Health, Social Care and Sport Committee 10 June 2025
Good morning to the witnesses. Heather Kelman was just talking about the issues that will be included in the consultation on the development of the new strategy, and I was very pleased to hear the commitment that there will be greater emphasis on climate and sustainability. Those issues were mentioned a bit in the previous strategy, but not at a very specific level. How much autonomy does Food Standards Scotland have to set a direction of travel on that?
You will be aware that the Climate Change Committee—the independent advisory body to both Governments on climate—has recently set out its advice on how to meet carbon budgets for the rest of the journey to net zero. There are specific conclusions for agriculture—clearly, there has to be a link between food production and the consumption of food. There is a huge overlap between more sustainable food and healthier food, yet that advice is already getting some reactionary pushback.
The Scottish Government’s climate plan will not be produced in time for you to consult on your strategy for 2026 to 2031. The scrutiny in Parliament of the draft climate plan is likely to run right up until the end of this parliamentary session; it may not even be completed until after next year’s election, in the new parliamentary session. How do you intend to give effect to the very clear conclusions of the Climate Change Committee report about food in the absence of a Scottish Government climate change plan having been published and adopted?