector and supports workers under our fair work agreement. [

Interruption

.]

No, I will not take an intervention.

We fully support the fishing sector in calling on the UK Government to explain how the Brexit deal that it struck is positive for the Scottish seafood community. That sector has been let down in quota negotiations, was hit with the immediate effects of new border controls and now faces supply chain issues with labour shortages. What UK ministers described as teething troubles are, in reality, new and permanent trade barriers. [

Interruption

.] I will not take an intervention.

Those barriers have caused long-term damage to the competitiveness of our seafood sector and might be the death knell for some of our exporters and fishing boats.

To address the longer term impact of Brexit, we are developing a new strategy for seafood, to help the sector find new markets, adapt and thrive, and that includes doing so here at home.

Financial support is also key, particularly for investment in innovation. To that end, I announce today nearly £800,000 of new awards to fishing businesses and marine organisations in coastal communities, as part of the £14 million marine fund Scotland. Those awards include funding for new storage facilities at a major seafood processor, funding to help young fishers enter the industry and support for seafood businesses in the north east to develop seafood processing and deliver training. That is in addition to the £1.8 million that has already been announced for Seafood Scotland to support seafood businesses to access new markets after the severe economic impacts of Brexit and Covid-19, and I look forward to seeing those projects develop.

However, welcome though that £14 million is, it is a paltry replacement for the European maritime and fisheries fund, which would have returned £62 million to Scotland for the benefit of our coastal communities, and we are still waiting for details on the long-promised £100 million from the UK Government to support the recovery from Brexit and Covid.

At every turn, Scotland’s fishing and seafood sectors are being short-changed under Brexit, but now, more than ever, we need to produce our food in a way that protects the environment for future generations and safeguards our natural assets.

In addition, Scotland’s food and drink success would not be possible without our producers on the land, and this Government is absolutely committed to continuing to support the sustainable production of the world class food that our farmers and crofters are famous for.

As we approach the end of our period of simplicity and stability, work begins in earnest to put in place a successor to the common agricultural policy, which will guide and support farming, food production and land use in future.

We have a positive vision for our land-based industries, in which our world-class producers thrive and, along with our other land managers, contribute to our world-leading climate change agenda and response to the biodiversity crisis.

Scotland will be recognised as a global leader in sustainable agriculture. While remaining aligned to the principles of the EU, we will have a support framework that delivers climate mitigation and adaptation, nature restoration and high-quality food production. [

Interruption

.] I will not take an intervention;

I need to make progress.

That work includes our commitment to seek to double the amount of land that is used for organic farming by 2026. We will support farmers and land managers who produce more of our own food needs and manage our land sustainably with nature and for the climate.

Farming, crofting and land management will continue to play an important role in maintaining thriving rural and island communities. We will support that change to ensure that farmers, crofters and local communities can capitalise on the benefits and have equality of opportunity, and that there is a just transition.

Last week, we laid out our first steps towards reforming national policy for Scottish agriculture, and it will be one of the biggest areas of reform undertaken by this Government in the lifetime of this Parliament, with wide-ranging and long-term impacts and opportunities.

Farmers and crofters are at the heart of our approach, and that is why the agriculture reform implementation oversight board will be co-chaired by me and Martin Kennedy, the NFUS president.

Our priority is to make early progress in delivering emissions reductions and agree a package of funded measures that deliver action on key recommendations from the farmer-led groups by the 26th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP26.

The national test programme will seek to recruit farmers and crofters this autumn, with implementation beginning by spring next year. At the same time, we are consulting on the key shared themes and specific recommendations from those farmer-led groups. It is important to get the views of as many stakeholders, particularly farmers, tenant farmers, smallholders and crofters, as possible in order to inform our reform agenda. Therefore, I hope that members will encourage those in their constituencies to take part.

We cannot lose sight of all the strengths of the industry that I have talked about in my speech today. As we come to food and drink fortnight, there is a lot to celebrate, enjoy and highlight, and I hope that members will make the time to do so, whether by visiting local markets or producers.

It is also clear that the industry is most vulnerable to the damaging effects of Brexit. Scotland’s food and drink sector has a lot to offer, and has so much potential and ambition, despite the current challenging circumstances. [

Interruption

.] I will not take an intervention as I am coming to a close.

The Government will do everything that it can to support the industry through those challenging times. Throughout Covid, the sector delivered for the nation and showed resilience and determination. If we can all get behind it and show the support that the sector deserves, I firmly believe that the future will be positive. I commend the motion in my name and ask members to support it.

I move,

That the Parliament, in advance of Food and Drink Fortnight, acknowledges the significant contribution that food and drink make to Scotland’s economy, society and reputation; notes the resilience shown by all of Scotland’s food producers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and thanks everyone involved in food and drink in Scotland for helping to keep food on the table through these challenging times; laments that the sub-standard Brexit deal, secured by the UK Government, is harming food and drink businesses, slowing and making exports harder, has raised their costs and bureaucracy, is causing problems for businesses in recruiting and retaining staff, and is now resulting in concerns about food supplies; welcomes the economic and environmental opportunities for low-carbon, sustainable and organic food production, which can be created by encouraging public kitchens to source more local food; recognises that the Scottish Government is consulting on a draft Local Food Strategy and encourages everyone to take part, and resolves to continue supporting the sector with legislation to grow as a Good Food Nation, where people take pride and pleasure in, and benefit from, the food that they produce, buy, cook, serve and eat each day, and include a right to adequate food as part of wider work to give effect to international human rights law in Scots law.

Rachael Hamilton (Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)

I am delighted to open the debate on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives.

As the cabinet secretary outlined, food and drink is Scotland’s largest international export industry. It has a strong worldwide reputation, whether due to the quality of our wonderful Scotch beef or our tremendous whiskies. It is Scotland’s largest manufacturing sector, which employs 47,000 people, contributes nearly £4 billion gross value added to the economy and has a turnover of £11 billion.

Today, in advance of Scotland’s food and drink fortnight, we take the opportunity to celebrate the significant contribution that the food and drink sector makes and all the key workers who have done tremendous work over the past 18 months, including warehouse workers, corner shop retailers, the hard-working farmers who found a window of opportunity in which to cut their barley, and our fishermen, who go out in all conditions to get the best fish and seafood, which is sent across the world.

