 Rwy'n edrych ar gwaith hwnnw—gwylwch ar gyfer y cyfnodd ac ielwch yn gyfnodd y Llandraf Ffwrn, cysylltu ymgyrch yn Gwyllgor. Rwy'n edrych ar gyfer y Gwylwch yn gyllwch yn gyfnodd y Llandraf Ffwrdd? Rwy'n edrych ar gyfer y Cyfnodd Gwylwch yn gyfnodd gyfnodd gyfnodd gyfnodd gyfnodd gyfnodd gyfnodd At a national level, standards and support are provided through public bodies, such as the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and Scottish Natural Heritage, as well as targeted initiatives such as the Central Scotland Green Network. The 2018-19 programme for government sets out a range of commitments to drive forward the Scottish Government's ambition for Scotland's environment and on climate change. Those include a commitment to develop an environment strategy to guide future activity across Scotland's existing environmental policies. James Kelly The Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Climate Change will be aware that South Lanarkshire Council has not currently declared a low emission zone. Campaigning groups in Cambyslang, including Cambyslang Community Council, have highlighted the issue of emissions in Cambyslang Main Street. Therefore, if the Government would consider designating South Lanarkshire a low emission zone in order to help tackle the issues around emissions in Cambyslang Main Street. I think that the member is aware that the focus of the current plans in terms of low emission zones are to progress low emission zones in the four major cities in Scotland. They are after to begin to look at those areas of Scotland after that, which may indeed require low emission zones. I hope that South Lanarkshire is thinking about it, and I do not know whether or not they are, that they will come forward with some ideas in advance of that process. However, they will be able to learn from the process that is being gone through in respect of the four cities that we are talking about just now. Linda Fabiani Illuminating answer from the minister there. Linda Fabiani The lights came up in the parliament. I will put my hand up next time. Linda Fabiani Thank you, Presiding Officer. Further to the cabinet secretary's response about low emission zones, does she recognise that in order for cities to have successful low emission zones, notice must be taken of surrounding towns, commuter towns and satellite towns? Does she agree with me that it would be beneficial for those heading up the initiatives in the city to open discussions with their surrounding towns, such as with the East Kilbride task force in my constituency of East Kilbride? I am beginning to get the feeling that I might be stepping into a discussion or an argument that I have not hitherto been involved with, so I am going to tread warily here and suggest that groups across Scotland who have a strong interest and concern in this should be flagging up their interest and concern with all other areas as well. It is the case, particularly in urban Scotland, that the boundaries between local authorities do not just simply cut off in terms of issues such as air quality. That may be different when it comes to more rural local authorities, where there is a huge hinterland, but I take the point that the member is making about the need for there to be cross boundary conversations, and I hope that those are going ahead. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Scottish coastal rubbish aerial photography project. I thank Jenny Gilruth for that question, because it is great to have the opportunity to say a little bit about the project. The Scottish coastal rubbish aerial photography project, or Scrapbook, is an absolutely fantastic project that involves the work of volunteer pilots through Skywatch, capturing images of our coastline and highlighting where marine litter is collecting. I try to identify the often hard to reach areas where a lot of that litter can accumulate. I had the opportunity to see that first hand over the summer when I went out on a slightly terrifying but also amazing gyrocopter flight to examine this for myself and examine the coastline around the Murray Firth. All the images that the Skywatch pilots capture are collated on the Scrapbook website at scrapbook.org.uk. There they have an interactive map that members of the public can use. This pilot was funded by the Scottish Government earlier this year, and since then it has grown in size and success. Over 50 per cent of Scotland's mainland coasts have now been mapped, and more data is being added to the online interactive map every day. That achievement is credited to the organisers, Murray Firth partnership, Marine Conservation Society in Skywatch and all the many volunteers that support that project. Visitors to the Scrapbook website can see the areas that are worst affected and then use that information to prioritise any beach clean-ups. This information has been invaluable to local coastal partnerships, organisations and individuals tackling marine litter first hand, and I really applaud those efforts. I will be meeting with Scrapbook on Friday while taking part in the Marine Conservation Society's 25th Great British beach clean, and I would like to take this opportunity to urge others to do their bit for the environment and join in their local beach cleans this weekend. Jenny Gilruth. I thank the minister for that response and I welcome her to