Committee
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee 05 October 2021
05 Oct 2021 · S6 · Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Item of business
Proposed Right to Food (Scotland) Bill
We move to Pam Gosal. Can you hear us, Pam? We will go back to Pam after we have heard from Karen Adam.
In the same item of business
The Convener
SNP
Item 2 is evidence on the proposed right to food (Scotland) bill. I welcome Rhoda Grant MSP and Nick Hawthorne, who is a senior assistant clerk in the Parlia...
Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Lab
Thank you for inviting me to appear before the committee to discuss the statement of reasons that accompanies my draft proposal for a right to food (Scotland...
The Convener
SNP
That is great—thank you. The committee is aware that our role today is not to consider whether we agree with the proposal; it is to consider the statement of...
Rhoda Grant
Lab
I do not think that the number of responses was particularly low—71 people responded on behalf of organisations and 181 individuals responded, which is a rea...
The Convener
SNP
Two thirds of the bodies that were targeted did not respond. Do you want to comment on the fact that two thirds of the organisations that were highlighted as...
Rhoda Grant
Lab
As I said, a number of those organisations were statutory bodies, such as health boards, which might not have seen the proposal as their number 1 priority. T...
The Convener
SNP
Do you not think that the fact that the consultation was carried out at the height of the pandemic would have made it difficult for some of those organisatio...
Rhoda Grant
Lab
Not necessarily. I think that policy people would have been working from home, as many of us were, and might have had more time to look at the proposal. Howe...
The Convener
SNP
Thank you. Maggie Chapman is next.
Maggie Chapman (North East Scotland) (Green)
Green
Thank you for coming along to talk to us. Following on from the convener’s questions, I am interested to explore the relationship between your proposed bill...
Rhoda Grant
Lab
I am aware that those pieces of legislation have been promised. It was promised that the good food nation bill would be introduced in the previous session, b...
The Convener
SNP
We move to Pam Gosal. Can you hear us, Pam? We will go back to Pam after we have heard from Karen Adam.
Karen Adam (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP)
SNP
Good morning, Rhoda. You touched on the Scottish Government’s intentions. Have you had discussions with the Government about its policy intentions?
Rhoda Grant
Lab
In the previous parliamentary session, I had discussions with the previous Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity about the proposed good food ...
Karen Adam
SNP
Thank you.
The Convener
SNP
We can come back to Pam Gosal now.
Pam Gosal (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
Thank you, convener, and good morning, Rhoda. We hope that we are getting over Covid, and we are in a very different place. Rhoda, you said that no further ...
Rhoda Grant
Lab
I do not think so. We have had a Government consultation and Elaine Smith’s consultation, and a fair amount of discussion has taken place—the statement of re...
Pam Duncan-Glancy (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
Good morning, Rhoda. The statement of reasons highlights the extensive consultation that was carried out in the previous session—both the official consultati...
Rhoda Grant
Lab
I should say that I am a member of the Co-op Party—that is in my entry in the register of members’ interests. The party is very keen on the proposal. I am w...
Alexander Stewart (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
Thank you for coming. We need to pay tribute to Elaine Smith for what she did. Thank you for taking on the role. We have heard that, in your opinion, it is ...
Rhoda Grant
Lab
I am not entirely clear about how the Scottish Government intends to introduce its human rights bill, so I am not clear whether there will be a vehicle for d...
The Convener
SNP
I will follow on from the points that you have made. We received a letter from the cabinet secretary making it clear that, in her view, the right to food is ...
Rhoda Grant
Lab
I will come on to the process points. If the Government wishes to introduce the bill in another form, I do not think that anything that I propose today—that...
Nick Hawthorne (Scottish Parliament)
Good morning. Nothing affects what the Scottish Government can or will decide to do, in that sense. Should the committee approve the statement today, Rhoda G...
The Convener
SNP
That was not, in fact, my question. My question was whether the fact that the Government has made a commitment in such clear terms, in the agreement between ...
Rhoda Grant
Lab
As Nick Hawthorne said, approving the statement of reasons and allowing the proposal to go forward today would not interfere with that in any way whatsoever....
The Convener
SNP
One would hope that the Parliament could work together on the matter. My point was not really the one that Rhoda Grant picked up on. It was more about the re...
Maggie Chapman
Green
I am not satisfied, no.
Karen Adam
SNP
No, I am not satisfied.