As we celebrate the fantastic work of farmers, I must say that I found a couple of the cabinet secretary’s points astonishing. I will give her the opportunity to address the point about the future farm policy and the news that civil servants would rather cull 300,000 beef cattle than work with farmers to produce food sustainably and meet climate change targets.

Mairi Gougeon (Scottish National Party, Angus North and Mearns)

I will happily address the point: it is absolute nonsense.

Rachael Hamilton (Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)

I thank the cabinet secretary for acknowledging that, because I wrote to her two months ago about it and Jim Walker’s recommendations with regard to the suckler beef climate scheme. That is now on record.

I believe that this Government has seriously let down farmers, who are now set to be hit by a nationalist coalition of chaos with the Greens. Just yesterday, in

The Herald

, columnist Claire Taylor made it abundantly clear when she wrote:

“There is no denying that the agricultural industry has been ignored over these past months and that the relationship between those in power and farming has been damaged in the process.”

John Mason (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Shettleston)

Does Rachael Hamilton accept that the most damaging nationalism and ignoring of farmers has been through Brexit and the Conservative Party?

Rachael Hamilton (Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)

I remind John Mason that our biggest export market is the rest of the United Kingdom, which is important to the food and drink industry. Therefore, sticking in a hard border, as Emma Harper, who is sitting next to John Mason, suggests, would be seriously damaging. [

Interruption

.] I will make some progress—I have taken two interventions already.

Emma Harper (Scottish National Party, South Scotland)

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Rachael Hamilton has stated that I want a hard border, which is absolutely not true. I refute that, and I am grateful for the opportunity to state it in the chamber.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

That is not a point of order as formally understood, but Emma Harper has made her point.

Rachael Hamilton (Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)

On the delay in the future farm policy, will the cabinet secretary tell us why the farming and food production future policy group report has still not been published? It was the subject of a freedom of information request during the summer and the report is still in draft.

On the 100th day after the election, the SNP hurriedly launched the agriculture reform implementation oversight board, which just goes to show that it has taken its eye off the ball, and it is now recklessly pursuing a dangerous deal with the Greens to rip Scotland out of the UK.

We have a fantastic chance to design and construct an agricultural support system that really delivers. After the Brexit vote, it took the SNP two years even to launch a simple consultation on the next steps for Scottish farming, and there is little indication of where that will go as we look beyond 2023.

Today, we heard in the Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee that there is a need to invest in innovation and food production across Scotland. Our motion recognises that and notes the food industry’s asks of the Scottish Government. We know that our industry is the best in the world, but we consider that this Government has failed to address the issues and support the industry.

I have made it clear that the desire for independence that was announced yesterday through the nationalist coalition will irrevocably damage our food and drink sector. It is well known that, as I pointed out to John Mason, the UK is Scotland’s most important customer.

I will move on. As a natural progression from farming, it would be wrong of me not to mention the Scottish whisky industry.

Jim Fairlie (Scottish National Party, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire)

The member said that the SNP-Green agreement could be damaging to the Scottish farming industry. Does she not find it a bit concerning that there is no mention at all of food production in the UK Government’s Agriculture Act 2020 and that people such as Ben Goldsmith are advising the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs?

Rachael Hamilton (Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)

The member should look at what the fishing industry has said about the Green

-SNP deal. It is absolutely extraordinary that the agreement does not mention fishing, which is one of our most important sectors. The livelihoods of fishermen and people in the industry could be affected by it. Elspeth Macdonald from the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation made it clear that she was very unhappy that no mention was made of that in the food production part of the Green-SNP deal.

I move on to Scotch whisky. We all know that that is an amazing industry. It employs 11,000 people in Scotland, 7,000 of whom work in rural areas. We know how important it is to ensure that there are strong, sustainable and resilient businesses in rural areas where there is depopulation.

Time is rumbling on, so I will talk about the benefits relating to the changes to the tariffs on single malt Scotch whisky. We know that the industry has been under huge threat. There has been a downturn in sales because of Covid and fewer people have been going into visitor centres. However, it is important to recognise that some markets will be opened up. The Scotch Whisky Association has recognised that opening up the market to Australia and removing the 5 per cent tariff on whisky exports and, indeed, the removal of the 25 per cent export tariff by the US, will help to ensure that the Scotch whisky industry can recover what it has lost and also increase sales.

Mairi Gougeon (Scottish National Party, Angus North and Mearns)

I would also be really interested to hear Rachael Hamilton’s take on the impact of the trade deal with Australia on our red meat producers, who are set to suffer as a result. In typical Tory fashion, that issue just happens to have been glossed over.

Rachael Hamilton (Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)

I think that farmers are more concerned about possibly being instructed to cull their cattle than they are about having to look at sustainable methods of future farm policy. However, I will mention the Trade and Agricultural Commission, which was placed on a statutory footing. Its work will be taken forward. There will be an opportunity to scrutinise the trade deals. NFU Scotland asked for that, as have others, including members in this chamber. There is an opportunity for the cabinet secretary to feed into that.

In conclusion, the picture is worrying. We need to look at labour shortages, particularly in relation to the resilience of the food and farming sector. However, as my colleagues have said, there are a lot of things going on in the industry. There is a lack of diversity; there is an ageing workforce. Normally in Scotland we have a shortage of about 50,000 lorry drivers. We need to ensure that we are training and skilling people up, that we are providing vocational apprenticeships and that we have a resilient food chain.

To bring it round to a very positive note, we are celebrating the success of Scottish food and drink in the next fortnight. The Government needs to get its act together. It needs to show farmers and food producers the way forward. We simply cannot produce high-quality, world-renowned food and drink products unless the Government gets behind farmers, gets them out of the dark and gives them further clarity.

I move amendment S6M-00990.2, to leave out from “laments” to end and insert:

“calls on the Scottish Government to launch a comprehensive ‘farm to fork’ review of Scotland’s food policy as a key part of Scotland’s economic recovery from COVID-19 to ensure a resilient UK-wide food supply chain; understands the importance of the UK internal market for Scottish food and drink, worth £4.5 billion; recognises that Scottish independence would irrevocably damage the food and drink industry; calls on the Scottish Government to implement a public procurement policy that increases the use of Scottish produce; urges the Scottish Government to publish, with urgency, the Farming and Food Production Future Policy Group’s findings and give clarity and direction on Scotland’s future farm policy, and asks the Scottish Government to recognise and support the calls in an open letter from Scotland’s food and drink sector to embed automation in Scottish Government funding programmes to support productivity and the development of higher quality jobs, and to work with the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership to continue to promote the industry as a career pathway through apprenticeships and other schemes.”

