Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 27 January 2026 [Draft]
27 Jan 2026 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
I will focus on my amendments in the group. As members may be aware, their subject is the sheep on St Kilda and especially on the main island of Hirta. That subject landed on my desk recently out of pretty well nowhere.
I have visited St Kilda in the past and I consider the islands right up there with other amazing natural phenomena around the world, such as Everest and Victoria falls, which I have also seen. In recent months, however, both BBC Alba and The Herald have reported on the numbers of sheep that are starving to death on the islands each year, with no human intervention whatsoever. From reports that I hear, perhaps 600 sheep are starving to death each year, or 800 if lambs are included, and that has been the case every year for the past 20 years, on average. That is roughly one third of the population on the islands. I wonder whether the sheep farmers among us find that acceptable.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Alison Johnstone)
NPA
The next item of business is stage 3 proceedings on the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill. In dealing with the amendments, members should have the bill as ...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Group 1 is on targets for improving biodiversity. Amendment 22, in the name of Beatrice Wishart, is grouped with amendments 23, 63, 46, 47, 24, 64 to 67, 25 ...
Beatrice Wishart (Shetland Islands) (LD)
LD
Amendment 22 would place an obligation on our public bodies and officeholders to take the biodiversity targets into account when they are fulfilling their pu...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
I call Lorna Slater to speak to amendment 23 and other amendments in the group.
Lorna Slater (Lothian) (Green)
Green
Amendment 23 reflects the fact that Scotland has already signed up to a number of international commitments that aim to tackle the biodiversity crisis, inclu...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
I call Tim Eagle to speak to amendment 63 and other amendments in the group.
Tim Eagle (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
In beginning what will be, I think, 10 hours or so in the chamber, I remind members of my entry in the register of members’ interests. As I set out at stage...
Mercedes Villalba (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I have three amendments in the group. Amendments 46 and 47 seek to separate the target topic of habitat condition and habitat extent into two distinct topics...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (Ind)
Ind
I will focus on my amendments in the group. As members may be aware, their subject is the sheep on St Kilda and especially on the main island of Hirta. That ...
Tim Eagle
Con
As a sheep farmer, I do not find that acceptable. I have discussed the topic at length with the National Trust for Scotland, and my understanding is that it ...
John Mason
Ind
We did not even get that much assurance from the Government on 8 January, when I raised the issue, and it is because of the Government’s poor response on tha...
Douglas Lumsden (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
I will speak only to amendment 64, which relates to the impact of new energy infrastructure on our biodiversity. I have spoken many a time in the Parliament ...
Sarah Boyack (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
Like colleagues, I reflect that we will be here for some time. I have lodged my amendments 65, 67, 68 and 69, in this group, to ensure that the Scottish Gove...
Ariane Burgess (Highlands and Islands) (Green)
Green
The Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill is absolutely essential for Scotland. Yesterday, I was talking to a climate scientist who told me that, when we consi...
Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green)
Green
I thank Ariane Burgess for highlighting a major gap in the bill. I will speak to amendment 27. The intention of my stage 2 amendment on target-setting statem...
Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
I remind members of my entry in the register of members’ interests—I own part of a family farm on Moray. I should also declare that I have been managing the ...
Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Lab
I will speak briefly on amendment 66. Scottish Labour supports the amendment’s aims, but we are concerned about setting an arbitrary target that would not ta...
Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP)
SNP
I rise to speak on amendments 24 to 26, in the name of John Mason, who made a persuasive argument regarding the St Kilda sheep in particular. However, I also...
The Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy (Gillian Martin)
SNP
I will speak to amendment 22, in the name of Beatrice Wishart, and amendment 23, in the name of Lorna Slater. I listened to members’ views at stage 2, and I ...
John Mason
Ind
The cabinet secretary says that the Scottish Government is taking the matter seriously. Could she not go a little further than that and say that the status q...
Gillian Martin
SNP
The National Trust for Scotland is the owner of St Kilda, so it is reviewing the issue. I said that the NTS is hoping to inspect the sheep in the next few we...
Edward Mountain
Con
Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?
Gillian Martin
SNP
I will take Mr Mountain’s intervention in a second. In addition, the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission, which is an independent panel of experts that provi...
Edward Mountain
Con
In the hope of helping the cabinet secretary, if the sheep were on a farm such as mine and they were inspected and found to be in poor health, dying of starv...
Gillian Martin
SNP
I believe that I have already said that. The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission, which I mentioned, is convening a short-life working group, and the Governme...
Mercedes Villalba
Lab
The cabinet secretary said that the amendments are not necessary because their provisions are already covered in the bill. Condition and extent are covered a...
Gillian Martin
SNP
I apologise if my quote from the policy memorandum was not clear. I will say it again: “Habitat condition and extent includes the quality and/or extent of h...
Mercedes Villalba
Lab
Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?
Gillian Martin
SNP
I have moved on to amendment 63. As I stated clearly during stage 2 when we considered an almost identical amendment, which was not agreed to by the Rural A...
Douglas Ross (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
If the cabinet secretary feels that amendments should be rejected at stage 3 when they were rejected at stage 2, could the same argument not apply when the G...