 I remind members of the Covid-related measures that are in place and that face coverings should be worn when moving around the chamber and across the Holyrood campus. The next item of business is portfolio questions and the portfolio is rural affairs and islands. I remind members that questions 1 and 5 are grouped together and that I will take supplementaries on those questions after both have been answered. If a member wishes to request a supplementary question, they should press the request-to-speak button or indicate so in the chat function by entering the letter R during the relevant question. Question 1, Katie Clark. To ask the Scottish Government what recent actions it has taken to support the rural economy on Arran. The Scottish Government is committed to supporting our rural economies and including that of Arran. Last June, I launched the islands community fund, which the community of Arran seabed trust is already a beneficiary of, receiving £130,000. The Arran pioneer project has received £14,508 through the healthy islands fund and through the islands infrastructure fund, North Ayrshire Council would receive £259,000 to spend on infrastructure on Arran and Cymru. Katie Clark. The cabinet secretary will be aware of the problems associated with the ferry cancellations which affected Arran this month. I understand that the island connectivity plan is overdue. How does the plan link with ferry service levels and the contingency plans for the islands when problems occur associated with ferry cancellations? Will the minister be willing to meet with passenger groups to discuss the challenges? I am sure that the member will be aware of a lot of those matters, particularly in relation to ferry or the responsibility of the transport minister. I try and engage as much as I possibly can personally with my overall responsibilities for the islands. I want to say that we are aware of the impacts of the pandemic on Arran and other island communities and how frustrating that is when ferry services are affected. We cannot lose sight of why those services are lifeline ones, because children need them to get to school, residents need them to access services on the mainland, public services and local businesses need them to get their workers back and forth. I want to use the opportunity to emphasise that we need everyone to consider carefully the current advice, which is to stay at home as much as possible and whether their ferry trip is essential. Every time someone takes the virus on board a ferry, it puts the health of crews at risk, which then puts the service at risk, and that has significant wider impacts, some of which we have seen recently. We all need to work together in the short term to minimise the impact of the variant and try to sustain those lifeline services for island communities. Touching on the point that the member raised about the islands connectivity plan, I would be happy to get back to the member with further detail on that, but that is due to commencing and published this year. To ask the Scottish Government what preparations it has made to support the rural economies of Scotland's islands in light of the anticipated impact of the Omicron variant. The Scottish Government continues to support our island economies and communities. We recognise the difficulties that our updated Covid-19 guidance brings, which has been put in place to protect public health. That is why we announced our £375 million support package for businesses before Christmas. That is in addition to our £30 million islands programme investment to support delivery of the national islands plan over the course of the next five years. The Government is also investing up to £50 million through the island's growth deal over the next 10 years. Island economies are facing serious challenges as a result of Covid-19 in its variants. They have now lost almost £20 million of funding following Brexit. That is a case reflected across all of Scotland's islands, where many residents feel abandoned and unable to afford housing and transport. Can the minister outline if the currently outdated assessment of the needs of islanders and industries that are connected to island tourism will be reviewed over the now worsening impact of Covid-19? I completely understand the issues that the members identified there, whether that is in relation to the Covid-19 impact and the impacts of Brexit that the member highlighted. Housing was also touched on there. We recognise the issues that there are with housing. That is a critical issue that I repeatedly hear about when I am engaging with different stakeholders and communities. However, we have the rural and island housing action plan, which will be getting developed and will, hopefully, alleviate some of the issues that are being experienced. Of course, those are not individual. We cannot just look at each of those in a silo. There are a number of different issues that we are looking to address, whether that is in connectivity with the £588 million investment for ferry services over the next five years, as well as the investment through the islands programme that we hope will together have an impact and a positive impact for our island communities. I will take some supplementaries first from Alistair Allan, who is joining us remotely. Clearly, delivering or supporting businesses, as usual, has a key role to play in supporting island economies and communities. What is the Scottish Government doing to ensure that planned funding is being delivered continuously? We are working with local authorities. We also work closely together with our enterprise agencies and other key partners to ensure that the additional funding that is