Colin Smyth (Labour, South Scotland)

I begin by saying thank you on behalf of Labour members to Scotland’s food and drink sector. Thank you to our farmers and crofters who, in the face of the uncertainty of Brexit and the lack of direction that we have had on the future of agricultural support, continue to deliver world-class quality food that Scotland is rightly proud of. Thank you to our fishers, who, after being let down by the post-Brexit deal and completely omitted from the SNP-Green coalition agreement, continue to play their part in our nation’s food security. Thank you to our shop workers who, while we were able to work from home, continued to work on the front line, along with producers, processors, wholesalers and deliverers, put the food and drink on our shelves to keep the nation fed during the pandemic. Thank you to the more than 18,000 food and drink businesses in Scotland, which turn over £14 billion a year, for employing more than 115,000 people.

The food and drink sector makes an immense and growing contribution to Scotland’s economy, and Labour supports the aim in the Government’s paper “Ambition 2030” to keep that growth going and to double turnover to £30 billion by 2030. However, that sector is facing enormous challenges in keeping those shelves full, not least because of the double whammy of the pandemic and Brexit.

This week, the Food and Drink Federation warned that chronic staff shortages have left Scotland’s food industry at crisis point. In a letter to the UK and Scottish Governments, the federation’s industry partners appeal to those Governments to get their act together when it comes to access to labour and support for the sector. It makes stark reading. Its survey of businesses in the sector found that 93 per cent reported job vacancies, 90 per cent described those vacancies as hard to fill and 97 per cent said they will struggle to fill vacancies in the future. The letter is clear:

“We have now reached crisis point putting the growth, viability and security of many Scottish businesses in jeopardy, with knock on impacts for consumers. We need action now to save Christmas.”

That letter was backed up today by the National Farmers Union Scotland, when it wrote to the UK Government to highlight the impact of the labour shortage. There is no more obvious illustration of that crisis than the current lack of heavy goods vehicle drivers and the impact that that is having on, for example, getting milk to processors, an issue that is highlighted by the NFUS in its letter.

I recognise that, in the short term, we need to urgently break down the barriers that the UK Government has put in the way of access to overseas labour.

Jamie Halcro Johnston (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

The member was at the Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee this morning, where this issue came up. Does he recognise that there is a shortage of HGV drivers across Europe? Lots of effort can be put into attracting new people in, but, if countries such as Germany are facing exactly the same problem, we will be competing with them. This is not a problem just for the UK and Scotland.

Colin Smyth (Labour, South Scotland)

It would be unfair to say that the failure to be able to access overseas labour is not impacting that problem. However, I recognise that some of the labour shortages that we face today are caused by a multitude of structural factors that go beyond Brexit and the pandemic.

It is also important to highlight that there is also

a difference between a labour shortage and a skills shortage. That means doing more to train our own workforce to ensure that people have the skills to meet the demand in the labour market and to ensure that they are paid a decent wage; it also means taking a fresh look at our supply chains. The food and drink sector’s hard work and innovation during the pandemic mitigated the worst impact of the sudden shift in demand from the food service sector to the food retailer and of the halt in people being able to move freely, but the vulnerability of supply chains to major upheaval was clear. The capacity to adjust rapidly is seriously limited, and we cannot ignore the precarious nature of our food and drink system, which is under enormous strain.

The sector has responded well to the crisis, but we should not be dependent on a largely reactive response. We need to have a far more strategic and joined-up approach to managing our food and drink system, and we need robust contingency planning to ensure that the sector is prepared for future emergencies. We need a more cohesive and comprehensive policy on food—from the farm to the fork to waste—through a proper national food?plan.

At the centre of that plan must be the aims of embedding farming and food production at every level of education and having a far bigger focus on procuring and promoting local food and drink. It simply cannot be sustainable that the majority of the fish that we eat are imported while the majority that we catch are exported. The Scottish Government, local authorities, the national health service and other public bodies spend £11 billion a year on goods and services, including food, but for far too long public procurement has had a narrow focus on price and cost reduction. We have failed to maximise the benefits of low-carbon local supply chains and to minimise the vulnerabilities and risks from an overreliance on international supply chains.

Key to changing that is how we support our local food producers. Labour has long advocated the development of local food strategies, but that cannot involve the top-down approach that is all too common with the Government. Support for the sector must be local. It cannot involve central organisations and agencies simply handing down grants to local businesses.

Brian Whittle (Conservative, South Scotland)

I agree with a lot of what Colin Smyth has said about public procurement. Does he agree that procuring locally would also cut down the high amount of food wastage that currently happens in the public sector, which in itself should help to tackle food poverty?

Colin Smyth (Labour, South Scotland)

I absolutely agree with Brian Whittle. Local procurement has many advantages, including supporting businesses, reducing our carbon footprint and reducing food poverty. However, doing that depends on giving local businesses the opportunities to bid for procurement contracts.

To come back to my point about local food strategies, we need

intense on-the-ground support for local businesses that addresses, for example, digital and logistical infrastructure in order to drive the high-value sales that we need while tackling the skills, confidence and capacity challenges that many of our small and micro businesses face.

The importance of food and drink goes beyond their crucial economic importance. They impact on our health, our environment and our record on animal welfare. For far too long, far too many people in Scotland have lacked adequate access to food, exposing the gross inequalities that we face today. In a nation that provides so much outstanding food and drink, it is to our nation’s shame that many children in Scotland still go to bed hungry at night. Although our food and drink sector in Scotland has grown, so too has the scandal of?food poverty.

It is absolutely right that we celebrate the successes of Scotland’s?food and drink, as we will during food and drink fortnight, which begins this weekend. However, we need to rethink how we approach access to food in this country, and that means recognising that access to food is a fundamental right. It was deeply disappointing that the Government did not deliver a dedicated and comprehensive good food nation bill in the previous session of Parliament. It is not good enough to simply blame the pandemic, because the commitment to deliver that bill was made at the start of the previous session, long before any of us had even heard of Covid.

