Seòmar agus comataidhean

I think that some of the plans that are being talked about in relation to public diners and their wider impact are really exciting; they seek to deliver on the outcomes that we have set out in the plan, and I am really interested to see where they go. I hope that we can build on and support the roll-out of some of those initiatives.

You talked about mental health, which is a really important element of the plan. It is one of the areas in the plan where we have identified that we do not have enough data and need to collect more. That will enable us to consider whether to develop indicators and how we can monitor those. We have picked up on areas in the plan in which we need to do more work.

I appreciate that the earlier session ran over so, in the interests of time, I am happy to go straight to questions, if the committee would prefer that.

Those are really interesting issues to get into, and the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and I discussed them in a round-table meeting on diet and nutrition earlier this year.

I do not think that it is a case of one or the other. If people think that the focus is not quite right in the way that the plan is framed, that is where the committee’s scrutiny is really important. We are more than happy to listen and to see whether any changes need to be made. Having basic skills is important, but we also have a wider opportunity to educate, and we do so much work on that. In my portfolio, we support the work of the Royal Highland Education Trust, which does incredible work in getting kids out on the farm and understanding where their food comes from.

There are huge opportunities in relation to wider skills, and we could be doing more on that. There are many opportunities and careers in our wider food and drink sector. We need to consider whether there are opportunities that we can build into education settings to expose young people to those areas, so that they think of those as realistic careers going forward. There are areas where we know that we have skills shortages and where we could be doing more.

I am keen to hear the committee’s views on some of the evidence that you have heard. However, I think that we have the balance right. It is not one or the other. I do not think that doing one will fix all the issues that we have. As with most of the issues that the committee has been discussing this morning, it is about how we tackle that in the round.

I certainly hope that that will not be the case. For the measures that were passed as part of that legislation, I think that it will not be the case. As I have said, we have set out ambitious outcomes, and I will not sit here and pretend that reaching them will be easy. No doubt members can see from the committee’s workload the number of initiatives and strategies that are in place to try to improve our nation’s health overall. A lot of work is under way, and there is a lot of work to be done.

This plan is the first iteration, but I think that it sets the building blocks. It is a fundamental change in how we work across Government. That takes time to embed, and I think that that is where we have put the focus in the proposed plan. We need to make sure that we get that initial cross-Government working right, and we need to do that well. That will be an important foundation from which to move forward.

The reporting and review requirements in the legislation are that we have to review the plan every couple of years. We need to look at whether the policies are working. If they are not, we need to consider what action we will take.

We must remember the role of the food commission in all this. We have appointed some members and a chair to the commission, which will have a scrutiny role and will monitor the work that is undertaken. With the measures that we have in the legislation, the role that the food commission will undertake, and the foundations that we are building just now with cross-Government working, I believe that we will be in a better position at a point further in the future.

We all have a duty and a role to play in that. We have set out our proposed plan, but health boards and local authorities, as relevant authorities named in the legislation, will have to develop their own plans, set out the outcomes that they want to achieve and show how they are delivering on those. We all have a role and have the responsibility of leading by example to deliver on the overarching outcomes to get the change that we want.

First, I will touch on the recommendations and where we were with the carbon budgets. What was recommended by the Climate Change Committee would have had a drastic and very negative impact on rural and island communities across Scotland. I believe that we can still lower our emissions in a way that involves working with our farmers and crofters, and in a way that supports our rural communities, the wider supply chain and the industries and people who depend on them. That is what we set out.

Every sector in society must lower its emissions, and we believe that we can do that in a different way. Our livestock industry and our red meat sector are important, not just for our health but for our wider economy, particularly in our rural and island areas. It is important that we continue to support those sectors and livelihoods.

I do not see any conflict there, and the dietary advice pretty much says that we need to consume more fruit and veg—we know that we need to do that. It comes back to the point that I made to Brian Whittle about how we get the balance. We have the “Eatwell Guide” and the recommendations in there. That sets out what a healthy, balanced diet should look like, and that is what we hope to achieve.

If anything, I want to see us eating more of what we produce in Scotland. The work that we are doing through the agricultural reform programme and the good food nation is about that.

It is important to mention—we should not forget it—seafood. Look at what we produce—we export much of it. Seafood Scotland does good work, which we are supporting them with, on getting fish into schools and on helping people to understand more about what we produce in our waters, so that they will then make that choice, because they have been exposed to it from an early age. That is important. I just want to make sure that we do not forget that element.

Yes, I believe that we have an alternative way to do it, and that is what we have set out in relation to the carbon budgets.

It is a case of improving the overall food environment. The initiatives that are under way through the plan feed into those outcomes. Through our go local programme, which is about supporting smaller convenience stores, we want to provide access to local products, including healthier products, and to support people to make the right choices in that respect. Work will be taken forward through the population health strategy, the diet and healthy weight implementation plan and some of the other initiatives that we have talked about, which will all contribute to creating the better food environment that we want to see.

Absolutely. That would be my hope. We have so many strong examples of good work happening across Scotland, and we really want to build on them and not see them recede or go in the opposite direction. I am really keen for this to head in that direction.

I certainly hope so. I hope that the development of the proposed national plan and the local plans will help to deliver that. If we consider the overall value of public procurement, food and catering services are worth about £220 million. When we think about how that is targeted, the potential impact on local communities and supply chains could be really powerful. We would hope that that would emerge from some of the other plans that are being developed.

There is an element of flexibility for health boards and local authorities to develop outcomes. It is important that there is some flexibility across Scotland so that each area can develop outcomes that reflect its specific needs. However, the legislation will underpin those plans and sets out the overall approach that will need to be taken. My officials will work closely with health boards and local authorities in the development of those plans.