7. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to identify and implement improved flood mitigation measures. (S4O-05652)

The Scottish Government is determined to reduce the devastating and costly impacts of flooding across the whole country. The flood risk management strategies, which were published by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in December 2015, have been developed with that intention. They co-ordinate the efforts of all the organisations that are responsible for tackling flooding, and they concentrate the work of those organisations in the areas where the risk of flooding and the benefits of investment are greatest.

We now have the most advanced, nationally consistent and locally informed understanding of the causes and consequences of flooding in Scotland that we have ever had.

As the cabinet secretary will be aware, during the new year floods in my constituency, the town of Castle Douglas was partially flooded in an almost unprecedented situation. The source of that flooding was some 30 miles away in the upper reaches of the Water of Deuch, where there is widespread commercial forestry activity and a Scottish Power hydro scheme.

In considering improved flood mitigation, what steps is the Government taking to bring interests such as forestry and energy generators into discussions, along with the normal agencies such as SEPA, Scottish Natural Heritage and the others to which the cabinet secretary alluded in his response?

Alex Fergusson raises a fair point. Natural flood management, which takes into account the impact of forestry, is central to the new flood risk management strategies that have been published. Certainly, that is the way forward in many parts of Scotland. The various stakeholders to which Alex Fergusson referred must be part of that process, and the way in which we engage with them is constantly being improved to ensure that we get the right flood mitigation measures in place.