 The next item of business is a statement by Fergus Ewing on an update on the work of the National Council of Rural Advisers. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of his statement, so if anybody wishes to ask a question, please press your request to see buttons now and I call on Fergus Ewing. In January last year, the Parliament agreed to establish an independent group involving relevant stakeholders to provide advice as to the principles and policies that should underpin options for appropriate rural support beyond 2020. A National Council of Rural Advisers was duly established with 14 individual members, drawn from a variety of backgrounds, and appointed on the basis of their expertise in operating and supporting rural enterprise. It was important to me that we appointed as many women as men. Their voices and experiences are often wrongly absent from rural policy debate, and that a number of younger people were involved. That approach was embodied in the appointment of co-chairs in Alison Milne and Lorne Creer. The National Council was asked to provide advice for government on the implications of Brexit for rural Scotland, as well as recommendations on future rural policy and support. The paper produced last November largely confirmed what we knew that the implications will be far reaching and extremely challenging, particularly through the loss of people and skills and that continued membership of the single market and customs union is the least damaging Brexit outcome. That finding is reinforced in the discussion paper that was published on Tuesday. I agree wholeheartedly with the National Council's conclusion that Brexit weighs heavily on the future of our industries. The paper also makes it clear that rural Scotland is capable of building on its inherent resilience and creativity to overcome such barriers and challenges. As the National Council puts it, with the right focus and energy, we can achieve a new rural economic strategy that puts people at its heart. One of the core strengths of the Council's approach has been this willingness through 11 rural things workshops held around Scotland and engagement with stakeholder organisations to listen closely to others. That process, backed by the evidence, suggests that there are strong and resolute foundations upon which to drive forward Scotland's rural economy. Research that is produced by the Scottish Government to better understand the rural economy shows that the strongest economic growth in Scotland between 2007 and 2015 was not in urban areas but in what is termed mainly rural areas, with strong growth in the value of goods and services also in island and remote rural areas. The National Council challenges us to produce a better way of measuring economic growth in rural areas, and it is a challenge that I readily accept. The National Council's call for a defined and ambitious strategy for Scotland's rural economy that develops natural and human capital, competitiveness, robust infrastructure and social inclusion is compelling. Its discussion paper identifies three key themes for that strategy—vision, people and infrastructure. The vision on which a strategy is based must accentuate the many positives and strengths in the rural economy, as well as acknowledge the barriers and address the challenges. I particularly welcome the focus on inclusive growth and tackling inequalities in the rural labour market and creating quality job opportunities. That is key to attracting people to move or return to live and work in rural Scotland and to developing the talents of those who live and work there currently. Through the current Scottish Government campaign, Scotland is now, we will continue to do all we can to make clear that Scotland is a positive and inclusive country. For example, migrant workers are welcome to make their lives here and contribute to our rural economy. Rural Scotland needs people to stay on the land and in our remote communities in order to thrive. As the National Council has uncovered, the best people to lead rural Scotland are the people who live there already. That is why the Government is already investing in its skills and talents. We co-fund Scotland's rural college, UHI and all its associated colleges. The University of Glasgow's Crichton campus in Dumfries and the University of West of Scotland's campus in Aire, as well as providing rural campuses with a £9 million rural premium. The 21 regional action groups for developing the young workforce cover all of rural Scotland. We have introduced a rural supplement to training providers delivering modern apprenticeships in remote and rural areas. We have funded almost 1,400 modern apprenticeship new starts in land-based frameworks over the past three years. The third theme of infrastructure also matters or, as one rural thinks participant puts it, multilevel connectivity. The Government is already working hard to create the physical infrastructure Scotland's rural economy needs. We are making the biggest public sector investment of any Government in the UK in broadband, providing £600 million to deliver access to superfast broadband to 100 per cent of homes and businesses by the end of 2021. The Reaching 100 programme prioritises the most remote and rural areas of Scotland that currently have the least access to broadband connectivity. We are building over 50,000 new homes, with £25 million specifically dedicated to housing in rural and island communities. Since this weekend, we committed to creating a further 3,000 homes through the Building Scotland Fund. We are creating Scotland's first dual electric highway on the