Hansard

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Chamber

25 Mar 2026

Portfolio Question Time · Direct Support Payments

To correct the minister, I say that the agricultural funding was rolled up into the block grant rather than being Barnettised. The exact same amount of money is being received because of that.Stakeholders are concerned about the lack of detail in tiers 2 and 3 of the rural sup...

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Chamber

25 Mar 2026

First Minister’s Question Time

It feels a little like groundhog day. South Uist and Barra face yet another chaotic holiday period. South Uist faces an 85 per cent cut in its ferry service during the Easter period. The First Minister knows that this community has suffered from cuts for years, and that has ca...

Rhoda Grant Lab Chamber

24 Mar 2026

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

Although the minister did not promise an overarching bill, his predecessors did, and it was supposed to be introduced in the last parliamentary session, not this one, so we have waited some time for it.

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Chamber

24 Mar 2026

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

I thank Tim Eagle for his kind remarks. There will be a lot of thank yous in this contribution, because I also want to thank all those who helped us with our work on the bill, including Parliament staff on the committee and in the legislation team, as well as those who gave ev...

Rhoda Grant Lab Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

Okay—I move amendment 26A.

Rhoda Grant Lab Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

I agree that it must be got right, because part of this bill is about putting right some of the wrongs that happened before.With that reassurance, I will not seek to press amendment 26A.

Rhoda Grant Lab Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

Yes.

Rhoda Grant Lab Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

My concern is that amendment 26 will require a report after three years, which would limit any practical chance of introducing new crofting legislation in the next session. I heard what the minister said about allowing the bill to bed in. However, we all know that there are hu...

Rhoda Grant Lab Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

I want to make a couple of comments. I do not agree with amendments 56 and 57. Until the previous legislation changed it, the Crofting Commission used to be called the Crofters Commission, which belonged to the crofters and upheld their rights. Putting landlords on the commiss...

Rhoda Grant Lab Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

I seek to withdraw amendment 36, given the reassurances that the minister has put on the record that the resumption will not be used against crofters and that they will have adequate protection.Amendment 36, by agreement, withdrawn.Amendment 37 not moved.17:00Section 11B—Requi...

Rhoda Grant Lab Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

Amendment 36, which is similar to my amendment 188 at stage 2, was lodged ahead of Alasdair Allan’s amendment to new section 50ZA of the 1993 act, as inserted by section 18 of the bill, to add protections for crofters.However, I still believe that amendment 36 is required, as ...

Rhoda Grant Lab Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

Amendment 13 seeks to increase, from three months to five months, the time for the Crofting Commission to respond. People already complain that it takes far too long to do so. Can the minister give an assurance that people will not have to wait five months for a response from ...

Rhoda Grant Lab Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

I will speak to amendments 43 to 46, 16A and 47. As the minister said, the bill was amended at stage 2 to remove the words “substantially”, “undue” and “significantly”. I wanted to see those words put back into the bill, because I believe that landowners cannot spuriously stop...

Rhoda Grant Lab Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

I will press amendment 34. I have nothing else to add.

Rhoda Grant Lab Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

Amendment 34 would amend section 8 of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993 to provide a simplified process for obtaining the commission’s consent to an assignation of a croft if certain conditions, which are set out in the proposed new section 8(2B) and which primarily relate to t...

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

I will speak to amendments 38 to 42. I thank the minister for his assistance with the amendments.Amendments 38 to 41 seek to deal with the issue that often arises when crofts change hands on the open market. People see that croft assignations or crofts themselves are for sale ...

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Chamber

19 Mar 2026

First Minister’s Question Time

The review of chronic pain interventions that was published by the Scottish Health Technologies Group on 27 February recommends the use of interventions when that will assist patients to deal with chronic pain. Since then, I have been advised by a patient of the chronic pain s...

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Chamber

18 Mar 2026

Greyhound Racing (Offences) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I congratulate Mark Ruskell on getting his bill to this stage. I also thank the committee staff, the legislation team and those who assisted us during the bill process, as well as those who gave evidence to the committee.I have said more than once that we have had a fragmented...

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Chamber

13 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Amendments 261 and 264 would provide for people carrying out functions under the bill to receive mandatory training, accreditation and on-going three-year refresher and competence training.The bill covers areas that are literally to do with life and death, and people who are e...

Rhoda Grant Lab Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I am interested in amendment 207, but my one concern is about something that Mr Fraser will be aware of. In rural areas where there are accreditation services, people tend to be locked out of gaining accreditation because of the long distances that they have to travel. We see ...

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

The member said that those amendments are technical in nature, but my reading of amendments 199 and 200 is that they push back somewhat, because someone has to be actively seeking assisted dying, rather than just considering it, to get advocacy services. I think that that is a...