coming forward reaches businesses as soon as possible. Work began before Christmas with a view to getting those payments issued at the earliest opportunity. All partners are clear that providing this funding to businesses who need it is an absolute priority. Businesses on our island are absolutely scunnerd by the endless disruption to services that are not caused by the weather, Covid or Brexit, but everything to do with mechanical failure and the fact that their new ferry has not yet arrived. Will any of those businesses be compensated for loss of revenue or income as a result of mechanical failure or unreliable vessels? As I have said in previous responses today, ferry services are key to supporting the economic, social and cultural development of our island communities. Operators will ensure where possible and when it is safe to do so that services are provided to connect lifeline and remote island mainland communities when opportunities arise. As I have previously touched on, the Scottish Government announced a £580 million five-year investment plan as part of our infrastructure investment on 4 February last year. That substantial funding will improve Scotland's ferry services over the course of the next five years as part of our wider infrastructure investment. Ferry services are of course of crucial importance to Arn's economy, so too are workers. Average house prices of over £272,000 put them beyond the reach of young families. Only 11 per cent of Arn's housing is socially rented. The Scottish Government allocated £2.38 million to North Easter Council to build 34 council houses, which is £70,000 for each home. With 86, 3 per cent of Arn homes lying empty, what further steps will the minister take to bring those properties back into use and enable the construction of more affordable homes across Arn's rapidly-aging communities? As a Government, we have committed to delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, and with 70 per cent of those for social rent and at least 10 per cent of those in remote, rural and island locations. Planned investment in North Easter Council over this Parliament is over £81 million, which is an increase of £14 million on the previous Parliament. The member talks about empty homes and tackling that remains a key priority. The actions in housing to 2040 will help to ensure that wasted resources are brought back into residential use. As I have touched on previously, we are also developing a rural and island housing action plan to ensure that we meet the needs of those areas. Before I call question number two, can I just alert the chamber and the questioner, Mark Ruskell, that the minister, Mary McCallan, was primed to answer this question, but she is remote and is having technical difficulties, and hence the question will be answered by the cabinet secretary. Question number two, Mark Ruskell, remote. Thank you. Presiding yourself, I've had some technical difficulties myself. To ask the Scottish Government when the rural affairs secretary last met Marine Scotland to discuss Scotland's marine assessment 2020. The previous cabinet secretary for environment, climate change and land reform last met Marine Scotland to specifically discuss Scotland's marine assessment 2020 on 10 December that year, before its publication on the 21st. I regularly meet with Marine Scotland officials to discuss a range of marine issues that are captured within Scotland's marine assessment. The Scottish Government is committed to protecting our natural environment and ensuring that human activity in and around our seas is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable. The measures in support of marine environmental protection enshrined in the Bute house agreement clearly demonstrate that commitment. Mark Ruskell. Well, Thanik, I thank the cabinet secretary for that reassurance that the Bute house agreement certainly includes a whole suite of commitments to strengthen protections of marine environment by supporting sustainable management of our fisheries. I'm very encouraged by the news today that the protection for cod spawning in the Firth of Clyde will be reintroduced this year and critically with no exemptions. Can the cabinet secretary comment then on the objectives behind this action and the benefits that it aims to deliver? In line with the Bute house agreement, we want to restore marine habitats in Scotland's inshore waters and that's why we've decided to continue the February to April seasonal Clyde cod spawning closure for 2022-23 without those exemptions. Despite the seasonal closure being in place since 2002, unfortunately the stock has shown very little signs of recovery and that's why it seems sensible to maximise any potential benefit from the closure to really try and assist that stock recovery. We acknowledge that this will have a short-term impact on local fishers because the closure will be for a period of 11 weeks, but we believe that this measure will provide a higher chance of stock recovery and contribute to a more sustainable fishery in the west of Scotland. I'll take some supplementaries from Rhoda Grant, who's joining us remotely. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I ask what confidence can the cabinet secretary have in the assessment or indeed implementing the marine plan when the front-line workers involved in policing it are facing the real-terms pay cut? Marine Scotland's seafarers are among the lowest paid within the public sector. That leads to a loss of experience staff and, as a result, patrol vessels are often tied up because they cannot be fully crewed. Will she now deliver a fair pay settlement that brings them into line with other public sector workers? Be happy to look into the issues that the member raises and get back to her with a full response. I ask the cabinet secretary what the Scottish Government is doing to tackle the persistent problem of marine litter, which has such an impact on water and environmental quality, but crucially can also cause real harm to marine wildlife. The member is absolutely right about the harms that marine litter can cause, and it results from improper waste disposal, both on land and sea. The Scottish Government has developed legislation and policies under its marine litter strategy and the national litter and fly tipping strategy to help to reduce the form of pollution. That includes bans on many single-use plastic products that are commonly found in beach litter such as cotton buds, as well as encouraging recycling with a planned deposit return scheme for drinks containers. Both of those strategies have recently been reviewed and fresh versions with new actions are currently open to public consultation. That consultation is open until 22 March this year and 31 March respectively, so I urge and encourage people to take part in that consultation and make sure that their views are known. Fishing fleet in Pettinwim and other harbors in Fife feel they are being squeezed out by the increasing number of offshore wind farms in the forth. Can the cabinet secretary guarantee that further applications for such wind farms will consider the cumulative impact on this important industry? I thank the member for raising this really important point and having met some of the fishers who are impacted by this. Having met the member directly to discuss this, I completely appreciate the concerns that the fishers have in relation to that. As a result of the meeting that I had with the member, there are a number of actions that we are taking away to look at in relation to that. As fisheries minister, that is my responsibility to engage and to ensure that concerns that are raised by our fishers are taken into account when some of those decisions are taken. To ask the Scottish Government how the fishing quota is secured during the trilateral negotiations will be distributed to fishing businesses to incentivise more sustainable practices. I am pleased that we have concluded the trilateral negotiations between the UK, EU and Norway for 2022 securing an estimated benefit to Scotland of £97 million. The Scottish Government has made efforts to allocate quota to incentivise more sustainable practices. For example, in recent years, we have allocated a greater share of available macro quota to our inshore vessels to be caught by handline. In 2021 alone, this macro fishing opportunity was utilised by over 300 inshore vessels, where we estimate that they landed over 1,300 tonnes worth around £1.6 million. In 2022, we will continue to allocate quota to our inshore vessels to allow for increased diversification opportunities and fishing methods associated with a lower environmental impact. The negotiations showed that we are still way off the mark when it comes to sustainability. The Government's own agreed records of the negotiations, for example, showed 47 per cent of place, 30 per cent of had it caught in 2021 that was discarded. Section 25 of the Fisheries Act specifically requires ministers to incentivise the use of selective fishing gear and fishing techniques that have reduced impact on the environment when distributing quota. As the cabinet secretary set out, it still does not go far enough as far as the Government's own measures. Will the cabinet secretary ensure that there are changes made to the way that quota is distributed when the Government sets out its new futures catching policy to make sure that sustainability is given a far higher priority? I want to clarify that the Scottish Government allocates fishing quota in line with the UK Fisheries Act 2020. When it came to the allocation of quota this year and in 2021, we sought to widen that socio-economic benefit and the reduced environmental impact by allocating that quota to methods of fishing that are associated with the reduced environmental impact, as I outlined in my initial answer. The way that we allocate additional quota that is the changes to the UK's quota share as a result of Brexit is to be the subject of a Scottish Government consultation this year, which will take effect in subsequent years. I ask the cabinet secretary how the Scottish Government is supporting new entrants into fishing and ensuring that development in aquaculture is also sustainable. The Scottish Government is supporting new entrants into the fishing industry through the Marine Fund Scotland and the future of fisheries management strategy. The Marine Fund Scotland can assist young fishers to purchase their first fishing boat or to have a share in a fishing boat. It promotes greater diversity in the industry and training through the industry body sea fish. It also supports aquaculture with projects to ensure a sustainable future as well as the economic benefits that come from that. Having announced awards from the fund, we have already heard back from recipients about the really profound and positive impact that this has had on them. It is a really good example of how this Government is working to support our rural communities. We are also committed to the sustainable development of aquaculture and we will set out how we will do that through our vision for sustainable aquaculture. In the last financial year 2021-22, the Scottish Government has provided £1,263,800 in funding from the rural budget to a range of farming charities in Scotland. Those include providing funding to the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland and the Royal Highland Education Trust, including for food education, to grow biz, to support learning and training and also to the national rural mental health forum and support in mind Scotland to support mental health and wellbeing. We also provide funding to RSABI to help it operate a helpline for seasonal agricultural workers, as well as support for young people and women in agriculture. Over the past year, all of those organisations have undertaken invaluable work that has supported people in agricultural and rural communities across Scotland. I really just want to take this opportunity to thank them for the tremendous difference that they have made. Farmers and roads working in the agricultural and rural sectors have experienced great difficulty with mental health and loneliness throughout the pandemic. As lockdowns and self-isolation have added to those difficulties, the Royal Uncoach of Benevolent's institution big farming survey has revealed that 36 per cent of the entire farming community has described themselves as properly or possibly depressed, and for women and uncoach there are figures higher at 43 per cent. What is the cabinet secretary going to do to support farmers and support farming charities deal with the mental health crisis in our rural communities? Some of the figures that the members have outlined are really concerning. That is why we have offered the levels of funding that we have over the past year. Although we all know that this has been a difficult time, it has been particularly isolating and difficult for those working in our agricultural sector, as Jeremy Balfour outlined. That is why we are committed to maintaining the support and supporting those charities and organisations. As I said in my initial response, we supported and supported in mind Scotland to support work in our rural communities with £150,000 of funding. We have provided the national rural mental health forum with £200,000 worth of funding since 2017-18, and we are also continuing to fund RSAPI because it undertakes such critical and important work. We continue to engage with the charities to see whether there is more that we can do to try and alleviate the pressure that a lot of people are experiencing. That is why the work that they do is so important and why we are determined to continue supporting them. The cabinet secretary will be aware that isolation can be a key issue for the mental health and wellbeing of people living and working in remote rural areas. Will she join me in congratulating Sheena Horner for her success with her Run1000.org initiative, which is now in its second year? I am delighted to congratulate Sheena and the other members of Team Scotland on their success in taking part in Run1000 last year, as well as all the participants this year. I see constant tweets about it on my Twitter feed. I tried to sign up to it myself, but I have been unable to connect my Strava to it as yet, because it is such an important initiative. Sheena really has done fantastic work. That is where participants, for those who are not aware of the initiative, walked or ran during the month of January. They are doing that this year, and every step that they take counts towards their country's collective miles, because that is taking place in other countries across the UK. It was such a tremendous achievement to raise so much money for RSAPI, and I know that Sheena has rightly been nominated for and won awards for what started off as an idea to support her own wellbeing in lockdown. I know that the member will be aware that Run1000, as I have stated, is back for a second year this year, and participants are taking part in the mental health fundraiser again when the initiative will return for battle of the nations across the UK. For the first time, New Zealand is joining in that as well. I really want to take that opportunity again to highlight the amazing work that Sheena Horner has done and to congratulate her for that. Thank you, and could I make a plea for succinct questions and answers? If that happens, we will be able to get everybody else in. Question 6, Emma Roddick, who is joining us remotely. The Scottish Government, how is progressing plans for carbon neutral islands? We recently announced our intention to support six rather than three Scottish islands through the carbon neutral islands project. Work is under way to consider the selection process for that, and our intention is to start work with the selected islands and their communities this year as outlined in the programme for government. Emma Roddick. In September of last year, a report by the Scottish Affairs Select Committee concluded that locational transmission charges weigh more heavily on developers in Scotland when projects in other parts of the UK, such as Wales, are paid to connect to the grid. Does the cabinet secretary share my concern that this unjust situation will hamper the progress of renewable energy development in Scotland's island communities? I share the member's concerns, because Scotland's islands have been leaders in renewable energy development and innovation, and that is why we are determined to harness that potential and build on that success to meet Scotland's 2045 net zero ambitions. The higher transmission network use of system charges remains a key barrier to net zero in Scotland. Ofgem's analysis shows that, by 2040, Scottish renewable and low-carbon generators will be the only ones paying a wider transmission network charge with all others, including gas generators elsewhere in GB, being paid credits. In our response to Ofgem's recent call for evidence on the transmission network use of system charges, we have made clear that a new