her new role. Although the Scrapbook project is undoubtedly helpful in identifying where coastal litter is collecting, what action is the Scottish Government taking to protect and promote our coastline, places like beautiful leaving beach in my constituency that could benefit from investment? For my perspective, as a minister for the natural environment, it is exactly what I want to try to enhance and promote to people. I believe that a massive part of that is trying to tackle the blight of litter on our coastlines. A large part of the litter that lands on our coast, even though it comes from the sea, the vast majority of that originates on land. There are a number of measures that the Scottish Government is taking to try to prevent the use of single-use plastics and to prevent those from entering our oceans and causing this litter to accumulate in the first place. As part of that, I want to encourage as many people as possible to visit our incredible coastlines such as we have in leaving where Jenny Gilruth has invited me to attend and where I will be visiting this Friday to take part in a beach clean there. I think that by doing our bit there, by encouraging more people to get out and about and visit our incredible coastlines, that does a lot for tourism and obviously has an extra boost for the local economy too. I look forward to seeing Jenny Gilruth this Friday and again encourage members to get out and about and do their bit for the environment too. Minister will be aware of the many voluntary organisations such as the Friends of Trun beaches, Ayrshire Rotary clubs and others who organise litter picking off beaches in our area and elsewhere in Scotland. What support can the Scottish Government give to voluntary organisations such as the ones that I have mentioned as well as local authorities to start addressing this problem? This is something that we are obviously very keen to support. Another local organisation that I am aware of is surfers against sewage who do a power of work in engaging with local communities and local schools to get everybody out and about. I think that this is not one person's problem or entirely up to the Government to solve or up to any individual in particular. I think that we all have a part to play in this and we all can do our bit whether that is individually picking up pieces of litter that we find along the beach, Government leading through legislation and support. I do think that this is something that we all have a part to play in and I would actively encourage and support all those groups and the amazing work that they do and all the volunteer work that goes into this too and again encourage everybody to do their bit. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the establishment of the deposit return scheme. Scotland was the first country in the UK to commit to introducing deposit return on drinks containers and we have been making good progress since it was announced. We are currently consulting on the range of options that will make up a successful scheme, building on the detailed analysis work previously done by ZeroWay Scotland. The consultation closes on 25 September 2018 after which the results will be analysed and published and I encourage people, if they have not already done so, to make their views heard. This year's programme for government commits us to bringing forward a final design based on the outcome of the consultation and our wider engagement. Is there any further information about how the pilot programmes are performing at the moment and how that will inform the final scheme that will be introduced in Scotland? A number of organisations and businesses are currently piloting how reverse vending machines would operate in their shops. While it is important to note that those schemes provide a reward rather than returning a deposit, we will view the results with interest alongside the various responses to our public consultation, which, as I have already indicated, closes on 25 September. I look forward to bringing the deposit return scheme to Parliament next year. Maurice Golden Clare an interest based on my work in the waste sector. However, how many jobs will be lost in local authority carbside collections as a result of the introduction of the deposit return scheme? I am a little unclear from the member's question whether he supports the deposit return scheme or is opposed to it. I would be rather concerned if the argument that he is going to make is opposition. A deposit return scheme in itself will create jobs, and I think that that needs to be kept in mind. I visited Norway over the summer to have specific conversations with them about their scheme. It is quite clear that the economic opportunities that have been off from that are enormous, and they are there for the taking in Scotland. I would hope that what this results in is a net increase in jobs rather than a net loss of jobs. James Kelly The cabinet secretary referenced widening engagement. I think that that is vital, because there remains a misunderstanding as to what can be recycled and where it can be recycled. Will the cabinet secretary therefore look at a public information scheme if the deposit return scheme is to be taken forward in order to raise public awareness of appropriate recycling? I think that that would be absolutely vital. There is, out there, a general sense