A9. The Aberdeen bypass will be completed later this year. We will undertake a feasibility study into improvements to the A75, and we continue to provide support to Highlands and Islands airports and lifeline ferry services. Through the food processing and marketing contract since 2015, grants have been made to invest in the supply chain infrastructure for rural businesses. Like the £4.5 million grant that was announced in a visit that I made last week for ABP to develop further its facilities in Perth. We are investing in communities' own capacity, transferring assets to local communities from the national forest estate, including the three projects that were just announced yesterday, investing in fisheries local action groups in coastal communities, seeking to support more women into farming through the Women in Agriculture Task Force, as well as providing more than £71 million to Highlands and Islands Enterprise to provide economic development support and to establish a new enterprise agency for the south of Scotland. However, I also accept the need to ensure that rural areas enjoy the same opportunities and access to services as urban areas, and that we need more streamlined and cohesive support mechanisms to better help businesses. What we support in the rural economy in the future and how we do that must reflect Governments' aspirations and objectives, but must also be informed by real evidence of what the public values as the agriculture champion state or, as one recent rural thinks participant put it, that policy is driven by people. I can announce that the National Council's work will continue over the summer, with a consultation on nine key questions arising from those key themes in the discussion paper. That consultation, which was opened on Tuesday, marks the start of the rural civic conversation that the agriculture champion called for. The National Council will use the information gathered alongside evidence that is already collected to refine its recommendations, and I anticipate that its work will be complete in the autumn. The National Council and its 14 members have already made a significant contribution to our discourse on the future needs and interests of Scotland's rural economy. I have found them to be insightful and willing to challenge questioning the status quo and generating fresh ideas. I must thank them all for what they have achieved to date and for their enormous effort and contribution to that task. Supporting their work to continue over the summer will allow them to complete their deliberations and produce comprehensive recommendations to help to create the vibrant, sustainable and inclusive rural economy that we all wish to see. Thank you very much. We now move to our questions starting with Edward Mountain. Thank you Presiding Officer and I'd like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for sight of his statement. I'd also like to refer members to my register of interest. I'd like to welcome the work of the National Council of Rural Advisers, who have identified many of the challenges that rural Scotland already recognises. Many Highlanders and indeed the Cabinet Secretary, I'm sure, will take huge issue with this report, where it suggests on page 16 that Urquhart Castle is in the Cyle of Loch Alsh. I think that we both know that it's not, but this is a report that has no hint of a strategy or a policy, which the Cabinet Secretary suggested only last week there would be. So I have to ask how long it will take to get one. Well, there's going to be a six-week consultation, probably followed by a six-week period to analyse the responses, and then probably six weeks for the Cabinet Secretary to consider that analysis, and if we're generous to the Cabinet Secretary at least another 16 weeks to come up with a policy. That's eight and a half months in total from today to draft a rural strategy. So we probably won't have any ideas from this Government until February 2019. Frankly, Cabinet Secretary, that's too long. So I'm going to ask the Cabinet Secretary, when will we have a plan, when will he stop delivering, dithering and start deliver a plan for our farmers and the rural economy? Cabinet Secretary? Well, I'm pleased, I guess, that Mr Mountain welcomed the work that the National Council have done, although that was really the end of any positive content of his remarks. I would have thought that it behoved the Scottish Conservative Party to recognise that these are 14 individuals with no political perspective, but rather the viewpoint and perspective of those who have contributed enormously to the rural economy in Scotland and whose efforts should therefore be appreciated. I would also point out that the NCRA is a group that I was asked, indeed instructed, to appoint by this Parliament. Therefore, it seems to me to be childish to say that we should pre-empt the work that Parliament has asked us to do by ignoring its work and its recommendations, which will be forthcoming in the autumn. I can assure the member that, of course, we shall respond to that final report when we receive it, as well as to the report of the agricultural champions that we have last week. However, I think that it is really rather negative that Mr Mountain completely ignores the offering that is produced in this excellent discussion paper from people who, some of whom are actually here today listening to this—just bear that in mind—an excellent paper with the slogan, together we can and together we will. That's a positive slogan, and perhaps that's why the Scottish Tories aren't keen on it, since the three main activities that they appear