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Showing 60 of 2,354,908 contributions. Latest 30 days: 0. Coverage: 12 May 1999 — 25 Mar 2026.

Edward Mountain Con Chamber

Portfolio Question Time · Stoma-friendly Toilets (National Health Service)

I thank the minister for that, and I thank her for her work during this parliamentary session in helping me to achieve my aim. As a result of my campaign, I am pleased to report that NHS Highland has made good progress in making its accessible toilets stoma friendly. I am also...

6. Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con Chamber

Portfolio Question Time · Stoma-friendly Toilets (National Health Service)

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS boards have all of their accessible toilets as stoma-friendly toilets. (S6O-05706)

Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con Chamber

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

As this will be my last speech in the Parliament, I hope that the minister will excuse me if I touch only briefly on the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill. It is nothing like what we were promised in 2016. I agree with the minister that crofting needs a simpler future to s...

Edward Mountain Con Chamber

Climate Change Plan

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. With respect, I find that answer to my question to be troubling, because it is clear that the NZET Committee called for drop-in fuels—not just biofuels but a combination of fuels to allow diesel vehicles to continue to work. I find it di...

Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con Chamber

Climate Change Plan

Finally, we have the climate change plan, on the penultimate sitting day of the parliamentary session. In the 40 minutes that we have had to look at it—let me be clear that I have always called for that period to be much longer—I have found no clear synopsis of the changes fro...

Edward Mountain Con Chamber

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

I remember that we started looking at the issue of crofting reform when I first came into the Parliament in 2016. It was agreed that crofting reform is not just about crofting but about keeping the population in the crofting areas and providing a sanctuary for language and peo...

Edward Mountain Con Chamber

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

I have listened carefully to what the minister has said, which gives me some confidence. However, I will make a small observation: crofting commissioners are paid £10,812 a year for working four and a half days per month. If it were decided that an additional commissioner was ...

Edward Mountain Con Chamber

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

I will not give in to temptation and say that that might prove too difficult for some landlords. As Dr Allan knows, the current representative of landlords’ interests on the commission is a Gaelic speaker, so theirs is dual-hat position. I very much take his point, but I am tr...

Edward Mountain Con Chamber

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

I will just finish this point and then I will come back to Dr Allan.If amendment 56 is not agreed to, my amendment 57 would provide an option for the commission—without forcing it—to co-opt a member who represents the interests of landlords.

Edward Mountain Con Chamber

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

The two amendments in my name are the only ones in the group. The amendments relate to the representation of landlords’ interests on the Crofting Commission. Before anyone questions that, I advise that I am not a landlord and I have no landlord’s interest. I am purely a tenant...

Edward Mountain Con Chamber

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

I will keep this short and sweet. I understand what the minister says, but practical experience tells me that my amendments would be a sensible way forward. Therefore, I will press amendment 51. If it falls, I will not move amendments 52 to 55. The Conservative members will su...

Edward Mountain Con Chamber

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

I have five amendments—51 to 55—in the group. These amendments are about promoting communication between the crofter and the landlord at the point of registration. We all agree that registration of crofts is absolutely critical and it has been Government policy for a while. Th...

Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con Chamber

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 3

I thank the minister for taking the time to meet me and trying to find compromise. Sometimes that is not possible, but he tried very hard on this, and for that I am grateful.In relation to common grazings, I am sad that we have not resolved the issue of what are often called s...

Edward Mountain Con Chamber

First Minister’s Question Time · Care Home Deposit Fees

Many care homes do not charge deposits, but when they do, the deposit can be up to three months of costs, which could be in excess of £20,000 per resident. That means that some individual care homes are sitting on, and earning interest on, £1 million-worth of deposits.It has t...

5. Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con Chamber

First Minister’s Question Time · Care Home Deposit Fees

To ask the First Minister what plans the Scottish Government has to regulate deposit fees in care homes. (S6F-04773)

Edward Mountain Con Committee

Northern Ireland Troubles Bill

I share the view of the cabinet secretary that the system should treat everyone equally. My fear is that the bill will make the situation unequal for those who have responded to the call of their country to do what they are asked to do. I do not need to mention that three Scot...

Edward Mountain Con Committee

Northern Ireland Troubles Bill

I have one more question. Cabinet secretary, what I know is that the majority of us have no idea what it is like for the people whom we ask to serve their country and whom we throw into harm’s way. Decisions must be made in split seconds, when things go—excuse the vernacular—b...

