Seòmar agus comataidhean

Storm Amy saw communications go down in Shetland for the second time in three months. There have been power cuts and telecommunications issues at Sumburgh airport, which cancelled all commercial flights on Sunday and Monday morning, and broadband provision for many dropped completely after a fault occurred on the Shetland-Faroes cable—SHEFA-2—between Orkney and Shetland. As yet, there is no confirmed estimated time for repair of the cable.

What engagement has the Scottish Government had with communications providers and NATS about this significant disruption, and how will it work with them to improve island resilience?

Sorry—I missed what you said, Presiding Officer. Did you say three or four minutes?

Three minutes. Okay.

I thank Douglas Ross for bringing the debate to the chamber this afternoon. As the motion states, gulls can be a problem and even dangerous.

Problem behaviour is often heightened during nesting season, when vulnerable eggs and chicks need protecting. I have witnessed and experienced the intense behaviour of gulls during nesting season. One gull in my neighbourhood attacked anyone who was near the communal waste bins. I saw another fly at an unsuspecting man as he got out of his car. The large gull swooped, and its beak made contact with the man’s head and drew blood. He was quite shaken by what had happened.

I had my own gull experience a few years ago. I had hung out some washing to dry on a fine, sunny day. When I attempted to retrieve it, I was dive-bombed by a gull. I managed to bring it in only by clutching an open umbrella over my head and making a dash for safety as the gull had another go at me. I fear that, without my brolly, I, too, would have ended up with a gash to the head.

Although it seems amusing to retell the tale, there is a serious issue to deal with, and I believe that NatureScot must do much more to issue licences swiftly when there is evidence of possible harm to humans.

The Scottish Seabird Centre’s briefing pointed to the fact that 70 per cent of Scotland’s seabird species are in decline. We know that that is a result of the impact of climate change, invasive species and a reduction in natural food sources.

I have lived in a top-floor flat for more than 20 years. When I first moved in, I frequently heard the noisy call of herring gulls as they padded across the flat roof. They would fly down to the nearby seashore, pick up small crabs, starfish and sea urchins, and fly back, dropping their catch to break it open on the roof before landing to feed on their meal. They would nest in the chimneys on a nearby row of terraced houses. Interestingly, I do not see or hear them so often now.

RSPB Scotland highlights that herring gull numbers have almost halved since the 1980s. With readily available food from human waste, gulls are increasingly brought into our urban areas. They hover outside fish and chip shops in Lerwick, waiting for a feed. It is not unusual to see them sitting on top of parked cars while, inside, the occupants eat their fish suppers.

I, too, reiterate the advice not to feed the birds, not least because it can attract other wildlife. Gulls are acting naturally in an environment that we have built, and that requires us to change our behaviour so that we can live in greater harmony.

Although we can mitigate some human behaviour, NatureScot must be more proactive in reacting to evidence-based situations when licences are sought. The agency cannot give less importance to the safety and protection of humans than it does to that of gulls. There is a balance to be found.

I think that Tim Eagle is about to come on to the point of principle that Finlay Carson raised earlier today. There should have been more time for the bill to be scrutinised by the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee, of which Finlay Carson is the convener. Although I have no concerns about the bill, which originated from my Liberal Democrat MP colleague Danny Chambers, and notwithstanding what the minister has just said, does Tim Eagle agree that, in the future, committees must be given more time to fulfil their role in effectively scrutinising legislation?

I have been made aware of a potential release of non-native game birds in Shetland. Islands are more sensitive to the establishment of non-native species, which can impact the environment and compete with native species. Will the minister work with NatureScot to increase awareness of the importance of not bringing in or releasing non-native species in islands? Will he also consider legislative measures to restrict non-native game bird releases?

A constituent who found themselves homeless and was allocated emergency accommodation sought my assistance after racking up considerable debt through exorbitant electricity costs while trying to keep themselves warm in a poorly insulated property. How can the Scottish Government support energy efficiency improvements for emergency housing accommodation and ensure that people who find themselves in need of such emergency housing are treated with dignity and respect?

I thank all the members who contributed to the debate. I pay tribute to teachers across Scotland, who are working under increasing pressures. As George Adam highlighted, teachers show up and shape young people’s lives.

At the beginning of the debate, Willie Rennie touched on the £20,000 bursary for teachers of STEM subjects and the fact that it does not seem to have improved recruitment of teachers in those subjects. Scottish Liberal Democrats have previously pointed to falling numbers of teachers in those subjects since the SNP took power. The numbers in technical education and computing studies have fallen to their lowest levels since records began, with the numbers of maths and physics teachers decreasing by 12 per cent and 8 per cent respectively.

At this morning’s meeting of the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee, we scrutinised the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill and we heard about the importance of resources to implement various aspects of the Scottish Government’s proposed legislation. I found myself wondering where the scientists, innovators, marine planners and data analysts are that we need for the future. Where are they going to come from if STEM subjects are not comprehensively taught in our schools and the possibilities for future careers in STEM are not opened up to learners?