to be interested in are nitpicking, natbashing and power grabbing. Colin Smyth Thank you, Presiding Officer. I also thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of his statement and to thank the National Council of Rural Advisers for the work that they've done on what is a very positive and important report. For those of us who represent and live in rural areas, the report asks, however, whether we are very familiar with it. It also reflects, I have to say, a disappointing progress that has been in building strong, sustainable rural communities over the past decade, even without the challenges that we face of Brexit. The cabinet secretary says that he's particularly welcome out of the focus on inclusive growth, but the reality is that we've had not one but two Government economic strategies that gave commitments to regional equity but have failed to deliver that equity with low pay, for example, still rife across rural Scotland. The report also highlights the digital divide where the roll-out of fibre broadband and recent years left and still leaves many rural communities behind. There's also emissions in the report and the cabinet secretary's response today. There's no mention, for example, of the utter scandal of rural poverty and there isn't enough emphasis on the value of our natural environment. Tackling poverty and protecting environment must be key principles at the heart of agriculture and rural support post-Brexit. Can the cabinet secretary give us an exact timetable when this Government will set out a shared vision of what Scotland wants that post-cap support to look like and take that case to the UK Government instead of waiting for the UK Government to tell us what to think? In other words, when will the Scottish Government stop waiting and start leading when it comes to supporting our rural communities? I'm pleased that Colin Smyth acknowledges the good work that the advisers have done. I think that that is genuine and welcome. In respect to the timescale, I confirm what I've already made clear, that the final report from the NCRA will be available in the autumn. That will be considered by us and then we will respond to it in detail along with the work of the champions. Bear in mind that this is a consultation document. We want to hear what the public have to say. If you read the document, it says repeatedly—well, there's lots of heckling, as usual, and there's sort of negativity coming from that direction as per the norm. However, on the positive side, what people have said in the 127 people that took part in the 11 rural things meetings throughout Scotland—a huge commitment to work incidentally by those people—was thought to be welcome. They have said that they want policy to be made listening to people. We are going to listen to the people and then make the policy, not devise policy without doing that, particularly since Parliament has asked us to do that. I don't accept the premises of the assertions that Mr Smyth has made. We are doing a considerable amount of work, as I said to the Wreck Committee last week, in order to prepare policy making in the future. Of course, that is a very serious task, but until such time as we know what the budget will be, what the tariffs will be and what the costs will be, it is impossible for anyone who is to produce a plan with figures and clarity. However, I can assure all members that we are dealing with all of those matters on a daily basis, and I hope to say more about that relatively soon. Emma Harper is to be followed by Peter Chapman. I remind members that I am the PLO to the cabinet secretary. I welcome the report and its central recommendation to create a rural economic strategy and agree absolutely that people living and working in rural Scotland need to be involved in policy making. Can the cabinet secretary advise how the civic conversation that is being launched with this consultation will ensure that women's voices and the views of young people are heard and listened to? That is an important part of the response. We are keen that we should hear from from females in rural Scotland and young people and young females. Emma Harper is aware of the Women and Agriculture Task Force, which I co-chair with Joyce Campbell and which is addressing some of the gender inequality issues. As the discussion document highlights, the disparity between the average female and median male earnings is quite extreme in parts of rural Scotland. We will, of course, throughout the process of the consultation, wish to encourage people throughout rural Scotland to respond to it and to submit their views. I hope that they will and I expect that they will. We want to see what they want to say and study that carefully and take that into account when we move forward. Well, here we are, a whole year after the council was formed. This is all we have, a document with no answers, only questions. Frankly, this is very disappointing. The cabinet secretary mentioned just a few seconds ago that he has no idea about budgets. Let me tell him categorically that, in the DEFRA document, health and harmony, it states categorically that funding for pillar 1 and pillar 2, farm support, will be delivered at the same rate until at least 2022. So I ask again, when is the cabinet secretary going to give any positive ideas for a rural economy and start to deliver a plan for a farmer's future? I must, I'm afraid, correct, Mr Chapman. It's not correct to say that the Scottish Government has received assurances that pillar 2 payments beyond those contracts that have been entered into prior to Brexit day will be honoured. No such