Edward Mountain Con Committee

Northern Ireland Troubles Bill

A legacy commission is being set up by the bill, which you support. Will the legacy commission look at both sides of the argument, unlike what happened in the past, before the 2023 bill, when it was just soldiers and servicemen and women who were hauled before the legacy commi...

Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con Committee

Northern Ireland Troubles Bill

Thank you, convener. I am grateful that you have allowed me to join your meeting this morning. In my 10 years in the Parliament, it is the one committee that I have not attended.I want to make a declaration up front, so that everyone knows exactly where I am coming from. I was...

Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con Chamber

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill

We have finally reached the last stage of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill. I am sure that, for many, it has been a long and uncomfortable journey. We have all had to consider our own mortality and that of our constituents. Looking death in the eye ...

The Convener Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

I will now move the meeting into private session.09:27Meeting continued in private until 10:34.

The Convener Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Sorry, but when we considered the negative instrument—the Environmental Protection (Wet Wipes Containing Plastic) (Scotland) Regulations 2026—I failed to be clear. I want to know whether the committee agrees that it does not wish to make any recommendation in relation to the i...

The Convener Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

We will write to the Scottish Government to that effect.We now move into private session. I suggest that we move to the private agenda items directly, because we have a lot of work to do.09:26Meeting suspended.09:27On resuming—

The Convener Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Agenda item 6 is consideration of a further proposal by the Scottish Government to consent to the UK Government legislating in a devolved area as set out in the UK statutory instrument proposal? for the Green Gas Support Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2026. The proposed regula...

The Convener Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

We will write to the Scottish Government to that effect.

The Convener Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Item 5 is consideration of the proposal by the Scottish Government to consent to UK Government legislating in devolved areas, as set out in the UK statutory instrument proposal for the Mandatory Water Efficiency Labelling Regulations 2026. The proposed regulations would introd...

The Convener Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Is the committee happy to delegate power to me to write to the Government on behalf of the committee to inform it of Sarah Boyack’s comment about monitoring and Mark Ruskell’s comment about the UK-wide approach to the instrument when we notify it that we have considered the in...

The Convener Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Welcome back to this meeting of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee. The next agenda item is consideration of an SSI that has been laid under the negative procedure, which means that it will come into force unless the Parliament agrees a motion to annul it. No such mo...

The Convener Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Thank you, cabinet secretary. As you have had the last word, we will briefly suspend the meeting before we move on to the next item of business.09:18Meeting suspended.09:20On resuming—

The Convener Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Before you disappear, cabinet secretary, you have engaged with the committee quite heavily over the past few years on land reform and various other matters. Disappointingly, I did not always get my way on the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, but I—and, I think, the committee—have ...

The Convener Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Do committee members agree to delegate authority to me, as convener, to approve a draft of the report for publication?Members indicated agreement.

The Convener Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

As there are no more questions, we will move on to agenda item 3, which is a debate on motion S6M-20874.There are no contributions from members. Cabinet secretary, would you like to comment, or would you like to just move the motion?

The Convener Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

The Convener Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

I was looking for a simple answer, and I think that the answer that you have given me is yes.

The Convener Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

My concern, since we first heard about the instrument, has been that, in order to make it work, we will have to enforce it. That will mean taking responsibility for policing it in some ways. I guess that the policing falls to the UK Government, but are you saying that, if ther...

The Convener Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

I will ask a very simple question. The instrument talks about “Scottish persons” and the responsibilities of the Scottish Government. What does it mean for policing? Will the Scottish Government be responsible for policing or prosecuting Scottish persons?

The Convener Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Item 2 is consideration of a draft statutory instrument, on which the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee has made no comment. I welcome Mairi Gougeon, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands. She is accompanied by her supporting officials: Micha...

The Convener (Edward Mountain) Con Committee

Decision on Taking Business in Private

Good morning, and welcome to the 13th meeting in 2026 of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee. I welcome Sarah Boyack, who will be substituting for Monica Lennon this morning.Our first item of business is a decision on taking items 7, 8 and 9 in private. Item 7 is cons...

Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con Chamber

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

I wonder whether the member sees the problems that many of us have with regard to money for palliative care being moved aside if this bill is passed. That is deeply difficult for many of us to understand. Not having proper palliative care would, I feel, be a form of coercion w...

