Meeting of the Parliament 27 January 2026 [Draft]
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 Government will carefully consider any recommendations that it makes in the next three to four months. I do not know whether Mr Mountain heard me say that just before I invited him to intervene.
On that basis, I believe that it would be better to wait until the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission has reported before deciding what steps to take. I know that Mr Fairlie will take its recommendations seriously.
Therefore, I ask Mr Mason not to move amendments 24 to 26, as I assure him that the Scottish Government will give full consideration to any recommendations that the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission makes.
I come to amendments 46 and 47, which were lodged by Ms Villalba. Those amendments are unnecessary. As I have previously set out, and as is detailed in the policy memorandum,
“Habitat condition and extent includes the quality and/or extent of habitat types of importance to Scotland, including protected habitats.”
I reiterate that the target topics in the bill have been carefully selected through a robust science-led approach and on the basis of advice from the biodiversity programme advisory group and NatureScot. The target topics that are included in the bill are wide and overarching enough to allow a variety of targets to be set under each topic. Therefore, there is no need to add specific habitat types, because they are already covered in the legislation.