Rural Affairs and Islands Committee 03 September 2025
You used the word “nuance”, which is incredibly accurate. There is no contradiction between food production, climate adaptation mitigation and nature restoration. It is on the face of the 2024 act and it is mentioned in the plan.
That discussion has definitely evolved, as Dennis Overton mentioned. Our members, who include farmers and crofters from across Scotland, care deeply about their role as stewards of the land. The narrative has changed, and the good food nation plan refers to the need for a holistic way of working. We are keen to see further detail in relation to the specified functions, how that policy will be developed and how the outcomes will be achieved in those areas in working practice.
I want to follow up on Jason Rose’s point about animal health and welfare. The reference to animal health and welfare standards being “maintained” is made in the context that we are already incredibly highly regulated when it comes to animal health and welfare. Our standards of production have been championed. I see where Jason Rose was coming from with his point about the use of the word “maintained”, but our members are committed to high standards of animal health and welfare. It is fundamental to any changes in that area that there is engagement and collaboration and that the Animal Welfare Committee, which recently changed its name to the Animal Welfare Commission, is committed to that. We must ensure that farmers and crofters are central to the engagement process, not only on animal health and welfare but on the national plan and how the indicators are developed.
That leads me on to another point about the indicators. There is a bit of ambiguity about what the indicators say. How do we measure what good looks like? Mention was made of one of the indicators on animal health and welfare inspections. What does that number mean? Is it good if that number goes up or is it good if it goes down? It would be beneficial to have some of that fundamental detail so that we can make sure that the national plan is progressing. We do not want to set targets that do not mean anything or that are not measurable—targets that do not enable us to tell whether we are making progress.