Seòmar agus comataidhean

I absolutely understand and sympathise with the intent of amendment 299. It is imperative that we see justice in relation to environmental harms, but I will set out why the amendment is unnecessary and some of the ways in which sufficient fines are already associated with tackling environmental harms.

The offence of causing significant environmental harm is an either-way offence, meaning that it can be tried by summary conviction or on an indictment. The maximum possible fine for a summary conviction is already set at quite a high level—£40,000—which is, in my view, sufficient. However, if the offence is for significant environmental harm, it is tried on indictment and the maximum fine that is available is unlimited. That is appropriate for the serious offences of the nature that Ross Greer alluded to.

The current level of fines that is available to the courts is sufficient for such offences. On that basis, notwithstanding my sympathy for what he outlined, I ask Mr Greer not to press amendment 299.

I think that Mark Ruskell makes my point there. We have national marine plans that will be consulted on; my issue is with this specific amendment, which would disadvantage the domestic fleet. The situation for the domestic fleet would be different from that for a fleet that was coming in from elsewhere, and that is fundamentally problematic. The objectives can already be achieved under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, so, again, the amendment would duplicate effort and would be unnecessary.

Mark Ruskell mentioned national marine plans, which are the vehicle for what happens in those areas. The amendment would not only duplicate effort in that regard; it would have unintended consequences in placing burdens on the domestic fleet that would not apply to vessels in any other fleet.

Amendments 96 and 97, from Ariane Burgess, on regional marine plans, would attempt to impose directives on local stakeholders without prior consultation or consent. On that basis, I strongly oppose them. It is essential that we listen to community views and work with local people to determine appropriate solutions that work at a local level; a number of members have made points on that today. That is why we are committed to regional marine planning’s intent of enabling community-led approaches and local decision making. These amendments would undermine that way of working and impose a top-down approach for all regions, and neither I nor the Scottish Government can support that. I therefore ask the committee not to agree to amendments 96 and 97.

I turn to amendment 101, from Maurice Golden. Spatial planning is under way and is still evolving, so implementing it through primary legislation now, before addressing critical considerations, including evidence-based robustness, would, in my view, be premature. I thank Tim Eagle for his comments in that regard, because I believe that he is absolutely right that we need to allow these processes to take place, the evidence to be gathered and the consultation to happen.

Section 38 of the bill sets out that, if it is passed, it will be known as the Natural Environment (Scotland) Act, and in practice that has been its working title since we first committed to introducing it in the 2021-22 programme for government. The Scottish Government has been clear that we are facing a nature emergency and that the provisions in the bill are necessary to help us to address that crisis.

I understand why Mark Ruskell has lodged amendment 33 to change the short title of the bill—we are in a nature emergency. However, the Presiding Officer’s guidance on the content of bills is clear:

“The text of a Bill—including both the short and long titles—should be in neutral terms and should not contain material intended to promote or justify the policy behind the Bill”.

That guidance is not mandatory, but it reflects a long-standing practice to avoid giving political or emotional titles to our legislation. I would say that “nature emergency” is an emotive term, and I do not think that it is sufficiently neutral to meet the standards set by the Presiding Officer. It could set a precedent for naming future legislation, so I do not support the amendment.

Amendment 102 is a minor, technical amendment that aims to clarify existing provision in response to a concern that was raised by parliamentary officials. The amendment relates to the parliamentary procedure for approving improvement plans submitted under section 30 of the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021. Those plans outline how ministers intend to address concerns raised about the effectiveness of environmental law and its implementation.

Amendment 102 addresses ambiguities in the current legislation regarding whether the approval process should follow a negative or an affirmative procedure. It is right that the Parliament should have the chance to scrutinise improvement plans, so the amendment will ensure that improvement plans for Environmental Standards Scotland are subject to the affirmative procedure and require the Parliament to actively approve the plan. That will ensure clarity about the application of the Parliament’s standing orders and will provide a clear, practical process for approving improvement plans. For those reasons, I encourage members to support the amendment.

I move amendment 102.

Amendment 102 agreed to.

Section 35 agreed to.

Section 36—Ancillary provision

Amendment 308 moved—[Tim Eagle].

As I said, our response to the recommendation to consider regulation 15 of the Civil Legal Aid (Scotland) Regulations 2002 was published on 24 November. From memory, I think that it is Siobhian Brown who is dealing with that. I would need to defer to my colleagues about the timing beyond that point.

Yes, I will.

I am pleased that Mark Ruskell has drawn attention to the excellent work that is being done across the whole of Scotland to develop nature networks. However, I must point out that nature networks are currently identified as a key outcome in our Scottish biodiversity strategy, and that, under section 2 of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004, we are already required to report on implementation of that strategy every three years. In addition, the templates for public bodies to report on compliance with the biodiversity duty were updated in 2023 to ensure that they referred specifically to nature networks.

To support public bodies, and local authorities in particular, NatureScot has developed a nature networks toolbox, which contains a wide range of information, including detail on many of the topics that are referred to in amendment 76, such as sources of public and private financing. I would prefer us to focus our resource on helping our local authorities and national parks to deliver nature networks across Scotland, rather than on compiling a report that would duplicate the information that is already provided in our report on the implementation of the biodiversity strategy. A requirement to produce such a report would add an unnecessary administrative burden that would take away from action. Therefore, I do not think that amendment 76 is necessary, and, on that basis, I ask Mr Ruskell not to press it.

On amendment 77, our land managers have a hugely important role to play in helping to tackle the nature and climate crisis, and I recognise the good work that they are already doing. Our biodiversity strategy and delivery plan already recognise the importance of nature networks and identify a range of actions to expand and enhance ecological connectivity across Scotland. The Scottish ministers will be able to set out their objectives for nature networks and to report on progress on them through the Scottish biodiversity strategy reporting mechanisms.

The Government has already embedded nature networks in our national planning framework and is providing significant support and assistance to local authorities and other delivery bodies. The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 requires the Scottish ministers to produce a land use strategy to ensure that they give due consideration to the need for and delivery of sustainable land use. The recent consultation on the fourth land use strategy focused on the role of integrated land use in achieving a balance across the multiple demands that are placed on Scotland’s land. The consultation responses did not suggest that action on nature networks similar to that which is proposed in Mark Ruskell’s amendment was necessary.

Nature networks and wider ecological connectivity are key parts of the complex landscape of sustainable land use, but it is essential that they are integrated alongside other elements, such as sustainable food production, forestry, peatland restoration, energy and housing. The 2009 act requires the land use strategy to consider an integrated and balanced range of land uses. The introduction in the bill of a specific reference to one land use would shift the focus away from the integrated approach that stakeholders strongly supported in the recent strategy consultation.

For those reasons, I do not support amendment 77. I think that it would unhelpfully alter the carefully balanced approach to sustainable land use that is taken in our land use strategy. Therefore, I encourage Mark Ruskell not to move it, and, failing that, I ask members not to support it.

I will.

Yes.

Yes—but I will make one further point, and the member may want to address this as well.

We are exploring how the national marine plan could respond to consultation feedback, including stakeholder requests for marine spatial planning and implications for existing users. That is the vehicle by which a lot of these issues will be addressed.

I have sympathy with the intent behind the amendment, but I point to the fact that any amendment that altered regional requirements without regard for the national framework could actually prove impractical without further legislative reform, and it might be associated with actions that are the opposite of what Maurice Golden is looking for. I am happy to have further conversations with him about it, but, fundamentally, it would not work with the existing law.

I am happy to take a comment from Maurice Golden.