A bold good food nation bill is an opportunity for Scotland to lead the way on environmental sustainability, healthy eating and animal welfare, and to work with our trade unions to drive up terms and conditions for our food and drink workforce who, too often, are some of Scotland’s lowest-paid workers. Crucially, we need to enshrine in law the right to food, which would pave the way for a clear duty on our public bodies, with clear targets for action backed up by an independent statutory body to ensure that that action is delivered.

The cabinet secretary said that the Government will introduce a good food nation bill early in this session of Parliament, but she also said that the right to food would be in a different piece of legislation. However, the cabinet secretary did not say when we will see that legislation that will enshrine in law the right to food, so I hope that she will clarify that later in the debate.

Mark Ruskell (Green, Mid Scotland and Fife)

Will the member give way?

The Deputy Presiding Officer

The member is about to conclude his remarks, Mr Ruskell.

Colin Smyth (Labour, South Scotland)

If the Government fails to deliver the right to food, Labour will do so, through a member’s bill from my colleague Rhoda Grant. That would build on the work of the Scottish Food Coalition and Elaine Smith in the previous session.

In moving Labour’s amendment, I ask all members to make a clear commitment to a dedicated and bold good food nation bill in this session of Parliament that has tackling poverty at its heart, and to introducing a meaningful right to food in Scotland.

I move amendment S6M-00990.1, to insert at end:

“; condemns the unacceptable level of food poverty in Scotland and recognises that the ever-rising use of foodbanks in Scotland is morally unjustifiable in a country where fresh, quality food is plentiful; notes that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated food insecurities and highlighted the urgency for a Good Food Nation Bill, and believes that enshrining the right to food in Scots law should be an early priority for the Scottish Government in the current parliamentary session.”

Willie Rennie (Liberal Democrat, North East Fife)

This is the first opportunity that I have had to address Parliament since I stood down as leader of my party, and I want to thank all those who have sent me kind wishes in the past few weeks. Perhaps the old adage that you are never more popular than when you are dead is true.

Today we have a wide-ranging debate covering food and drink fortnight, the pandemic, Brexit, food poverty, farm support and climate change. It just shows how important the food and drink sector is to our economy, our way of life and the future of the planet.

We will vote for the Labour amendment, because it quite rightly includes a significant reference to food poverty in a food-rich nation. We will also vote for the coalition Government’s motion, because there is not very much there to disagree with. We will, however, vote against the Conservative amendment, because it bizarrely excludes any reference to the disruption that Brexit has caused. I know that many Conservative members supported Brexit, but to completely ignore it is rather naive and does not address its real challenges and consequences.

Scotland’s food and drink sector is world class. In my constituency alone, we have langoustine, porridge oats, whisky, and barley for producing that whisky, berries and, the most important product of all, broccoli, which is produced all across north-east Fife. Those products are an important part of our economy and are big employers in north-east Fife. However, the sector is under considerable and immediate pressure from the double impacts of Brexit and the pandemic. Costs of labour and materials are going through the roof at the moment and there are massive shortages on both fronts. That is affecting the primary producers and the supply chain. The whole production system has been disrupted, which is having massive consequences for the sector.

We are seeing that in the shortage of drivers, pickers and processors—right down to the hospitality sector. There is a massive problem with labour shortages at the moment, which is why I support the call that the NFUS made today for a 12-month Covid recovery visa and for a review of the seasonal workers scheme. That has just worked this year; it has just got the sector by, but there is deep anxiety about future years. We are already seeing the sector making decisions about future investment. We cannot afford to have a loss of confidence at such a critical time when we are already facing pressure because of Brexit and the pandemic.

In the Northern Isles, there are significant problems with the supply chains, the ferries and freight. We need to focus on the coalition Government’s responsibilities as well as pointing out its mistakes.

There are also medium-term pressures. There is deep frustration in the agricultural sector about the dithering that has gone on for some years now. By 2032, there has to be a 31 per cent cut in agricultural emissions. That is only 11 years away. The Government has started the process and, to be fair to the new cabinet secretary, she has just started in her new role. However, we will probably be a couple of years into those 11 years before we finally see a policy. The NFUS has quite rightly talked about the inertia that is being created by the current system. There is a pressure towards the status quo and a lack of change, but we will need to make significant changes if we are going to meet that 31 per cent target in 11 years’ time. The coalition Government needs to move on from the snail’s pace at which it is operating.

The future policy group was set up three years ago and we still have not heard a word from it. The results from the farmer-led groups were published last week, but there is a new consultation on the back of that work. Next year, we are going to have another consultation on the back of the firm proposals. I presume that there will be a report on the back of that consultation, and we might actually see a bill on the back of that.

WWF is absolutely right when it says that the longer it takes for the new policy to be developed, the harder it will be for farmers to meet that 31 per cent target by 2032, which is only 11 years away.

Jim Fairlie (Scottish National Party, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire)

Surely the Government’s position of consulting an industry that is so wide ranging and so important is far more important than throwing together a quick deal. Would Willie Rennie not agree?

Willie Rennie (Liberal Democrat, North East Fife)

It is hardly a quick deal. It has taken at least three years to produce even one recommendation from a group that was established in the previous session of Parliament.

Of course we need to consult the farmers, but if we endlessly consult and make no decisions, it does not help the farmers a jot. Mr Fairlie will know from his discussions with the farmers that they are frustrated about the lack of decision making. We need to move on, because they have a massive job to do to meet the 31 per cent emissions reduction target by 2032, which is only 11 years away. There are massive tensions involved in protecting biodiversity and addressing climate change while ensuring that Scottish food production is robust and sustainable. [

Interruption

.]

I need to conclude soon.

There are tensions between forestry and productive land, between biodiversity and energy crops, and between domestic production and offshoring. Decisions on all those things are difficult, but delaying them will not make them any easier.

I wish the cabinet secretary well in dealing with those massive challenges. Where we can, we will support her and work together to meet them, but she needs to start making decisions.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

We move to the open debate. I call Jenni Minto.

Jenni Minto (Scottish National Party, Argyll and Bute)

It is quite right that

Parliament celebrates Scottish food and drink fortnight.

