 Mae ymddiannau bydd ymgyrchu'r cwrdd iawn, yn maes wrth datblygu i Gwysigol Cymru, yn cyffredinol â'r cwrdd iawn, yn credu lleiwyr cyffredinol, ac yn cyffredinol a tyfnod y rhwng Fyrdd yn hawdd ei ddechrau gwrdd iawn. Mae'r cyfrifiwyrfa'n cydynt Cymreifydd yn ei gwrdd iawn. Mae'r cyfrifiwyrfa'n cyfrifiwyrfa'n cyfrifiwyrffa'n cyfrifiwyrfa'n cyfrifiwyrfawr Gowda'n mynd i ni, wrth gwrs, o'n cael ei bwrthegarau ar gyfer Llywodraeth Cymru, ystod y bydd e'r cyfrannu, gorffoddol. Mae'n gawr i gydig i ffromboogi ar gyfer Llywodraeth Cymru a'r cy慮 wneud o haith i'r bwrthegarau Llywodraeth Cymru, yr unig o'r deall ydwyn이 agaig i gael i fynd i'r gwaith. Mae'n gawr i gael i'r gwaith wrth gwrs a gennym, welch i gael i'r bwrthegarau Mae cyflwyll yng nghylch yn fawr. Cymfor y ysgolio mewn yr ysgolio'r byw o'r propofysol y 100 yddiol, ond y cyflwyll yn adrwyst llef, amladd, ond ein welfau a'r ysgolio'r byw o'r wych. Ersgolio er llefodol y gl coronavirus yng Nghymru, ond y gwahog yn cael eu cyflwyll sy'n ymgyrch ysgolio'r cyflwyll. Mae gyflod hynny'r drwy'r cyfrifau ysgolio cyfan gyda hiad o'r 11 y Llywodraeth, my concerns about that and to request information on the current intentions in respect of the bill and I'm currently waiting on a response to that from Deputy Secretary George Eustace. I thank the minister for that answer. This bill was supposed to include bans on the trade and hunting trophies that threaten the conservation status of species abroad and the domestic sale and advertising of experiences overseas like elephant rides that are cruel to animals. Will the minister join me in expressing revulsion at the practice of trophy hunting and practices at perpetuity animal cruelty and does she agree with me that we can pursuits of a handful of Tory peers should not decide the approach to the rights and welfare of animals? I would absolutely join the member in condemning some of the objectionable practices that this bill so importantly seeks to address because the Scottish Government is absolutely committed to the highest possible standards of animal welfare and as set out in our programme for government we had promised to work alongside the UK administration's on legislation to control the important sale of products that raise ethical concerns. Now this bill would have brought in the necessary requirements simultaneously across the UK to address these conservation and animal welfare concerns and the UK government even tabled these proposals as demonstrating UK leadership at international level 2 but sadly the UK government has failed to deliver these really important safeguards and have not only let down the people of Scotland but they've failed to prioritise the welfare of animals in this country as well as abroad. To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made to establish a Scottish agency to create a fully functional all species data system for the registration of all livestock births, deaths and movements within Scotland. The final element of the Scottish multi-species database system for the recording of cattle births, deaths and movements went live on 4 October last year and the system was built and is operated by the Scottish Agricultural Organization Society under the name of Scott EID and I would really like to acknowledge and thank the cattle sector as a whole for their support during the development of the service. Since the go live day 10,000 keepers have signed up for the Scott moves plus platform registering over 282,000 calves recording 914,000 cattle movements and notifying over 477,000 deaths at abattoirs electronically and those statistics really highlight an important achievement in the delivery of the improved traceability for disease prevention and control as well as opportunities for enhancing efficiency and provenance in the livestock sector. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Given the importance of traceability and provenance to food safety, what difference will the agency make and what advantages does it offer farmers and crofters? In addition to the enhanced livestock traceability and protection of the food chain, essentially what the Scott EID system provides is benefit to Scottish cattle keepers such as the bovine viral diarrhea eradication programme and the Scott moves system for within business movement recording the Scottish beef potential eligibility checker that provides evidence that animals have been born, raised and slaughtered in Scotland too. The system will enable the introduction of the electronic identification of cattle, the creation of an online holding register and the removal of cattle passports. Electronic identification combined with the Scott EID systems will enable that real-time data transfer and sharing through the production chain from farm to farm and abattoir and feedback from abattoir back to farm. All of those components are really key for improving economic and environmental efficiency in the livestock sector and they will, of course, support trade within and outwith the UK. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to support the food and drink supply chain in order to increase the percentage of Scottish products in the food and drink that is responsible for supplying to local authorities, NHS boards and other public bodies. Public procurement is an important tool that can be used to transform food production and supply, strengthen local economies and tackle climate change. We continue to support the Food for Life programme, which has been funded by the Scottish Government since 2012. It is now operating across 18 local authorities, including Glasgow, and it is making sure that more children than ever before across Scotland are getting that access to fresh, local and sustainable food on their dinner plates. Our local food strategy consultation had a focus on harnessing the buying power of public sector procurement to encourage better access for local food producers. Consultation feedback from that will be used to inform the next steps in this area and that will be published late in spring this year. Brian Whittle I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer and I wonder if she agrees with me that through supporting and enhancing the public food procurement process to ensure that the maximum level of food in our public services is locally produced within the UK and especially Scotland, the Scottish Government has a major tool to tackle food insecurity and better health outcomes, especially in our younger population. Over above that, it can also make a major contribution to less food miles, therefore better environmental outcomes. I agree with what the member said. I think that that is where the next steps from our consultation on the draft local strategy will be critical in doing that. I think that it is also important to recognise what we have seen through the food for life programme and just how successful that has been. As the member said, there are many benefits to that local procurement. There is the health benefits, and there is also the very strong economic incentive and benefits that we see from that. Some of the independent research that we have conducted on that has shown that for every £1 spent on the food for life programme, the social and economic return of that is over £4. We know that there are so many added benefits from that. That is why we intend on ensuring that we roll out the food for life programme and that we eventually encompass all local authorities within that because we know the strong power that it has in helping to tackle some of the very severe issues that we see. I wonder whether the cabinet secretary agrees with me that it is unfortunate that Mr Whittle's United Kingdom Government colleagues have negotiated disastrous trade deals, which have completely undercut Scotland's lamb, beef and pork markets and made way potentially for cheaper, lower-quality products to be imported, and that Mr Whittle's concern for the food and drink supply chain might usefully be directed towards those who are actively undermining it? I absolutely share the concerns that the member has just expressed there, particularly in the trade deals that have been negotiated by the UK Government, because there is no doubt, and we know that it will undercut Scotland's high-quality red meat sector with the UK, Australia and New Zealand trade deals, essentially facilitating the mass import of cheaper and, in many cases, lower standard food into the UK market. The Scottish Government has consistently called on the UK Government to ensure that imports of agri food arising from free trade agreements are produced to equivalent standards as those in Scotland, but unfortunately we have not seen those protections built in. I have written to the UK Government on a number of occasions expressing my significance concern with the UK Government's approach to agriculture in those trade deals, and right across government my other colleagues have done the same. To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to support the pig farming industry in Scotland in response to reported rises in the cost of feed, electricity, diesel, labour and technology. Rising farm input costs are significantly impacting all sectors of Scottish agriculture. We have set up the food security and supply task force jointly with industry to monitor, identify and respond to any potential disruption to food security and supply. Responding to recent market disruption in the pig sector, we had provided an initial £715,000 to producers through the pig producers hardship support scheme, and then extended that with a further £680,000 worth of support. We have also assisted the sector with a private storage aid scheme for pig meat from November 2021 to 31 March this year. She will recall that we recently met Jamie Wiley, NFU's lead on pigs in Scotland. At that meeting, he also raised issues that reserved to the UK Government, such as the need for proper border controls to monitor pork imports and for the English language requirements for overseas butchers looking to come to UK to work in our staff staff process sector to be relaxed. What discussions have you held with the Scottish Government in regard to the reserve matters and their impact on Scotland? First of all, I want to thank the member for contacting me about this and for extending that invitation to meet with Jamie Wiley at his farm. It was that visit on farm that really hit home the severity of the issues that the pig sector is facing at the moment, with the significant rises in all input costs, as well as the ever-changing date for implementing border controls on imports and visa requirements were also raised as a significant issue. On that issue of visa requirements for overseas butchers, we are clear in our position that the current immigration system just isn't responsive to the labour market requirements. That is a point that I personally raised with the UK Government on a number of occasions, and I know that the Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development together with his Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts, had written to the UK immigration minister in February calling for immediate changes to the immigration system to try to address the on-going labour shortages across the UK. I