As the Agriculture and Rural Communities Bill continues to make its way through the system at Holyrood, 40 land managers, and community representatives attended parliament to meet with the rural affairs and islands committee.
The committee was keen to hear the views of those whose daily lives and livelihoods will be impacted most by the legislation.
A Holyrood spokesperson said the committee wanted to capture the experiences, concerns, and expectations of a spread of stakeholders including crofters, farmers, tenant farmers, community development representatives, and integrated land management specialists, through a day of reflection and discussion.
READ MORE | Holyrood committee meets farmers to discuss agri bill
Information collated from the event on Monday influenced the questions put to cabinet secretary Mairi Gougeon, who gave evidence at the committee this week.
The farmer and community input will also feed directly into the recommendations the committee makes at the end of its stage 1 scrutiny.
Addressing the attendees, committee convener Finlay Carson MSP, said: “No voice is more important than whose daily lives and livelihoods will be most impacted by this legislation and that is what today was all about – hearing individuals’ experiences and concerns and making sure that they are reflected in the legislation put before Parliament for approval.
“We are now looking forward to being able to question the cabinet secretary on Wednesday, with all these important insights at the forefront of our thinking.”
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Delegates were asked questions across a range of issues, including climate change, what support is required to make communities, businesses and organisations resilient, and how can a ‘Rural Support Plan’ be tailored so that all relevant stakeholders have an opportunity to shape it and receive the support they need from it.
The rural support plan formed a key line of questioning at the committee session with Ms Gougeon and committee convener Finlay Carson MSP said farmers felt there is a lack of certainty around RSP and it could form the whole bill in itself.
He added that farmers felt RSP details could be brought forward before the bill proceeds and pointed to a previous meeting where MSPs were told the RSP was “9/10ths developed.”
In response, Ms Gougeon said the government needed the powers in the bill before the RSP could be passed and co-development of schemes was critical.
Labour MSP Rhoda Grant continued to press the minister on RSP saying it could “make or break” businesses going forward and stakeholders wanted to see a draft. She said: “The bill itself doesn’t really provide much scrutiny of the plan. Where is the consultation?”
“The real fear is that in 2025 we are going to be faced with a take it or leave it.”
Ms Gougeon said she understands the concerns and criticisms about lack of detail and the government “does not want anybody facing any cliff edges and that’s a commitment we have been really strong on.”
SNP MSP Alasdair Allan asked how rural policy and agriculture policy would be kept separate. Ms. Gougeon said the objectives are not in conflict and the bill recognises the wider supply chain and rural communities.
The four high level objectives of the bill - which are the adoption and use of sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices, the production of high-quality food, the facilitation of on-farm nature restoration, climate mitigation and adaptation, and enabling rural communities to thrive – were raised and the minister was asked why these were chosen.
Ms Gougeon responded by saying it was important the objectives are broad and the Scottish Government believes the nature of the objectives is broad enough to capture the main priorities of what the bill is seeking to do.
A lack of clarity and definition of the terms used in the bill was flagged and it was argued that terms such as regenerative agriculture and sustainable agriculture could mean different things across industry.
Ms Gougeon agreed the need for further clarity on definitions used and acknowledged there was no barrier to adding to the four key objectives in the bill.
For the last 12 months, the Committee has been scrutinising agriculture policy through a programme of evidence sessions, a call for views, roundtable discussions, and visits to farms across Scotland. The Committee expects to publish its Stage 1 report in March 2024.
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