Edward Mountain Con Chamber

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

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My voting app would not connect. Bizarrely enough, I would have abstained.Members: Ooh!

Edward Mountain Con Chamber

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

I raised the issue in Parliament the other day, after you wrote to the committee before the stage 3 debate saying that there was no extra funding and that the funding would have to come from within the existing national health budget. Can you confirm that that remains the case...

Edward Mountain Con Chamber

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

What I am trying to get my brain around is that we voted for an earlier amendment that means that the medical professional has to sit with the patient until the patient has died, and I am still not clear about what happens when things do not work out as anticipated after they ...

Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con Chamber

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

This is only the second time that I have spoken in the debate, and I have lodged no stage 3 amendments, which is unusual for me.This part of the bill troubles me more than most parts of it do. When is it appropriate to raise the issue of assisted dying? I do not support the bi...

Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con Chamber

Business Motions

This is a difficult problem for the Parliamentary Bureau to wrestle with. I will not be clever and try to suggest all sorts of answers. However, one thing that is clear to me from my short time—10 years—in the Parliament is that, when we sit late towards midnight, we tend not ...

Edward Mountain Con Chamber

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

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Unfortunately, I pressed the wrong button. I voted no when I should have abstained. I know that I cannot change my vote, but I would like to put that on the record.

Edward Mountain Con Committee

Salmon Farming in Scotland

With respect, cabinet secretary, if 25 per cent of my cows died every year, I would be out of business, and I would not want to continue, because I would be sickened by it. I leave it at that.

Edward Mountain Con Committee

Salmon Farming in Scotland

Edward Mountain Con Committee

Salmon Farming in Scotland

My final question is this. If the figure reached 10 per cent and there were fish pens across Scotland where 10 per cent was being exceeded in every production cycle—I can point you to a few, cabinet secretary, but I will resist the temptation to do that—would that be an accept...

Edward Mountain Con Committee

Salmon Farming in Scotland

The figures are remaining stubbornly high and well above the numbers that the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee considered to be totally unacceptable. Let us translate that to other stock across Scotland. There are about 6.5 million sheep in Scotland. If 1.5 million wer...

Edward Mountain Con Committee

Salmon Farming in Scotland

I remind members that I am a board member of Fisheries Management Scotland.I welcome the committee’s interest in salmon mortality rates, which reflects the work that the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee undertook in 2018. I draw the cabinet secretary’s attention to rec...

Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con Committee

Salmon Farming in Scotland

I remind committee members and members of the public that my entry in the register of members’ interests shows that I am a joint owner of a wild salmon fishery on the River Spey. The River Spey is on the east coast of Scotland and is not directly affected by salmon farming on ...

Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con Chamber

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

This is the first of the few times that I will speak to the bill at stage 3. I start by saying how much I think that our debates on the amendments have shown the Parliament in a good light, in that we have all been able to talk across the issues. I thank the member in charge o...

The Convener Con Committee

Document subject to Parliamentary Control

My other comment is that I remember the committee’s first meeting with ESS, at which our relationship was pencilled out. It was to be close, but it was not to be one in which one would tell the other what to do. I think that that will be the basis of any future relationship th...

The Convener Con Committee

Document subject to Parliamentary Control

As no other members have questions, I will just make two comments, one of which is, in a way, a question.Of course, we do not have the final climate change plan yet; it is up to the Government to lay it, if it wants to, by the end of this parliamentary session, but it does not...

The Convener Con Committee

Document subject to Parliamentary Control

That is good. I will bring in Michael Matheson.

The Convener Con Committee

Document subject to Parliamentary Control

You are saying that public bodies have got used to your existence—I think that that is the expression that you used—but you are pretty sure that they have not become too comfortable with your existence.

The Convener Con Committee

Document subject to Parliamentary Control

Looking forward to the work in the areas that you want to concentrate on—some is proactive and some is reactive—how will you make sure that you spend enough time getting the right responses from your work in the reactive areas? I am slightly concerned. I am keen that, if you s...

The Convener Con Committee

Document subject to Parliamentary Control

Mark, do you want to come in on that?

The Convener Con Committee

Document subject to Parliamentary Control

Thank you very much. I get to ask the first question. What lessons did you learn from your first strategy document about how to implement your second strategy document?

The Convener Con Committee

Document subject to Parliamentary Control

Welcome back to this meeting of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee.The fourth item on our agenda is consideration of Environmental Standards Scotland’s proposed strategy for 2026 to 2031, which has been laid before Parliament under the procedure set out in the UK Wit...