would also like to touch briefly on the point about border controls, too. Again, that was a point that was raised during our meeting, and we continue to engage with the UK Government regularly over those issues, and we expect to be doing more of that in the coming weeks. In light of the announcement that had been made today, there is to be a further delay to import controls on EU goods by at least another 18 months. Delays not only put our exporting businesses at a competitive disadvantage here in Scotland, but they do present a real biosecurity risk, which I know will be of significant concern to our pig industry, as well as the wider food and drink sector. To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support the creation of new rural jobs, including in nature restoration. Scotland's national strategy for economic transformation contains bold and ambitious actions to deliver economic prosperity for all of Scotland's people and places. We are committed to delivering good, secure and well-paid green jobs. Through the future and climate emergency skills action plans and our continuing work via the action plan for nature-based skills, we are investing to ensure that people of all ages in our rural communities have the right skills to meet our current and future needs. I thank the minister for that response. According to modelling by RSPB, nature restoration projects such as woodland creation, peatland restoration and deer management could create almost 8,000 new jobs across Scotland, mostly in rural areas. On a local level, I welcome the Cairngorms national parks authority's new five-year draft plan to regenerate their native woodlands. Can I ask the minister how the Cairngorms national park plan will contribute to the creation of green jobs within the park? I thank the member very much for the question and for her excitement about the green jobs that we will be creating in rural areas. The Cairngorms national park partnership plan sets out a bold vision to restore nature in the park, tackling the climate emergency and building a wellbeing economy that works for all the people of the Cairngorms. That is driving investment and creating green jobs within the park. Initiatives contained in the plan include encouraging contractors to diversify into the programme of peatland restoration in the Cairngorms, expected to support seven new posts in the immediate future, and the Heritage Horizons programme, led by the park authority, is expected to create 11 new jobs in woodland expansion and climate mitigation work. I thank the minister for that response. Given the great potential for nature-recovering Galloway and the support of all parties and over 30 candidates in the local elections, how will the minister ensure that the process for national park designation adequately reflects the huge amount of work that has already been done so effectively to make the case for Galloway being Scotland's third national park? I thank the member very much for the question. I am very aware of how proud Galloway is of its natural heritage and how keen people there are to see the national park. Of course, there are many parts of Scotland that would also like to see our new national park or, as we have in the Butehouse agreement, at least one new national park created. Very shortly in Parliament, we will be bringing the plans for that process to create that park and to have that consultation that we need us to wear that park to be, but I am very proud that the member has brought the question today. To ask the minister how the annual nature restoration fund is delivering benefits for Scotland species, woodlands, rivers and seas, as well as improving the health and well-being of local communities. At COP26, we announced the new £55 million multi-year commitment to the nature restoration fund as part of a wider Scottish Government commitment to an additional £500 million in our natural economy over the course of this Parliament. This year, we are investing £13.5 million in nature restoration. The fund is now supporting land-scale multi-year, multi-partner projects that deliver transformative change to drive forward nature recovery, working across Scotland, including in the Cairngorms national park where I have visited some of the schemes, and creating the security needed to support new green jobs, reinvigorating local communities and reinforcing Scotland's green recovery. It is focused on outcomes that address the main drivers of the decline in biodiversity, overexploitation of the natural environment, habitat loss and fragmentation, and invasive non-native species, particularly rural biodiversity. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its discussions with the UK Government regarding food security and supply. The Scottish Government has and continues to hold numerous discussions with the UK Government departments on a variety of topics relating to food resilience. I wrote to George Eustace and devolved administrations on 4 April, requesting an urgent four nation summit, particularly on the issue of the impact of rising fuel prices, because we know that that is putting significant strain on the food and drink industry right across the supply chain. In a meeting with the Secretary of State on 20 April, he agreed to the request to hold a summit and we had a short initial meeting last night. At that meeting, I raised a number of issues currently facing key food and drink sectors, including seafood and agriculture, as a consequence of rising fuel prices. I thank the cabinet secretary for her answer and for joining me on our visit to Dundee cold stores last week, where we did hear about