that deposit return scheme is good to have. People want to see it happen. Perhaps in its specifics it is not as well understood as we might always want. There are issues about individual items. The Scottish scheme, I hope, is going to be as ambitious as it possibly can be. We have reached an enormous number of people already in terms of the consultation. We have had a huge number of responses already, just over 1,000 responses. The majority of those are from individuals, and Zero Waste Scotland is doing an incredibly good job of getting out there around communities. I would say to all members here that if they get the opportunity to join in one of the Zero Waste Scotland roadshow-style things that they are doing around Scotland, they perhaps should do that. That process will help precisely the issue that James Kelly is raising, but he is quite right that when we get to the process of actually introducing a scheme, there will have to then be a further process of consultation and advice and education around that scheme. To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors and shares data on chemicals of environmental concern, particularly chemicals that are closely related to those already restricted. That is quite a technical question, so I hope that you will bear with me. The EU REACH regulation provides a mechanism for the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals, hence the acronym REACH, across EU member states and provides a formal process for identifying substances of concern. The regulation also establishes the European Chemicals Agency to oversee the EU chemicals regime and requires each member state to designate a member state competent authority to share information. As a GBW agency, the health and safety executive hosts the UK's member state competent authority and acts as the delegated competent authority for REACH on behalf of the secretary of state and all the devolved administrations supported in terms of environmental science by the chemicals assessment unit, which sits within the environment agency based in England. There are working arrangements in practice for collaboration between all the relevant departments and regulators, principally the chemicals delivery board and the environment enforcement liaison group, both operated by HSE. The question was prompted by a concern that, even where chemicals of environmental concern such as certain poly or perfluorinated alcohol substances covered by REACH are restricted by European legislation, sometimes substitute chemicals of very similar composition and similar concern are still used. For example, as stain-resistant coatings on school uniforms, the environmental charity FIDRA, based in my constituency, has highlighted their concerns that current legislation is not able to tackle that substitution for chemicals of concern and note that data regarding monitoring is not readily accessible. What can the Scottish Government do more to ensure that environmental standards cannot be bypassed in this way? Will the minister commit to making the monitoring data available to her more publicly accessible? I think that I've outlined in my opening answer the overall way in which this is dealt with in relation to monitoring and sharing data on chemicals of environmental concern. If it became apparent that a new restriction on a substance may be appropriate, and I think that's probably the conversation that's currently being had, SEPA would provide details of this to HSE for submission to the ECHA on behalf of the UK. The process can work the other way. The difficulty, I think, was some of the discussion that's taking place, not just about this particular stain-resistant treatment that is being discussed, but some of the other issues that are beginning to arise out of environmental concerns are that there isn't as yet sufficient global research and understanding to know exactly what we might be able to do in respect of handling that. However, there is a process once that monitoring and research takes place. I will take on board what the member has asked me about, and I will endeavour to get more detailed information about the very specific issue that he's raised and come back to him with a conversation around that. Christine Grahame Thank you, Presiding Officer. With reference to chemicals of environmental concern, will the cabinet secretary look into the SEPA guidance to local authorities on issuing planning consent to car washes and the disposal of their wastewater? As for my inquiries, I have concerns that the guidance may not be sufficiently robust. Christine Grahame Planning consent for either automatic or hand car washes is a matter for each local authority. There is SEPA guidance on vehicle washing and cleaning, which provides systematic requirements for a number of activities, including drainage. The preferred option is that any new discharge from a car wash should discharge into the Scottish Water Public Fowl sewer or be stored within a holding tank pending offsite disposal as liquid waste. I am not aware of whether or not the member has a very specific example or concern in mind, but SEPA is not routinely consulted by the planning authority on proposals for new car washes. If there is an issue of specific concern that she wants to raise, I would be happy to have that conversation with her. Colin Smyth I refer members to