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Chamber

12 Mar 2026

First Minister’s Question Time · Heating Costs (Rural Households)

The First Minister will be aware that the UK Government is issuing guidance to its local authorities to use crisis and resilience funds to protect those who are dependent on oil and gas heating. Will he look at making crisis grant funds available to people in islands and rural...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

11 Mar 2026

Petitions

If you do not anticipate huge change, that suggests that we will be taking a piecemeal approach to managing the issue. Or will there be change so that we can get the population under control and manage it at a reasonable level? It just feels as though the issue is getting out ...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

11 Mar 2026

Petitions

What was the significance of refreshing the key objectives of the goose management policy? What implications will that have for goose management in the Uists and other places where there has been damage not only to farming, crofting and the economy but to the natural environment?

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

11 Mar 2026

Salmon Farming in Scotland

But it is about enabling it to happen quickly—with the delay around getting all those consents in place, the threat would be gone by the time the fish farms could move.

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

11 Mar 2026

Salmon Farming in Scotland

You said earlier that fish farms could move if there was an issue, but you also said that they would need to be consented as normal, and we know that that takes a long time. Without a plan to guide that, it is possible that fish farms will just have to close, rather than move ...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

11 Mar 2026

Salmon Farming in Scotland

Given that, even without the plans, some people are talking about moving fish farms further offshore—we recommended the approval of a statutory instrument on the management of that on 25 February—we have the renewables issue to consider and there is a lot pressure on the marin...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

11 Mar 2026

Salmon Farming in Scotland

Sorry—I may have picked you up wrong, but are you saying that no further regional plans will be produced until the national plan is adopted?

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

11 Mar 2026

Salmon Farming in Scotland

The committee asked for strategic spatial planning to be put in place to guide where salmon farming should be consented and where it is not appropriate. The national marine plan 2 has been delayed and, as you said in your opening statement, regional plans are appearing only on...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

11 Mar 2026

Salmon Farming in Scotland

Thank you.

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

11 Mar 2026

Salmon Farming in Scotland

Do you encourage industry to share research? Obviously, different companies will be looking at those pressures and how to deal with them, but do they share that research to ensure that everyone can learn from it?

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

11 Mar 2026

Salmon Farming in Scotland

The committee has recommended more targeted research into the conditions of micro jellyfish and the different events that cause mass mortality. What research has been commissioned in that respect? Has that work begun? Has it been put out to tender? What are the timescales for ...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

11 Mar 2026

Salmon Farming in Scotland

Do you foresee use of cleaner fish being phased out?

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Committee

11 Mar 2026

Salmon Farming in Scotland

Are you taking any other measures off the back of the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission report? Last week, we received evidence about cleaner fish and discussed technologies and innovations that might phase out their use. How do they fit into the measures that you are taking ...

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Chamber

10 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I am a little concerned about the precedents that that would set. It is the case that, if someone is pregnant and is suffering from an illness that requires medication, whether she has medication that could damage the unborn child or refuses it is a decision for that woman to ...

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Chamber

04 Mar 2026

Ferries

As the cabinet secretary said, we had a statement yesterday that tried to draw a line under the ferry fiasco, but, sadly, it did not. We are still seeing prolonged dry-dock periods for both the new ferry and the older vessels in the fleet.Making pre-election promises does not ...

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Chamber

04 Mar 2026

Portfolio Question Time · Future Farming Investment Scheme

The minister will be aware that many small farmers and crofters and those in island areas spent a lot of money preparing applications for the previous scheme, from which they gained little or nothing, even though they should have been prioritised. Will he make the new round of...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

04 Mar 2026

Subordinate Legislation

My comments are along the same lines. One of my concerns is that these areas are often fished by very small inshore fishers, who are not part of larger organisations. If we are writing to the Scottish Government, I would like to clarify with it that it has taken steps to ensur...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

04 Mar 2026

Wildfires in Scotland

Will you clarify about the movement of resources—especially people? Does what you have said mean moving crews to make sure that fire stations have full crews—or even more than full crews, given the level of risk?

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Committee

04 Mar 2026

Wildfires in Scotland

What progress is being made on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service strategy? In the past, I have asked about equipment, and I wonder whether it is in place now. There are also concerns about staffing levels, certainly in the Highlands and Islands. Quite often, stations do not...