I will start by quoting from “The Scots Kitchen” by F. Marian MacNeill, a Scottish author, suffragist and founder member of the Scottish National Party:

“The art of a country always has its roots in the soil—it is the natural conditions and products that determine the general character of the national cuisine.”

She was talking about our natural larder.

Argyll and Bute is a natural larder, with a lush landscape, nutrient-filled waters and passionate food producers. Wherever you go today in Argyll and Bute, its wonderful food and drink is only a footstep away. Last week, I ate langoustine in Oban, locally caught sea bream served with vegetables from our own allotment, and I toasted a sadly departed friend, Jenny Compton-Bishop from Jura, with local gin.

In Argyll and Bute, people know the strength of locally, sustainably produced, raised or caught produce. Shops proudly display “Shop Local, Eat Local” posters. My local shop in Port Charlotte gives locals and visitors the chance to buy local produce, and that is replicated across the island and Argyll and Bute. The towns that I visited during recess—Oban, Lochgilphead and Campbeltown—have new delis and food shops opening, and established shops are expanding their ranges. The Scottish Government’s £10 million investment in Scotland Loves Local is helping to revitalise our high streets by encouraging people back to them.

Throughout the pandemic, the food and drink sector has worked together for the common good to support communities. For example, Argyll Bakeries employed a chef who prepared ready-made meals, which became key stock items across the constituency. Distilleries provided hand sanitiser and local hauliers supported volunteers to distribute food packages. As the First Minister said yesterday, co-operation and working together allow ideas to come to fruition with far better outcomes.

In 1784, the French traveller Faujas de Saint-Fond told of the variety and abundance of Argyll’s table. On the island of Mull, he described the breakfast table

“elegantly covered with … plates of smoked beef, cheese … fresh eggs, salted herrings, butter, milk, and cream … currant jelly, conserve of myrtle; tea, coffee, three kinds of bread and Jamaica rum”.

Sadly, Mr Rennie, there was no broccoli.

Finlay Carson (Conservative, Galloway and West Dumfries)

My stomach starts to rumble when I hear of such nice things. However, will Jenni Minto acknowledge that some of the sectors that she is talking about—the inshore fisheries sector, the salmon farming industry and agriculture—have real fears about the new coalition that the SNP has formed with the Green Party?

Jenni Minto (Scottish National Party, Argyll and Bute)

The coalition that we have formed with the Green Party will look at everything in the round—it will look at the way in which we produce items and the environment, and I think that that can only be positive for our natural larder. [

Interruption

.]

I will not take an intervention; I will continue. Argyll and the Isles Tourism—[

Interruption

.] I will not take another intervention; I will continue.

Argyll and the Isles Tourism Co-operative is known as Wild About Argyll, and has established taste-of-place trails. They support small-scale, high-quality specialist producers, giving visitors an opportunity to speak to local people and sample their very special produce. If people have not visited Argyll, I suggest that they come and discover them; I know that the trails will capture people’s imagination and captivate their taste buds.

For spirits and beer, there are more than 20 distilleries and breweries, all using the natural larder of Argyll and Bute in their processes. The water, the botanicals and the peat all enhance their flavour and, with the stunning scenery, where better to raise a toast?

There is coffee and cake from Southend to Dalmally in phone boxes, cafes and horse boxes—we find a lot of uses for horse boxes in Argyll—where people can find wonderful home baking, to be washed down with a mug of Tiree Crofter tea or Argyll roasted coffee.

There is also the seafood trail. Loch Fyne herrings were historically celebrated for their delicious flavour and were sent in barrels to Edinburgh. As Finlay Calder—I am sorry; that is the wrong name. I am getting my politicians and my rugby players mixed up—they are both from Dumfries and Galloway, I believe. [

Laughter

.] There is also langoustine, crab, lobster, salmon, mussels, oysters, queenies, halibut and white fish—the rich bounty of our sea—and artisanal sea salt and kelp.

On the farm produce trail, we have lamb raised on the hilly uplands, Highland cattle on the less favoured land, milk in Kintyre and Bute and, of course, barley for whisky; and some producers are diversifying into ice cream. We also have the new vegan trail—Rothesay’s Bute Island Foods is the home of Sheese; it is a manufacturer and world exporter of the vegan cheese.

As I said in my first speech in the chamber, a permanent solution must be found, and quickly, for the Rest and Be Thankful. We also need a reliable and versatile ferry fleet. Everyone depends on being able to travel throughout Argyll and Bute safely and easily. I am pleased that the minister and his team are bringing new energy and commitment to solving those issues, and I thank the transport minister for his earlier detailed update on the Rest and Be Thankful.

Of course, our food and drink businesses are currently focused on keeping the shelves full as they face huge labour shortages and keeping employees safe as the pandemic continues, as well as on getting to grips with the new processes, paperwork and information technology services involved in exporting their products to the EU as a result of the chaos of Brexit.

One shellfish operator I spoke to exported 60 per cent of his catch to the EU in 2019; now, he no longer exports there, and has to find new markets. Thankfully, Scottish Development International has done amazing work in that area, but the food and drink industry needs Scottish Government support to enable it to adapt its produce to meet the requirements of new buyers. This morning at the Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee, we heard evidence from the food and drink industry about its fears. It is imperative that those fears are heard and that urgent action is taken.

It is said that you are what you eat, and that is true of nations as well as individuals. Argyll and Bute’s larder, and Scotland’s larder, are vital to our health, wealth and wellbeing. Imagine what we could do with those resources in an independent Scotland.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Thank you, Ms Minto. I am feeling decidedly peckish after your tour de force on the produce of Argyll and Bute.

Finlay Carson (Conservative, Galloway and West Dumfries)

It goes without saying that Scotland offers some of the finest produce in the world, and

I am delighted to say that much of it comes from my constituency of Galloway and West Dumfries. The area is richly blessed with companies and businesses, both big and small, that have gained either national or international recognition for their produce. The Lactalis Group creamery in Stranraer produces some of the finest dairy products, which are sold in more than 60 countries, including its Seriously brand.

Lactalis is not alone in making its mark. We also have a number of smokehouses, such as Marrbury smokehouse, the Galloway smokehouse and the new diversification project at Potterland smokery, with its innovative new smoked lamb, or lamb ham. Those businesses are regularly recognised for their excellent produce, ranging from smoked salmon, trout and seafood to game products.