the voluntary part of my register of interests as a member of the league against cruel sports. To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will respond to the results of its consultation on improving the protection of wild animals. Mary Gouza Almost 20,000 people responded to our consultation on Lord Bonamy's recommendations and the analysis of those responses was published just before the summer recess. At that point, I was appointed as Minister for Rural Affairs in the natural environment. Since then, I have been actively considering all the issues and have met a number of key organisations and individuals. I would hope to be in a position to announce the Scottish Government's response to that consultation soon. Colin Smyth First of all, I welcome Mary Gouza into her new ministerial role. When Parliament voted for the protection of wild mammals act in 2002, it did so believing that it would lead to a proper ban on hunting. Since then, some hunts have gone out of their way to ignore the law both in spirit and in practice, exposing unintended loopholes in that act. Does the minister therefore agree that, if the Government fails to bring forward proposals that implement a proper ban, including ending the loophole that allows mounted hunts to flush out foxes and reducing the number of dogs used in all exemptions to two, it would not only be ignoring the overwhelming views expressed in the responses to its own consultation, but it would undermine the very credibility of this Parliament? I am well aware that this is an issue that Colin Smyth has been very vocal and active on, as well as a number of other members across the chamber. Of course, it is an issue that a number of people feel very passionate about. We can see that from the 20,000 responses that we received to that consultation. The last thing that I want to do today is pre-empt what I come to Parliament with and what I eventually bring to Parliament. Of course, if anybody has any evidence of illegal activity taking place at the moment, I would urge them to contact Police Scotland. Given the nature of the matter and the importance of it, I hope that the member understands that it is something that I take personally very seriously. I want to take the time to consider it properly before I come to Parliament with any recommendations, so I hope that he can understand that and allow that process to take place. I just want him to know that this is an issue that I intend to take the time to fully consider before I come back with any recommendations. I will take question 6, if Mr Finlay can keep his supplementary quite brief. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to environmental protection concerns regarding proposals to mechanically harvest kelp by dredging. I am aware of current concerns in light of a proposal by a company seeking a marine licence to mechanically harvest kelp from multiple areas across the west coast. While I understand that the process is not dredging in the traditional sense, I can assure the member that the Scottish Government takes the protection of its marine environment very seriously. We have one of the world's richest marine environments and we will continue to support clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse seas balancing sustainable development with environmental protection as set out. In Scotland's national marine plan. I thank the cabinet secretary for that reply. Cabinet secretary, kelp beds are vital ecosystems. They absorb the power of the waves, the lock-up millions of tonnes of carbon every year and they provide shelter to many species, including harvested species. I hope that you are fully aware of the concerns that there are on the west coast about dredging proposals. People are fully supportive of traditional harvesting messes that are sustainable. What is very clear is dredging will seriously damage the entire ecosystem and is not sustainable. Will the cabinet secretary acknowledge how disastrous permitting dredging for kelp would be and put a stop to it now? The member knows that we are currently in a process. It is very early in the process. The company who has an interest in this is presently undergoing a scoping exercise. Of course, I am very well aware of the strong views that there are on that. All of that will be taken into account by Marine Scotland. We will move on to questions on the rural economy. Question 1 from Murdo Fraser. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to encourage a new generation of farmers into the agricultural industry. Cabinet secretary, Fergus Ewing. The Scottish Government has done a lot to encourage new entrants. Key initiatives have been first a specific start-up support, creating over 250 new businesses, most of whom are for young people, supporting another 600 business development projects from new entrants, delivering a farm advisory service, providing a network of new entrant groups across the country and offering a free mentoring programme, fourth, putting in place the farming opportunities for new entrants, the phone group, and finally, developing a partnership with Lantra and the Royal Highland Education Trust to help to raise awareness and increase knowledge of farming in schools. Murdo Fraser. I thank the cabinet secretary for his response. He will, however, be aware of the dismay among many farmers at the closure of