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Chamber

03 Mar 2026

Ferries and Ports

I, too, thank Angus Campbell for his work on the communities board.The cabinet secretary’s statement is equivalent to the photo op of the Glen Sannox with painted-on windows. Anyone would think that there was an election looming. The statement suggests that the Scottish Govern...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

03 Mar 2026

Subordinate Legislation

:My question is not so much about the instruments themselves as about legal aid fees. There are increases in the cost of those fees, and I wonder whether the thresholds for the ability to claim legal aid will increase in line with them. For people who are on the margins of get...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

03 Mar 2026

“Sign LOUD: Perspectives of Deaf mothers and signing practitioners on domestic abuse, communication issues and the impact on Deaf families”

:How do we use the learning to better provide services for people? You reached out and provided interpreters. I guess that you did everything that you possibly could to encourage people to take part, and that points to some of the barriers to people getting help. You were reac...

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Committee

03 Mar 2026

“Sign LOUD: Perspectives of Deaf mothers and signing practitioners on domestic abuse, communication issues and the impact on Deaf families”

The study involved semi-structured BSL interviews with six deaf mothers and a focus group with five signing practitioners. How did you ensure that the approach captured the diversity of experiences in the deaf community, and were there any limitations on interpreting the findi...

Rhoda Grant Lab Chamber

26 Feb 2026

Cost-effectiveness of Scottish Public Inquiries

I will conclude.I will finish by thanking the committee for its report on public inquiries and reminding us all that we must have cognisance of the people who need those inquiries to hear what happened to themselves or their loved ones so that they can get closure. That must r...

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Chamber

26 Feb 2026

Cost-effectiveness of Scottish Public Inquiries

I thank the committee for carrying out its inquiry. Public inquiries are necessary, and especially so when someone is harmed by a public body, either directly or by omission. Demand for inquiries is increasing, because of a lack of trust in public bodies. That point was made b...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

25 Feb 2026

Salmon Farming in Scotland

I have a wee point to put on the record. Edward Mountain seemed to dismiss the work that is going on on the River Carron. If we are leaving a legacy report, we should tell the next committee to look at the award-winning work that is going on there to conserve wild salmon. I wo...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

25 Feb 2026

Salmon Farming in Scotland

Thanks.

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

25 Feb 2026

Salmon Farming in Scotland

On the same subject, we are aware of some threats, especially from warming waters, but what research is being carried out on future threats that might not have appeared yet? Are there any algae, toxins or whatever present in waters further south that might have an impact on sa...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

25 Feb 2026

Salmon Farming in Scotland

Further to that, if we control sea lice properly and diminish the number of sea lice, concerns about smolts going past and picking up sea lice will hopefully not be an issue in the future.

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

25 Feb 2026

Salmon Farming in Scotland

Yes, but this is about building public confidence and ensuring that people not only understand the data that they see but know that it is robust. We sometimes see headlines about one incident without an explanation of the underlying factors.

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

25 Feb 2026

Salmon Farming in Scotland

Will the report show that the system is now better and more analytical? It seems that we have huge amounts of data but we are not really following trends. We are collecting data as lumps and being selective. Where a one-off event happens, it can be catastrophic, but are we fol...

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab Committee

25 Feb 2026

Salmon Farming in Scotland

I totally get that, when mass mortality happens due to unforeseen circumstances, it must be heartbreaking for those who look after the fish. Because it happens in the sea, we perhaps do not empathise with it in the way that we did with foot-and-mouth disease, which was very mu...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

24 Feb 2026

Neurodivergence

:Even before that stage, people who are having difficulty coping at any point are being dealt with by the police. The police are the first port of call if somebody becomes distressed or upset, and those people are then remanded. Frankly, it is wrong that people are being locke...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

24 Feb 2026

Neurodivergence

:Yes, I will ask them now. We see a lot of neurodivergent people in the criminal justice system, and that almost smacks of failure, because those people have been let down. What is the Scottish Government doing to ensure that services have the resources and the knowledge to de...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

24 Feb 2026

Neurodivergence

:The impact of that on individuals can be huge. If someone cannot cope without support, and for whatever reason they are not getting it, that could mean the difference between access to education or no education. We talked about education for teachers and how it is about getti...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

24 Feb 2026

Neurodivergence

:The evidence that we took showed quite stark inconsistencies in the understanding of neurodiversity between not only education authorities or schools, but classes in the same school. It seems that any approach is dependent on a teacher’s understanding of various conditions an...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

24 Feb 2026

Subordinate Legislation

:That would be helpful. Thank you.

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

24 Feb 2026

Subordinate Legislation

:The Scottish Government recognises that prostitution is violence against women, but it voted down what was known as the unbuyable bill—the Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill—partly because of the costs associated with providing support for women in prostituti...

Rhoda Grant Lab Committee

24 Feb 2026

Subordinate Legislation

:I am softly spoken, which is probably not helping you. I asked about the additional actions that the Scottish Government is taking to tackle violence against women, beyond what is in the high-level action plan.