commitment has been made, as Mr Chapman should know, so his assertion that that is the case is a fact incorrect. It follows, therefore, that the conclusions that he draws from that are also, sadly, wrong. Secondly, and I think perhaps more importantly, because we've gone over all this ground, ad infinitum, endless hours of parliamentary proceedings, gone over the same old negative moaning and whining from those Conservatives. What's more important and what's really disappointing is Mr Chapman's assertion that there's nothing positive in this report, and either he hasn't read it or he's unwilling to hear what it says. I mean, there's a whole series of recommendations about how rural Scotland goes forward. The emphasis, though, is on looking at the successful ventures that are created by business in rural Scotland, to look at the positives, to look at the opportunities, to see how we can help people achieve even more by addressing the three strands, the vision, the people and the infrastructure. And I set out in my opening statement, of course, many, many ways in which the Scottish Government is doing that, and I'm not going to repeat them now, you'll be pleased to hear, Presiding Officer. Of course, this is an excellent, positive report, and I'm really quite shocked to hear Mr Chapman's incorrect and quite insulting characterisation of it. Graham Dey to be followed by Rhoda Grant. Thank you. If anything demonstrates the damaging impacts of Brexit that the report has highlighted, it's the issue of migrant workers being able to continue to contribute to our rural businesses and wider economy. Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that the Tories have an utter brass neck to be carping about the time being taken to deliver the rural strategy when they have had two years, two years, since the Brexit vote to address worries over access to seasonal workers and they have done nothing? I do, and the National Council of Rural Advisers confirmed that migrant workers make an enormous, positive contribution to this country. From visits that I have made and Mr Dey represents Angus Grores, I spoke to many of the migrant workers. I can say that many of them were genuinely concerned about whether or not they would be welcome here. I think that that's a quite appalling predicament to put people in. I think that it's unsavory. Of course, we didn't vote for this in Scotland anyway, did we? No. I would point out again, in conclusion—well, they're laughing at this, I don't think that it's very funny—but I would point out once again that Mr Gove undertook when he spoke to the NFU south of the border earlier this year that he would come forward. There would be a scheme and he announced that it would be brought forward relatively quickly thereafter. It hasn't. I've asked him about that at the meetings and I'm afraid that his scheme has not come forward. Rather than berate us for something that is not a devolved responsibility, why don't they join with us in saying that this Parliament should have the power to deal with these matters? Plainly, the UK Government has got no appetite or intent to do so. Rhoda Grant, to be filled by Mark Ruskell. The cabinet secretary alluded to the gender pay gap before, but if I can just quote from the report, it says, women living in remote rural Scotland have the lowest annual income of any group and the largest median gender pay gap at £5,076 when comparing annual median wages. That means that in remote rural Scotland women earn 17 per cent less on average than men. I believe that that is down in part to seasonal part-time and low-paid work and also falling public sector employment. The cabinet secretary says that he is committed to tackling inequalities. Perhaps he would like to tell us what action he is going to take to tackle the gender pay gap. Cabinet secretary. That was indeed the section of the NCRA report to which I was leading earlier, so I am pleased that Rhoda Grant has identified it. Actually, it is useful that we have had the benefit of this report in order that we can see that these are the situations that we need to address. There are many, many things that we need to do to address pay inequality. The Government is doing a great many of them because they cover a whole range of issues about childcare, employment, access to opportunities and training and about transport, but we are, and it is fair to say, committed across the whole of the Government's responsibilities to do what we can to tackle those matters in a fairer way and do our very best to reduce that inequality gap over time. I welcome the report as a starting point in the conversation, although there are more holes in it than a block of Swiss cheese. There are no mentions of the environment that underpins our rural economy, no mentions of the future of the SRDP and no mention of issues that affect people in rural areas such as access to childcare. In spite of the uncertainty that we have seen over Brexit, the Welsh Assembly has produced a vision for rural support post-Brexit. When are we going to see the Scottish Government's vision for rural support for the SRDP post-Brexit? I think that it is a bit unfair to say that the work of the NCRA does not recognise those things. I am aware that they do and, of course, if you look at their interim recommendations last November, you will find that I think that they have done so in many respects. I welcome the contribution from the member and his party to this consultation. I hope that there is a good response to that. I can assure you that the NCRA is absolutely committed to the twin imperatives of agriculture in terms