the new entrance scheme some two years early, causing particular concern to those who were in the process of submitting applications to the scheme. Can the cabinet secretary tell us, will there be a replacement for this scheme, if so, when and when will we hear the details? Cabinet secretary. We are very proud that the support for new entrants in Scotland has seen the injection of £22 million into new businesses over the last four years and has helped a huge number of young people in Scotland. I have to say that there is no such programme in England, none whatsoever. There has been no support in England whatsoever for new entrants. Presiding Officer, we still support new entrants in Scotland in a number of ways. Through direct support through the national reserve will continue. Farm advisory service remains ideally placed. An independent EU research study stated that our phones initiative, public bodies making available land for new entrants, has been around about 60 of those made or to be made available as inspirational. We are continuing to do more. Finally, in our stability and simplicity paper, we clearly stated that this is an area where I hope that all parties will wish to do more post-Brexit. Provided, of course, the funding is available, and given this morning's announcement and the agricultural bill, there is no guarantee about future funding levels for agriculture or rural Scotland or Britain whatsoever. Will the cabinet secretary consider any new measures in future crofting legislation that might limit speculation in croft tenancies, a trend that has had the effect of deterring many new entrants to crofting in some areas? Yes, I am aware of Dr Allan's constant interest in this important topic. Croft tenancies used to pass between family members. It is now true that tenancies are, as the member indicated, sometimes sold by crofters with consequences for the availability of suitable crofts for new entrants. I am currently exploring what we might do in this regard to support more people to secure a croft. We will consider what might be useful included in the forthcoming crofting bill. I know that Dr Allan takes a close interest in all those matters, and I would be very happy to meet him and, indeed, any other MSPs with an interest in crofting to discuss any specific proposal or ideas that members may have in order to assist new entrants in the crofting counties. Emma Harper. With the average age of Scottish farmers at 58, attracting new entrants to farming is vital for the long-term sustainability of the industry. How is the Scottish Government making use of public land to attract people to farming, and how many farmers have benefited as a result? As part of our commitment to developing opportunities for new entrants, the chance was offered to nine new entrants to lease part-time starter units on Scotland's national forest estate. We want to go further with that in respect of our national forest estate. The phone group farming opportunities for new entrants is developing a new entrants programme that includes maximising the amount of public land used to help farmers of the future. That could be land owned by the Scottish Government, by agencies of the Scottish Government, by local authorities and, indeed, by non-departmental government bodies. To date, that has helped to provide 59 new land opportunities across the national forest estate with 37 awarded new entrants. Scottish Water, Highland and East Lothian Council bring a further four new opportunities, which either are finalised or are being progressed through marketing processes. Working together across the board in the Scottish public realm, we are achieving considerable things, but we want to do much more. I hope that if we can get the funding and the powers secured in any Brexit deal, we will be able to do more still. To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the UK Government to discuss the impact of Brexit on farming and food production in Scotland. I met the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to discuss these matters on 5 July, along with the Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs and the Permanent Secretary of the Northern Ireland Executive. I also spoke with the Secretary of State, Mr Gove, last week to discuss the UK Agriculture Bill. You mentioned the UK Agriculture Bill. Can the cabinet secretary assure us that he has had appropriate input to that bill and that his provisions do not attempt to grab powers over farming and food production that rightly sit with this Parliament? I wish I could, but I cannot provide those reassurances. I have repeatedly asked for discussion on the bill at the regular ministerial meetings between DEFRA and the devolved administration, but there has been zero discussion on the content, merely on its timetable. I acknowledge that there have rightly been many hours of discussion at official level, but we didn't see the full version of the bill until the very end of August. I am sure that Parliament will share my concern at this, Presiding Officer, and what it may mean for other important Brexit-related bills. Far from allaying concerns about a power grab by the UK Government, I think that this bill makes them worse. In a number of areas, DEFRA is making the outrageous assertion that various areas of law are reserved when our position is that that is plainly