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Committee

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee 11 March 2026 [Draft]

11 Mar 2026 · S6 · Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Item of business

Salmon Farming in Scotland

Mountain, Edward Con Highlands and Islands Watch on SPTV

Mortalities.

In the same item of business

The Convener Con

Our next agenda item is the conclusion of our work on assessing the progress that has been made since our follow-up inquiry on salmon farming by taking evide...

Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con

I remind committee members and members of the public that my entry in the register of members’ interests shows that I am a joint owner of a wild salmon fishe...

The Convener Con

Thank you, Mr Mountain. I invite the cabinet secretary to make a brief opening statement.09:15

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands (Mairi Gougeon) SNP

Good morning. I thank the committee for the opportunity to update it on the progress that we have made just over one year on from its report on salmon farmin...

The Convener Con

Thank you, cabinet secretary. We have allocated approximately two hours for this session. As expected, we have quite a few questions to get through, so succi...

Mairi Gougeon SNP

You have raised a few issues, which I will try to address. However, it is not a case of our saying that avoiding a burden for the industry is more important ...

The Convener Con

That is the issue. We know that individual farms collect a lot more data than they are mandated to publish, as part of their good animal husbandry, animal we...

Mairi Gougeon SNP

I am sorry. Do you mean in relation to the model that was sent to the committee on persistent high mortality?

The Convener Con

Yes. We can model it, but no mortality thresholds that would trigger Government intervention were identified.

Mairi Gougeon SNP

First, I want to respond to your point about there not being trust in the information that is there. Charles Allan might want to come in on this in a minute,...

:Hazel Bartels (Scottish Government)

The recommendation was to regulate in relation to sites that have persistent elevated mortality. We considered that it was not relevant to regulate without u...

The Convener Con

I will come back in first. I take on board the Government’s advanced analytical understanding of mortality. However, that is where the approach falls short a...

Mairi Gougeon SNP

That is the point that we are trying to make. First, before we determine whether we need to regulate, we need to discover whether there is a problem and how ...

:Hazel Bartels

To add to that, if it was found that there was such a problem, the next question that we would have to ask ourselves as policy makers is whether regulation w...

The Convener Con

It is not just about changing behaviour. If we find farms that regularly have high mortality rates, they need to be closed down.

Mairi Gougeon SNP

I am sorry, but it is not as straightforward as that. Again, that is why the modelling work that has been done is so important. If problems were identified, ...

The Convener Con

The committee recommended mandated mortality reporting. We have heard that the Government is not providing that to the level that we would like. However, you...

Mairi Gougeon SNP

No. I would say that we have rejected the mandating of it, because that information is available and we have it. Before introducing regulation, there are oth...

:Hazel Bartels

On the specific point that has been raised, I would just say that none of the data sets was collected in order to do the piece of analytical work that we hav...

The Convener Con

I will run through some of our recommendations and compare them with what was delivered.The committee recommended that the fish health inspectorate should ha...

Mairi Gougeon SNP

There are many points there that it is important for me to address.I would not hesitate to come back here to say, depending on the outcome of the modelling, ...

The Convener Con

Stakeholders including Animal Equality UK have highlighted record-high mortality rates in 2025. What is your basis for the conclusion that persistent elevate...

Mairi Gougeon SNP

Not at all. That is a scientific piece of work that we have presented to the committee. I am sure that Charles Allan and Hazel Bartels can talk a bit more ab...

Alasdair Allan (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (SNP) SNP

The committee has raised an issue about the accessibility of data, and comparisons have been made with Norway’s fish health reports. I appreciate the point t...

Mairi Gougeon SNP

The main focus in that regard is Scotland’s aquaculture website, which is largely where such information can be found. As I touched on in a previous response...

:Jill Barber (Scottish Government)

Work was done to make Scotland’s aquaculture website more user friendly, as the cabinet secretary said. There has been on-going work on the availability of i...

The Convener Con

I will bring in Beatrice Wishart.

Beatrice Wishart (Shetland Islands) (LD) LD

I was going to ask about the improvements that the public could see, but I think that that question has been answered.

Emma Roddick (Highlands and Islands) (SNP) SNP

Cabinet secretary, I am concerned that the mortality figures that we are scrutinising are still incomplete. We still cannot see mortality figures in freshwat...