More recently, Bladnoch distillery has witnessed its whisky exports and production range increase dramatically under the leadership of master distiller Nick Savage. It is not alone: Five Kingdoms brewery and Sulwath Brewers, together with Dark Art and Hills and Harbour gin, have all tasted sweet success and growth—post-Brexit and mid-Covid, I might add.

Despite that, the SNP Government is still failing to give our food and drink industry the support that it rightly deserves. The Government is outstanding at making announcements on things such as the good food nation bill, but then it forgets to deliver them.

Mairi Gougeon (Scottish National Party, Angus North and Mearns)

What about what the UK Government still has to deliver to Scotland to meet the £170 million shortfall for agriculture, as well as the paltry £14 million that we received as the replacement for the European maritime and fisheries fund, which should have been £62 million? What response would the member give to that?

Finlay Carson (Conservative, Galloway and West Dumfries)

The response that I would give is that the agriculture sector in this country is far more concerned and worried about the future, given the lack of direction shown by the cabinet secretary’s Government.

The Scotland Food & Drink partnership has already come up with a strategy called “Ambition 2030”, which aims to promote farming and fishing, as well as food and drink. It brings together the food producers and processors that make food and drink Scotland’s most valuable industry, employing 47,000 people and contributing £3.9 billion gross value added to the economy from a turnover of around £11 billion.

We all want to ensure that the sector continues to be recognised as a world leader in responsible, sustainable and profitable growth, but that can be achieved only by the Government working in tandem with the Scottish food and drink industry—from farmers and growers to processors, wholesalers, distributors and retailers—in the drive to promote the sector by providing greater resources and incentives in order to create the workforce that future growth demands. We need to create high-quality jobs and rewarding employment that will subsequently encourage more young people to consider the sector as a worthwhile and rewarding career choice, and we need to see far more apprenticeships and other schemes being offered than at present, especially now in the wake of the pandemic, when morale and mental health among the younger generation remain critical.

The Scotland Food & Drink partnership wants to encourage more young people into farming and fishing and at the same time improve Scotland’s diet and nutrition. We need to encourage a more healthy approach to eating. That must be a top priority, given that our consumption of fruit and vegetables remains disturbingly low. There has been a lamentable lack of progress on healthy eating in Scotland. Mean fruit and vegetable consumption stands at 3.2 portions a day, short of the target of 5, and the grams per day intake of fruit and veg has not changed since 2001—in fact, it has dropped somewhat.

Agriculture remains very much at the heart of my constituency, but yet again the SNP Government has failed it at every turn. We are still waiting for the Government to publish its plans on future farming funding, which were promised by the end of 2020. Although I endorse the high level of stakeholder engagement that we have seen, there comes a time when the Government must make its future plans clear, and it has absolutely failed in that. That does not surprise me, especially as it took the Government two years to even arrive at a simple consultation process.

It is little wonder that the NFUS last year described the Government’s failure as

“a disaster in the making for Scottish agriculture.”

Indeed, the same organisation previously slated it for having “no vision” on future farming policy, or even where it wants to be in the near future. Once again, I would urge the Government to stop the dilly-dally and delay and, with urgency, bring forward its vision and supporting policies for the future of rural and agriculture support. With farmers, crofters and growers facing huge challenges but nevertheless stepping up to the mark to do their bit to address climate change and biodiversity loss, they need this Government’s support. Farmers must be given clarity now and given a clear direction on Scotland’s future farm policy—of that there is no doubt.

Earlier this month, Mairi Gougeon launched a consultation on a local food strategy whereby more local production would be encouraged in order to reduce the distance that food travels, but that is something that should have been done long ago. Public sector procurement policies and procedures must be urgently reviewed. It is quite remarkable that a food processor in Wales sends truck loads of meals to some of our hospitals and schools in Scotland. That is unacceptable and one of the reasons why the Scottish Conservatives have been calling for a comprehensive farm to fork review of Scotland’s food policy that aims to boost demand for our own produce and improve public procurement that utilises Scottish produce and, more importantly, reduces food waste and food miles.

We stand with and fully support the sector in its drive towards greater productivity while attempting to achieve net zero emissions by 2040. The Food and Drink Federation Scotland plans to launch its road map at COP26 in two months’ time. It will look at the actions that businesses can take in a host of areas, including packaging, manufacturing, distribution and storage. It will also point to the role that customers have in reducing the carbon footprint of food. Clearly the federation has a vision—it is just a pity that this Government and its ministers appear not to follow that good example.

Alex Rowley (Labour, Mid Scotland and Fife)

The Food and Drink Federation Scotland pointed out in advance of this debate that food and drink is Scotland’s largest manufacturing sector. The sector employs some 47,000 people, contributes £3.9 billion gross value added to the Scottish economy and has a turnover of £11 billion. This is serious stuff, so it is

baffling that there is so much point scoring going on in the chamber when we are trying to talk about such important issues.

Something else that is baffling is how on earth the Scottish Tories could lodge an amendment that simply writes off Brexit as if it made no contribution to the problems and challenges that the sector in Scotland faces right now. I am sure that people will be baffled by that. Rachael Hamilton suggested that the SNP Government should get its act together; in truth, the federation has come forward with clear proposals that it wants both the UK Government and the Scottish Government to take up.

It is worth stating what FDF Scotland, Scotland Food & Drink, NFU Scotland, Scottish Bakers, Opportunity North East, the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers, the Scottish Seafood Alliance and the Scottish Wholesale Association have asked for. Those organisations asked the Scottish Government to

“Ensure support for automation is embedded in Scottish Government funding programmes where it supports productivity and the development of higher quality jobs”.

That is a straightforward ask. The organisations also asked the Scottish Government to

“Work with the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership to continue to promote the industry as a great career destination, and to provide opportunities through apprenticeships and other schemes”.

I hope that the minister will respond to those two specific asks, which that group of organisations think would make a difference.

Mairi Gougeon (Scottish National Party, Angus North and Mearns)

I thank the member for raising those points. I have responded to the industry on its asks of the Scottish Government, because we are committed to working with it.

