Meeting of the Parliament (Continued)

Portfolio Questions Bill Kidd S6O-00708 1. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to a recent survey, which found that 65% of those asked preferred to see the national flag of Scotland on their food. Paul Sweeney S6O-00709 2. To ask the Scottish Government how it will support the fishing industry to grow to meet any increased capacity within the catching and processing sectors. Emma Harper S6O-00710 3. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its position on the effectiveness in Scotland of the UK geographical indication scheme, which replaced the EU protected geographical indication scheme. Murdo Fraser S6O-00711 4. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is supporting new entrants into agriculture. Miles Briggs S6O-00712 5. To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to help increase the numbers of allotments and community garden spaces available in Edinburgh. Maggie Chapman S6O-00713 6. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding support for young farmers in the north east to support and promote good mental health and wellbeing. Michelle Thomson S6O-00714 7. To ask the Scottish Government what support the agricultural sector receives in Scotland, and how this compares with the rest of the UK. Paul O'Kane S6O-00715 8. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider a complete ban on fox hunting. followed by Scottish Labour Party Debate: Cost of Living That the Parliament recognises the pressure being placed on household finances across Scotland due to rising inflation, increasing food and fuel prices, and high energy bills; considers that this will be exacerbated by the increase to National Insurance, the likely hike to the energy price cap in April 2022, and the rises in Scotland to rail fares and water charges, which it calls on the Scottish Government to review and defer; supports the calls for the UK Government to cut VAT on home energy bills for 12 months; endorses proposals to save most households around £200 on bills using that VAT cut and smoothing the costs of supplier failure, as well as to provide extra targeted support to those who need it most, including pensioners and low earners, by expanding and increasing the Warm Home Discount, giving those households an additional £400 off energy bills, and agrees that this should be paid for by a one-off windfall tax on increased oil and gas profits. followed by Scottish Labour Party Debate: A People’s ScotRail That the Parliament welcomes the return of ScotRail to the public sector; considers the new public sector operator to be critical in securing modal shift and affordable, accessible and reliable rail services for Scotland’s passengers; condemns, therefore, the current plans for ticket office cuts and closures, service reductions, and the recent 3.8% increase in fares, which undermine progress towards net zero, modal shift and service improvement; considers that the new ScotRail, which will be under public ownership, must provide well-staffed, world-class services, and calls on the Scottish Government to rule out compulsory redundancies or any dilution of collective bargaining under the new operator, and further calls on the Scottish Government to reject tickets office cuts and closures and set out a timetable for restoring overall ScotRail services to pre-pandemic levels. followed by Decision Time