not the case. That could therefore result in serious constraints on Scotland's future choice of policies and schemes. Colin Smyth. I welcome the fact that the Scottish Government recently consulted on support for agriculture and rural economy during the Brexit transition period. Can the cabinet secretary tell us when the Scottish Government will set out in detail the long-term vision for agricultural support after Brexit, which the industry is desperate to hear? Cabinet secretary. I thank Mr Smyth for his recognition of the fact that we have brought forward very serious proposals in our paper of stability and simplicity. That is a consultation to which there has been a substantial response. Obviously, we will need to study carefully that response, and my intention is to report back to Parliament in due course. We are also expecting very shortly the report from the National Council of Rural Advisers. Equally, I have undertaken previously, Presiding Officer, that it is correct that I should make a report at some stage to Parliament on those matters. Obviously, I wish to do all of that sooner rather than later. However, I am bound to say that, here today, we are debating this on the very morning when the national audit office of all bodies, the official audit office of the UK, has highlighted several respects in which a no-deal Brexit could cause absolute mayhem in respect of the lack of vets able to carry out inspections in respect of the lack of ability to deal with checks other than on a manual basis in respect of the chemical industry. Those are very serious matters indeed, Presiding Officer, and we are really hoping that the Brexit borough can be sorted out sooner rather than later. Question 3, Linda Fabiani. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding maintaining Scotland's protected food names and geographical indications following Brexit. Cabinet Secretary. Geographical indications are vital to our food and drink sector in Scotland with £1,370 million of whisky and £282 million of salmon sold to Europe last year alone, and that needs to be protected. The UK White Paper in July confirmed that the UK Government will be establishing its own GI scheme after exit, but there are no details. The UK Government has failed to agree to the proposals in the draft withdrawal agreement for continued protection of European GIs in the UK. The UK Government seemed to wish to use this as a bargaining chip, assuming that the EU will continue to protect UK GIs even if we do not reciprocate. That is no time to play games with the interests of our key businesses because PGI's are absolutely essential for a whole range of high-quality Scottish food and drink projects. Linda Fabiani. Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for that information that ties in with the report that Nichelle Barnier has said that the UK Government has not yet agreed to protect these geographical indications. I am really concerned about this. Given that Scottish food and drink exports are at an all-time high, that is not a time to be compromising the provenance of Scottish food and drink. Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that every effort must now be made by the UK Government to ensure that Scotland is protected in this regard and open full discussions with the Scottish Government about how we move forward on that? I agree that it is extremely alarming that the EU says that that has not been resolved. In terms of the scheme of things, that is not something that is complex to resolve. That is something that should surely have been resolved. The reciprocal recognition of GIs, which have been hard-earned in respect of our beef, lamb, salmon and our bro smokey's and in Europe in respect of the champagne and many other products that have GIs. How complicated is it to resolve? The fact that it has not, I think, illustrates just how parlous the Brexit-Burach has become. I am meeting Mr Gove on Monday, if next week, and I most certainly shall be pressing home this matter, which Linda Fabiani has rightly raised and which is essential for the continuing success of our food and drink sector. David Stewart. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The Cabinet Secretary will be well aware that GIs are vitally important in the Highlands and Islands. For example, Stornoway Black Pudding has been protected by GIs. I thank my colleague Rhoda Grant for her great campaign. Can I say to the Cabinet Secretary that I have undergone extensive market testing of Stornoway Black Pudding? It is a first-class product with no adverse effect on my waistline. Cabinet Secretary. I am perfectly prepared to accept the proposition from Mr Stewart. I assume, like me, that he has consumed some of the excellent black pudding that can be purchased from the butchers in Stornoway, something that I must admit that I myself have done. I think that we have a joint-shared, passionate, detailed, prolonged, protracted interest in the continuing success of Stornoway Black Pudding. Let's be ecumenical about this Cornish pasties as well. Across the UK, there is a whole series of food produce that has gained these GIs because of their niche value. That helps them to get a market, it helps them to export, it helps them to get a premium price, all of those things. I think that David Stewart makes a very good point and I am very happy