approach is needed, rather than the small modifications to existing methodologies of Ofgem's charging reviews and decision-making. It should really take fully into account the effects on renewables project costs and ensure that those do not present barriers to investment and progress in Scotland. SNP Government is failing to deliver carbon-neutral islands with a cut to agricultural transformation by £20 million for crofters. Peatland restoration targets have not achieved a falling proportion of low-emission ferries not delivered. Cabinet Secretary, with net zero targets to meet, why is your Government failing to deliver carbon-neutral for islanders and crofters? I completely disagree with the assertions made by the members there and the fact that this initiative cannot have failed because it is yet to even begin and the work is on going to deliver that. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to strengthen the legal requirements for dog breeding. Last year, we introduced new animal licensing regulations, which significantly updated and strengthened the legal requirements in Scotland for anyone breeding three or more litres of puppies in any 12-month period. Those new requirements came into force on 1 September. We recognise, however, that more needs to be done to tackle the scourge of low-welfare breeders operating out with Scotland, but who illegally import puppies for sale here. Earlier this week, the Parliament gave its consent for certain provisions of the Kept Animals Bill to apply in Scotland, and that bill provides Scottish ministers with regulation-making powers to prohibit the importation of dogs under six months old and late-stage pregnant dams. The introduction of those measures has the potential to impact significantly on the activities of those importing illegally bred puppies, and we will seek to bring forward new legislation using the powers set out in the bill at the earliest opportunity. I thank the minister for the answer. The animal welfare regulations introduced last year updated the licensing system for dog breeders and brought the threshold, of course, for breeding registration from five litres a year down to three. The Kennel Club anticipated that this would require an additional nine to eight breeders to be registered with them. Dogs trust have also said that this threshold must be reduced even further to include anyone breeding a litter, and additional regulations such as mandatory inclusion of breeding registration and licensing numbers must be introduced to ensure that we can effectively tackle unscrupulous breeders and dealers, especially as more families work from home and are taking on puppies and prices are soaring. Does the Scottish Government intend to publish any evaluation or analysis of the impact of the 2021 animal welfare regulations, and does it have any plans to revisit the provisions within them? I just want to assure the member that we are in regular contact with all of our key stakeholders, such as the Kennel Club and the Dogs Trust, whom I met with, just towards the end of last year. First of all, I want to hear their thoughts on the new regulations, but of course they have just been introduced, so we will continue to monitor that closely. That is a problem that we are serious about tackling, because it is such a massive problem that has only been encouraged through and gotten worse over the course of the pandemic. We are committed to taking action where that is necessary to try to tackle that. I can get a few supplementaries in if we really do have succinct questions and answers. The first is from Maurice Golden, who is joining us remotely. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Unfortunately, it is the case that particular breeds are often targeted by thieves with breeders and sellers having to take extra precautions. Does the Cabinet Secretary recognise the need to strengthen both deterrents and protections for breeders to help to stamp out that practice? Absolutely. We continue to engage with all our relevant stakeholders in relation to looking at what more we can do to try to tackle some of the problems that we are seeing. However, some of the powers that we have received through the Kept Animals Bill and the LCM that was passed this week will go a long way to tackling some of those issues, as well as the regulations that we introduced last year. However, as I say, this is a situation that we continue to monitor to see what else we can do to try to tackle some of those issues. I am aware that the cabinet secretary was involved in the buy a puppy safely campaign, which sought to provide the public with information on how to identify puppies' bread from farms and what to do in those circumstances. Can the cabinet secretary outline what to look for when buying a puppy and how to avoid buying from puppy farms? Of course, there are a number of key safeguards and things that people can do to really guard against that. Ideally, I would advise anyone who is looking to buy a puppy to avoid buying them through online ad sites and, instead, to look out and establish reputable breeders and to be prepared to actually wait to receive a puppy as well, because reputable breeders have waiting lists for a reason. I would also advise never to buy a puppy from a breeder who does not let you see the pup with its mother and always try to get the puppy's paperwork. That should include the vaccination and microchip records when you collect the puppy, because, if there is not any paperwork, it is very likely that you are buying an illegally bred puppy. If you have any concerns, I would advise buyers to walk away and to get in touch with the Scottish SPCA to look into any concerns.