On a few issues, we are already implementing some of what it is asking for. For example, the food processing, marketing and co-operation grant scheme, which was launched last month, will help with the automation element. I reassure the member that I have responded and that work is on-going.

Alex Rowley (Labour, Mid Scotland and Fife)

That represents someone taking a more serious approach to what is going on, as opposed to trying to score political points.

The organisations made asks of the UK Government, too, and I ask Tory members whether they support those calls, even if it is not in their gift to respond to them. The sector asked the UK Government to

“Introduce a 12 month covid recovery visa for the food and drink supply chain—to deal with immediate pressures on the industry and allow employers”

in Scotland

“to expand recruitment to EU and other overseas workers”.

The sector also asked that the UK Government

“Commission an urgent review by the Migration Advisory Committee of the needs of the food and drink sector”

and

“Waive the fees to employment visas for the food and drink supply chain until 2022”.

Those are three specific asks that the sector says would make a difference. I do not know whether Rachael Hamilton wants to respond to them.

Rachael Hamilton (Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)

I was going to respond on the two asks in the open letter that we included in our amendment. I am glad that members on the Labour benches agree with them and that the cabinet secretary has responded to them, albeit not fully enough.

On the asks about labour shortages, we have acknowledged today that there is a perfect storm. There is a whole host of reasons for labour shortages, which are also an issue in France, Germany and Italy. There are calls to the UK Government to produce a plan to invest in skills in our domestic workforce. I know that the UK Government is doing that and I fully support the approach.

Alex Rowley (Labour, Mid Scotland and Fife)

From that, I hope that the Parliament can come together, get behind what the Food and Drink Federation is calling for and make it clear to the UK Government that such measures should be taken if we are to do something to protect jobs and the industry.

I want to highlight that food has to be affordable. There has been a rise in the number of food banks since 2010. In 2010, I do not think that there were any food banks in Scotland—there were certainly very few—but they are now commonplace in every city, town and village in the country. Again, there are things that the Parliament can do. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation points out that social security should be strong enough for all of us to rely on when we need a lifeline. It says:

“A cut of £20 a week to Universal Credit”—

a working tax credit—

“scheduled for 6 October, will impose the biggest overnight cut to the basic rate of social security since the modern welfare state began, more than 70 years ago.”

I hope that we can build a consensus and that Scottish Tory members will join, I am sure, every other member in calling on the UK Government not to go ahead with the £20 a week cut, which will drive food poverty even higher in Scotland.

Jim Fairlie (Scottish National Party, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire)

I very much welcome the motion in the name of the cabinet secretary. The recent story of Scotland’s food and drink sector is remarkable. I have been involved with the industry for virtually my entire working life, and I am incredibly proud of it. The industry has shown an outstanding degree of progress and development over a relatively short time, and it has evoked a total shift in the global perception of our country.

Not so very long ago, we Scots had the only slightly undeserved reputation for eating nothing that had not been deep fried, including Mars bars. Tourists came to Scotland for the scenery, the castles and the history. They certainly did not come because of our reputation as a nation of gourmet food lovers. Yet, ironically, we have always grown, raised, caught, harvested and landed some of the finest produce in the world. The problem was—and, to some degree, still is—that, as a nation, we have never really appreciated what is here on our doorstep. In our fields, rivers and seas is an abundance of some of the world’s most sought-after natural ingredients.

Scotland and fine food were far from synonymous, except to a very few who were in the know. The vast bulk of our best produce went straight to the kitchens of some of the best hotels and restaurants around the world, as we allowed the “stack it high and sell it low” principle to take hold of our own diet. We dined out on the rise of fast food—highly sugared, highly salted, instant and available 24 hours a day for convenience.

We stopped cooking. We lost generations of knowledge and skills and the ability to home cook really good, nutritious, tasty and locally grown food. By losing that, we lose a lot more than just those basic skills. We lose understanding. We lose an opportunity for communication. We lose a connection to the food that we eat and, added to that, a connection with one another that we can get only by sitting round a full table of fabulous food with friends and family. This debate is about far more than economics.

Over the past 20 years or so, we have finally realised that and have regained our love for and appreciation of what good food looks like, tastes like and smells like. Whether it is street food festivals doing street food theatre, seafood shacks on the beach cooking what was caught that morning or restaurants with two Michelin stars, Scottish produce is now recognised, celebrated and—above all—cooked, eaten and enjoyed throughout this country and across the globe.

Incidentally, I was pleased to see the line in the Government motion about

“encouraging public kitchens to source more local food”.

I would simply like some public kitchens to be more locally based. In Perth and Kinross, school dinners are going to be centrally produced outwith the district and then delivered to school kitchens for reheating. That goes against everything that we are talking about today.

The food and drink industry hit a moment in time when there was a coming together of ideas and imagination and a readiness in consumers to get involved. It was exciting, it was transformative and the industry grabbed the opportunity with everything that it had and ran with it, creating the fastest growing sector in Scotland’s economy.

Part of that transformation was down to action taken by the Scottish Government, which is a fact that should be recognised. The establishment of a national food and drink policy under the leadership of Richard Lochhead was pivotal. Scotland had never had a national food and drink policy before, but neither had any other country in Europe. What that demonstrated to the industry was that the Government of the day understood that the industry had an opportunity and that people were ready for it. With real collaboration between industry and Government, great things can happen, and they did.

In 2007-08, the target for the industry was to be worth £13 billion by 2013. That target was smashed years early, which demonstrated that the collaboration was working—industry and Government working hand in hand, communicating and delivering.

Finlay Carson (Conservative, Galloway and West Dumfries)

I refer to my entry in the register of members’ interests, as I am a member of NFU Scotland.

Does the member recognise, as someone who is close to the farming industry, the frustration in the sector at the continued lack of detail about what future support will look like? Does the member also agree that farmers continue to be left in the dark about plans for future funding?

Jim Fairlie (Scottish National Party, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire)

I accept that farming communities have been frustrated, and I have made that point to the cabinet secretary. I said to Willie Rennie earlier that the farming community would be much happier to see a policy that it is part of, that it helped to shape and that helps to make sure that we deliver our climate commitments but we also have a food industry that is still about producing food.

I will continue with what I was saying.

I have lost my place.