Locally, I have heard from EIS Shetland association representatives about pressures on teachers, which include unresolved contact time issues. Teachers have reported increases in verbal abuse and violence in schools, which is putting them at risk of harm and increased stress and anxiety. At the same time, learning in classrooms is being seriously disrupted by such incidents. Teachers leave the profession because of such incidents and the stress and anxiety that they are placed under. The effect of that cannot be measured simply by figures that show that there is one less teacher; we also need to consider the loss of institutional memory and experience, which is a loss to learners, colleagues and newly qualified teachers joining the profession, who rely on experienced teachers to be mentors.

As Willie Rennie stated when he opened the debate, things are not simple for newly qualified teachers either, as they face difficulties such as gaining employment, underemployment and unreliable zero-hours jobs, despite some teaching roles having been advertised repeatedly. Data from a freedom of information request by the Scottish Liberal Democrats to all local authorities covering the past five years showed that a post in Aberdeenshire had been readvertised 11 times in one of those years. In the same year, 636 teaching posts were readvertised. The same data unveiled a post that had gone unfilled for 205 days, and in Shetland, a craft, design and technology post was readvertised seven times.

I turn to some of the comments that were made in the debate. The education secretary has said repeatedly that local workforce planning is the responsibility of local authorities, but the Government is responsible for the supply.

I need to go back to school, because I cannot read my own writing. [Laughter.]

Given the importance of muirburn, its role in managing fuel loads to mitigate wildfire risks, and the timescales that we have heard about, what will the minister do to ensure that licensing applications are as informed and as accurate as possible?

That is exactly the point that I was trying to get across. I thank Mr Whitfield.

Miles Briggs spoke about the pressure on teachers and the sharp decline in key subjects, which is impacting on subject choices and, ultimately, the Scottish economy.

Jackie Dunbar spoke about the energy sector and the STEM graduates that are sought by that sector, but she acknowledged that key subjects have shortages.

Douglas Ross highlighted that the Government’s amendment seeks to remove from the motion the words about the failure to recruit 3,500 more teachers. He also raised the issue of Highland teachers being excluded from interviews due to internal-only applications, which is diminishing the number of opportunities for more teachers to come to the area. Housing is another issue that can impact on recruitment and retention.

Alex Rowley referred to the impact of large class sizes and ratios of one teacher to 25 or 30 pupils. If primary pupils are ill-equipped to transition to secondary school, they are, in effect, being doomed to failure. Recruitment and retention is a problem in rural and island areas, which is further impacted by the lack of housing. It can make things difficult for those who are interested in moving to the Highlands and Islands to take up teaching posts there.

To stray a little into the next debate’s topic, I note that an EIS survey of teachers in Shetland found that only 11 per cent of respondents usually receive the support that they need to teach learners with ASN. In a decade, we have seen a 20 per cent increase in the number of secondary learners with ASN. Improvements in diagnoses and the reduction of stigma around mental health may have contributed to such increases, but it begs the question of why teachers do not feel supported where we are able to identify learners with ASN.

The lessons on teaching have not been learned. As the motion says, the Scottish Government needs to work with stakeholders and those in the workforce to develop a new plan. The longer we wait, the more damage we will do to our young people’s education. Young people are our future—they are our future doctors, architects, fishermen and teachers. What benefits them will benefit us all and benefit Scotland’s economic growth.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Scottish Liberal Democrats this afternoon.

Last week, when I was speaking in the debate on island communities, I highlighted the feelings of those in Shetland who consider that the community interest in not being best served by the Viking Energy wind farm. I said:

“The irony is not lost on Shetland, where we see the Viking wind farm reportedly generating as little as 17 per cent of its capacity and being paid enormous sums to constrain production as it is considered that the energy infrastructure is not able to cope with higher generation.”—[Official Report, 21 May 2025; c 45.]

Those constraint payments reportedly reached almost £10 million by December 2024, dwarfing the Shetland Community Benefit Fund, which its website states pays out a little more than £2.2 million annually.

The feeling at home is that if we live with it, we should benefit from it, just as we did from agreements reached with the oil industry 50 years ago.

Although reaching our net zero targets is a benefit to all communities globally, locally, compensation payouts for years of disruption have been overshadowed by a lack of foresight and infrastructure readiness as Viking’s generating power is reduced.

My Liberal Democrat Highland colleague Angus MacDonald MP has successfully shepherded party policy for plans that would deliver community benefits from renewables, and he held a debate in Westminster advocating fair compensation for local communities that host renewable projects. Similarly, early this year, Shetland Islands Council councillors backed a new set of principles around community benefits that are to be used in future negotiations with energy developers.

Community buy-in is critical and offshoring energy infrastructure such as with wind turbines has been heralded as a great opportunity. Often, however, such advocates should be careful not to run into the trap of disregarding the fishing sector.

Our fishing fleet, as well as consisting of generations of family businesses, provides us with nutritious, low-carbon, high-protein food. Squeezing out the fishing industry from traditional fishing grounds for renewables harms island and coastal communities. We must ensure that the Scottish and UK Governments and developers have a greater awareness and understanding of the reality of spatial squeeze, of the potential long-term consequences for that traditional industry and of the impact on marine ecosystems.

Just as there is objection to infrastructure on land, there is objection to infrastructure at sea. There is no place to banish this infrastructure to either.