to join him in the crusade and continuing campaign for the continuing worldwide success of Stornoway Black Pudding. Question 4, David Torrance. To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to help small food retailers and convenience stores to provide healthy food options to local communities. Minister Mary Gouza. The Scottish Government has provided £250,000 worth of funding to the Scottish Grocers Federation this year to help support small independent grocers to introduce food to go stations within their stores. That fund grants up to £75,000 to individual retailers to help them innovate and respond to changing customer demands through the development of a food to go offering with a focus on fresh and healthy produce. So far, there have been 62 successful applicants to the fund of which eight of those independent grocers are from the member's Cercodi constituency. David Torrance. I welcome this fund and the words to local businesses in my constituency. One of the issues small retailers face is being able to stay competitive. Does the minister agree with me that the biggest threat to small shops and customers as a hard Brexit result in huge price increases? I thank the member for that question because David Torrance is absolutely right to raise concerns about the impact of Brexit on small grocery and convenience stores. Because there could potentially be a number of harmful impacts that, to be honest, we just don't actually know about yet and an awful lot of unknown unknowns. There are several bodies such as the British Retail Consortium and the Institute of Fiscal Studies who have predicted that if we are to go through a hard Brexit that could see a rise in food prices of around 22 per cent. David Thompson, the chief executive of Food and Drink Federation Scotland had also recently warned that, again, if we see a no-deal Brexit that would lead to a rise in food prices and also a reduction in the choices that we see available in our stores at the moment. So, if we end up facing a hard Brexit and we don't get a deal, there is no doubt that that would be extremely damaging not just to consumers but also to the small independent convenience stores that we have at the moment who are already operating in a highly competitive trading environment. Lewis MacDonald will know that local government also has a role in promoting healthy options and she will know, I'm sure, about the innovative schemes that were put in place this summer by Aberdeen City Council and North Lanarkshire Council to provide nutritious meals to school children outwith term time. Does the minister agree that this is also something worthy of government support and that it supports both producers and consumers of healthy food options? Minister. Thank you. I'm sure that this is something that the local government minister would take and interest in as well, but I welcome all of those initiatives. That's a large part of what our food and drink strategy is about. It's encouraging local produce and how we're able to access that locally. So, I think that it's only right that we look at where this is happening and look at what we can do as a government. I mean that, as I say, that is something that we're keen to support and look at and see where we can encourage and promote getting that local produce into our local communities and into places such as our local schools. Question 5, Angus MacDonald. To ask the Scottish Government what action it's taking to help farmers and crofters cope with the impact of adverse weather. Cabinet Secretary. The prolonged dry period compounded problems for farmers and crofters already coping with the wet weather of 2017 and subsequent late spring. Dry weather limited grass growth for making silage or livestock grazing, purpose says so. Farmers and crofters have had to use up feed and fodder stocks intended for winter and, in other cases, some farmers that's reported have had no choice but to sell on their livestock early. Therefore, working with the agricultural weather advisory panel, we've done the following. We've sought a derogation from greening crop diversification in spring this year as farmers struggle to plant crops due to the poor weather. We're supporting a pilot run by SAOS to help farmers and crofters co-operate to take advantage of available grazing opportunities. Crucially, we are introducing a national basic payment loan scheme to provide access to much-needed funding to businesses facing additional costs and cash flow shortages. Angus MacDonald. I thank the minister for his reply and very much welcome the action taken today. However, it's clear that some farmers and crofters will be struggling to meet obligations to satisfy greening rules under cap. What temporary help might be available from the European Commission for Farmers in the situation as a result of the adverse weather impacts? Mr MacDonald is absolutely correct and I'm pleased to announce that the European Commission has accepted my request to increase the level of flexibility for Scottish farmers under greening rules regarding the use of catch and cover crops. This additional flexibility can allow farmers to continue to meet the greening obligations whilst increasing the availability of catch and cover in what has been an extremely testing year. Thank you very much to ministers and members. That concludes portfolio questions.