how rising energy costs are placing additional strain on such businesses, with expectations that such will result in higher food prices and make it more difficult for them to compete with European food producers. I am pleased to hear the positive engagement with the UK Government on that matter. Cabinet Secretary, Martin Kennedy, the president of NFU Scotland, has stated that, without proper support, we would be looking at food security concerns that we have not seen since World War 2, as he urged shoppers to vote with their feet and support local produce to avert future food shortages. What assurances can the cabinet secretary provide that the Scottish Government will continue to work with farmers and the wider food supply industry to ensure that we are provided with the necessary support and seek to ensure that the UK Government does not shirk from its responsibilities in those matters? I just want to assure the member that we are doing absolutely everything within our power to ensure that we have that security of food supply, as well as trying to tackle and mitigate against some of the significant challenges that we are seeing right across the food and drink sector. I thank the member for the invitation to visit Dundee cold stores last week, because I think that what struck me about that was just the truly astonishing increases in energy prices that they are facing. That is happening right across the piece and businesses are struggling. There are no two ways about it. In particular, in relation to energy, powers relating to energy markets remain reserved, and Scottish ministers have repeatedly called for the UK Government to urgently take further tangible actions to support households. That includes reduction in VAT, looking at targeted support for those on low incomes and for nations discussions to try to develop an effective response to the energy bill increases. What is really frustrating is that we see other countries taking action. When we look to Europe, for example, in France, they have limited energy prices to 4 per cent, and in Germany, they have been giving rebates of €300. We continue to engage with the UK Government, with off-gem and energy suppliers, to look at ways in which we can try to alleviate the impacts that are being faced right across the country. I would again reiterate that we are using all the powers and resources that are available to us to support people in Scotland from the cost of living crisis. S&P Government can now act and use the devolved powers in this place to help farmers urgently. Yesterday, in the rain committee, NFUS Scott Walker agreed with me that a moratorium on large-scale forestry could be in place to prevent the further removal of productive agricultural land. Can the cabinet secretary tell me and my party what the Government position is on implementing a moratorium, rolling out track 1 of the test programme and temporarily suspending the EFA component of the greening requirement? I want to state that this Government absolutely supports food production and we recognise how important and vital our food security is, and that is why we established the task force. I am not going to pre-empt the work that is going to come out of that, because there will be recommendations that we will have to take consideration of. We have had three meetings of the task force so far, and we are due to have another meeting, and there will be recommendations that come out as a result of that. However, in terms of some of the other actions that we are taking to, I think that it demonstrates the need to really accelerate where possible the actions that we can take to help to build resilience within our agriculture sector. In particular, the member talked about the roll-out of our track 1 programme, which will be starting imminently, where we will be rolling out our carbon audits and soil testing too. All of those measures are absolutely vital in helping to build resilience within our food system and we are not wasting any time in implementing them. I am very grateful to ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that the agriculture sector plays a leading role in delivering a net zero Scotland. The vision for agriculture outlines our aim to transform highway support farming and food production in Scotland to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture. We will consult this summer to inform the introduction of an agriculture bill to deliver on the vision. We are taking early action though. The £51 million national test programme will build on a range of support, including grants, advice and research, to support our farmers and crofters to learn how their work impacts on climate and nature. I am very grateful to the cabinet secretary for that answer. The Scottish Government, UK Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland executive jointly announced plans to establish the UK emissions trading scheme, UK ETS, from January 2021. The consultation is currently open on a UK emissions trading scheme. Does the Scottish Government agree that it is essential that our farming communities have effective carbon calculators, recognised in their role of carbon sequestration and are able to participate in carbon trading market? As the member has indicated, the consultation is currently open on this and I would encourage all of those with an interest to take part in it, and of course we will carefully consider the responses to that. Thank you, that concludes portfolio questions. Question number eight has been withdrawn, so that concludes portfolio questions. There will be a slight pause before we move to the next item of business.