When you are on a roll, why not go further? The Scottish Government did that and still is. The new target of £30 billion in turnover by 2030 is massively ambitious, but we have done it before so we can do it again. It is challenging but it is achievable. With the industry and the Government working together and sharing an ambition, anything is possible, and I know that we can hit the target again.

Challenges there are aplenty, and two of the biggest could not have been envisaged: the extent of damage from Brexit and the consequences of the Covid pandemic. One example of that is that East of Scotland Growers has just destroyed 2.5 million heads of broccoli and 1.5 million cauliflowers in the past couple of weeks. It is possible that it is about to do the same again, because it simply does not have the storage and capacity to move its products.

FDF Scotland tells us that the Brexit-related issues that its members face generally fall into three different groups: companies such as seed potato producers being unable to export to the EU due to the terms of the EU exit deal; companies struggling with increased costs; and those—predominantly shellfish farmers from the west coast—whose products have short shelf lives having found that increased delays due to bureaucracy mean that they cannot get their products to market in time.

No number of trade deals with countries on the far side of the world will compensate the businesses that are being thwarted in their attempt to maintain access to the world’s largest single market on the other side of the North Sea. We have all seen the gaps on the shelves in our shops and heard the stories about the shortage of lorry drivers. Apparently, big pay increases have been offered to drivers, so at least an ill wind is blowing somebody some good.

We are witnessing Brexit getting real. Paying lorry drivers a bit more is only the tip of the iceberg as far as increased freight costs are concerned; I have heard that there are cases of the cost of shipping containers escalating from £2,000 to £20,000 over the past six months. Nobody is going to make any money on Australian trade deals with those kinds of numbers.

We have seen it in the treatment of our fisherfolk, our soft fruit farmers and our seed potato merchants—being part of the UK is harming our industry. The UK Government is acting as a roadblock and is preventing us from getting to where we need to be, literally as well as figuratively. I trust the Scottish Government to do everything in its power to help our food and drink industry and to find ways around the roadblocks. We all know—which is why I could not support anything that the Tories put forward in their amendment—that the best and simplest answer should be in our hands: remove the roadblock entirely and become a normal independent country.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I call Brian Whittle, to be followed by Ariane Burgess. Mr Whittle, you have around six minutes.

Brian Whittle (Conservative, South Scotland)

Is it a generous six minutes, Presiding Officer?

I am delighted to speak in a debate to support our food and drink industry. Returning members will know of my long-standing efforts to put more of Scotland’s food and drink products on to Scottish dinner tables. I have always argued, and will continue to argue, that, in doing so, we can achieve real success in dealing with Scotland’s poor health record.

Presiding Officer, you will be glad to know that I am bringing all that passion into my new environment brief. I believe that this is an area that can bring benefits and sustainability and support Scotland’s drive towards net zero.

I will use my time today to discuss the whole chain of food and drink production, from farming to processing to procurement. No member in the chamber would dispute that our farmers are among the best in the world. We charge them with producing high-quality food, maintaining the highest level of animal welfare, paying the living wage and leading the custodianship of the countryside. They take on those responsibilities not just willingly but enthusiastically. Today, more than ever, we ask them to work in a way that protects our environment and can deliver a sustainable future.

Farmers want to protect the environment—it is quite literally the foundation of their business. In all my conversations with farmers across the south of Scotland, I hear that there is a shared desire to innovate and become greener. In fact, they are so enthusiastic that we now see NFU Scotland and WWF Scotland united in challenging the Scottish Government to move faster on the issue. Sadly, though, they are under sustained attack from a vocal minority who insist on misrepresenting our farming and food-producing communities, criticising the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions—in particular, in livestock farming—while failing to acknowledge Scottish farmers’ success in reducing their carbon footprint.

Michelle Thomson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk East)

Perhaps Mr Whittle would like to name one of the people in his South Scotland region who would celebrate the removal of their produce from a market of 500 million consumers. Can he name some?

Brian Whittle (Conservative, South Scotland)

I thank Michelle Thomson for that intervention, but I wonder if she would recognise that, on my very recent visit to a farm with NFU Scotland and a number of farmers, they suggested that the price that they are now getting for beef and sheep is one of the highest prices they have had for a long, long time. There you go.

The reality is that Scottish farmers are leading the way in reducing emissions in rearing grass-fed livestock and continuing to innovate towards net zero at every opportunity. Our farming sector should be held up as an example to the world, not done down in pursuit of an easy headline. After all, the NFUS has set a net zero farming target of 2035, way ahead of the Scottish Government’s net zero target. That is something that every MSP should support and celebrate—yet, at the heart of this Government, we now have ministers whose track record is one of criticism, not commendation.

We have ministers who, rather than working with our food producers and encouraging and supporting innovation in the green economy, would prefer to shut the whole industry down. We have a Scottish Government minister who—quite openly—wants to eliminate our world-renowned salmon farming industry. She did not even bother to engage with salmon farmers, or at least to discuss the innovations that they are now deploying. She did not even bother to look at a map to find out where those farms are. No, she simply and simplistically decided—without, it appears, any basic knowledge of the industry—that she would like it gone. It is good to see that the Greens are already so well aligned with the SNP’s approach of headlines now, details never. It is no wonder that the Scottish fishing industry is concerned about

“an increasingly hostile environment for”

the industry as a consequence of this new coalition. I sometimes suspect that the Greens will really be happy only when we are all living up a tree in the Trossachs, foraging for nuts and berries and washing our clothes in the river, all the while importing more food—

Mairi Gougeon (Scottish National Party, Angus North and Mearns)

Will the member take an intervention?

Brian Whittle (Conservative, South Scotland)

Of course I will, cabinet secretary.

Mairi Gougeon (Scottish National Party, Angus North and Mearns)

I thank the member for taking an intervention, because I have to address some of the statements that he has come out with. I do not know whether he has actually read the co-operation agreement between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party, which lays what he says absolutely to rest. Some of the accusations that he is making are complete nonsense.

Brian Whittle (Conservative, South Scotland)

Here you go—I have the agreement right here. It does not even mention fishing—[

Interruption

.] So, you are denying that one of your Scottish Government ministers says that they want to shut down the salmon industry. Is that what you are saying, cabinet secretary? As you well know, it is not true.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Through the chair, please, Mr Whittle—and there should be no interventions from a sedentary position, cabinet secretary.