of producing food and looking after attending the landscape and doing so in an environmentally friendly fashion, and that is an extremely important element of the approach that the Scottish Government has taken and will continue to do. I have made clear repeatedly that my vision for the rural economy is to use our natural assets to best advantage and, as far as farming is concerned, to ensure the primacy of producing high-quality food in a way that is sympathetic to our landscape and to use our people, the best resource of all. I have made that clear on countless occasions and I will continue to do so. However, what I am particularly pleased about in conclusion is that the NCRA has come up with a vision that is entirely aligned with that, which we have already set out. Mike Rumbles is to be followed by Stuart Stevenson. It is the question of vision, cabinet secretary. Can you tell us what your vision is for the future of Scottish agricultural financial support for Brexit, without referring to the UK Government criticising them? We can all do that, but what is your vision for the future? I have already set out in response to Mr Ruskell, an abbreviated version of the vision that I see for rural Scotland. I will continue to do so. I want to see the financial support for rural Scotland continuing to be provided at the level that we were promised during Brexit by all the Brexit years, which is currently £500 million. I also want to see the £160 million that was intended for Scottish farmers paid back to Scotland that was siphoned off by UK treasuries under Conservative leadership, with a bit of help from the Liberals, as I recall Mr Rumbles's term in the Treasury. That money has been siphoned off by the Tories with a bit of help from the Liberals. I want that money back for the Scottish rural community. It was intended for them. I will conclude with this. The ridiculous situation that next year, the amount per hectare in financial support for Scotland will be at the lowest level of any of the EU countries or states. That is what happens if you allow the Conservatives to run Scotland. There are still six more members who wish to ask questions about less than, well, two minutes left. Stewart Stevenson, to be followed by Jamie Greene. I draw members' attention to my agricultural holding and the fact that I will be an R100 beneficiary. In that connection, Cabinet Secretary, I wonder if, in looking at the contracts for the R100, preference will be given to those who have future proofing, so that, when the backhaul is eventually upgraded, we can have 300 megabit and a 1 gigabit delivery to rural locations, thus enabling us to have an advantage over urban areas where, presently, we have a disadvantage. Mr Stevenson makes a good point. The answer is yes, the way in which the contract is being taken forward in the procurement stage is to anticipate the future need and desire to move from superfast to ultrafast. My understanding is that the use of fibre is an enabler of that process to take place. That therefore forms part of our thinking about, although we cannot mandate one technology over another because of state aid rules, to encourage and to score the tender in terms of points by reference to the extent to which the achievements are reached by provision of fibre rather than other methodologies, precisely because of the point that Mr Stevenson makes. That then empowers rural Scotland, in some cases perhaps to an even greater extent than those urban dwellers, by having ultrafast broadband in years to come. Jamie Greene The cabinet secretary talks about improving connectivity in Scotland's rural communities, but the reality is that a catalogue of failures recently on the CalMac network has left many island communities far from connected. CalMac itself admits that there is zero resilience, no additional capacity and a significant risk of further breakdown this summer. So what does the cabinet secretary have to say to those communities who have been so badly let down in recent months and can he tell the chamber today what immediate steps have been taken to ensure that ferry services to every island in Scotland will be safeguarded this summer? I am not quite sure what this has got to do with the National Council of Rural Advisers. It is a little bit insulting that members just choose to ask anything they wish, in any topic they wish, instead of addressing the good work that these individuals have done. I think that it really is quite insulting. I cannot really recall anything quite like it, but there we are, that is the conservatives for you. To answer his question, of course, we have provided resources to the CalMac in terms of the tender which have allowed them to expand. We are providing extra vessels. We have dealt with difficult situations that arose, and of course part of those difficulties are the problems of success, the success of the growing economies in the islands, growing tourism, growing population, RET, leading to more people choosing to use the ferries. Those are the problems of success. The Scottish Conservatives would not know much about that. Thank you. I apologise to those four members who would wish to get in, but I am afraid that we are not running out of time. I would just use this opportunity to remind members to keep their questions short, ministerial replies equally succinct and we will actually get through more questions in the time allocated. However, we will now move on to the next item of business, which is a debate on motion 12730, in the name of Claire Hockey. We will just take a few moments for the ministers and others to change seats.