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Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee 11 January 2023

11 Jan 2023 · S6 · Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Item of business

Budget 2023-24

Gougeon, Mairi SNP Angus North and Mearns Watch on SPTV

Thank you very much, convener. When I appeared before the committee in October, I set out the priorities for the rural affairs and islands portfolio, and I am pleased to come back today to set out how the 2023-24 Scottish budget, presented by the Deputy First Minister to Parliament in December, supports those priorities. The budget takes place in the most turbulent economic and financial context that most people can remember. It therefore demands a response from Government that supports the most vulnerable and, ultimately, helps to build a sustainable economy. That is why we have chosen a progressive path for this budget, investing in our people, our economy and our public services. The resource and capital spending reviews set out, as best we could at the time, the spending priorities of the Government and the high-level financial parameters for portfolio envelopes. However, a lot has changed in the months since those reviews were published. We have had two fiscal events from the United Kingdom Government, which have both had a direct impact on Scotland and its economy. The autumn statement in November fell short of the interventions that Scotland needs to guide us through this cost crisis. That means that we continue to feel the impacts of the most severe economic upheaval in our generation, and we will continue to do so for some time. Despite that, our spending reviews, our programme for government, the emergency budget review and the 2023-24 budget all show that this Government is determined to act. We are focused on eradicating child poverty, creating sustainable public services and transforming our economy to net zero. We do not view those as three competing objectives; we view them as priorities that are linked. Although it is true that the Government has not been able to do everything that we would have wanted to do at the pace that we would have wanted, we have taken action to support those priorities. In relation to the rural affairs and islands budget, the spend of the portfolio supports some of our most fragile communities, businesses and sectors at a time when they are feeling the effects of multiple shocks: Brexit, recovering from the pandemic and, of course, dealing with the significant challenges of the cost crisis. As I did in 2022-23, I will prioritise the direct cash injection that my portfolio makes in rural and island areas and across the agriculture and marine sectors. Some £650 million will continue to be invested across those sectors, providing much-needed economic stability. Our commitment to supporting the ambitions for our islands has been strong, with £8.5 million allocated from the portfolio for the islands programme and the carbon neutral islands project. We are living in a global climate and nature emergency, with climate change and a loss of biodiversity among the greatest threats faced by people and our planet, so we are dedicated to our critical work with the agriculture sector to co-develop and deliver on our vision for agriculture, which includes an investment of more than £44 million over 2023-24 to help Scotland become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture. We are also delivering a new round of agri-environment support, with more than £36 million of planned investment over the coming year. The blue economy vision for Scotland sets out the long-term outcomes that we want to see for our marine environment, our people and our economy. That work, together with the £14 million increase in Marine Scotland’s budget, is representative of this Government’s commitment to net zero and to enhancing biodiversity through the expansion of offshore renewables, climate-related research and environmental protection. We are, of course, living in extremely difficult times, and, as we look ahead, there are still many challenges to overcome. That makes the budget and allocating funding between priorities extremely and increasingly difficult, but I am confident that the balance that the Government has achieved is the right one, and I will continue working across the Scottish Government and with our partners across Scotland to deliver for our rural, coastal and island communities. I am happy to take any questions that the committee might have.

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Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee 11 January 2023

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