To ask the Scottish Government what the justification was at the time for the purchase of Glen Prosen by Forestry and Land Scotland in November 2022, with a reported cost to the public of £17.6 million. (S6O-04899)

The strategic objective of acquiring the additional land at Glen Prosen was to create a contiguous area of 10,000 hectares in public ownership across the Angus glens and in the Cairngorms national park. It provides an opportunity for the development of an exemplar of integrated land management that can demonstrate how habitat restoration, forestry, agriculture and other land uses can be combined in a way that furthers the Scottish Government’s aims for people’s wellbeing, nature recovery at scale, climate resilience and thriving rural communities.

For three years, the only formal reason that was given for the purchase was “strategic importance”, although what that means has never been formally set out. The public did not ask for it, the people in the glen did not want it and, three years on, they still await the promised management plan that would explain its strategic importance. Given that, under the Scottish National Party’s new land reform legislation, failure to produce such a plan would result in a massive fine to the taxpayer, when will the plan be laid, what will the amount of the fine be if it is not, and from which budget will it come?

There has been significant consultation and engagement in the development of the land management plan, and I believe that the plan will be submitted to Scottish Forestry, the regulator, in the coming months. It has been finalised, but it has taken a long time to develop, purely because of the extensive engagement and consultation that has taken place. I hope that the Scottish Parliament will pass the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, which is progressing through the parliamentary processes. At that point, I will expect our public agencies to follow the plan and, if anything, lead by example when it comes to the different initiatives that we will introduce.

We have just heard from the Cabinet secretary that Forestry and Land Scotland purchased Glen Prosen for the purposes of nature recovery, climate resilience and public health and wellbeing activities, which are clearly in the public interest. When I consulted on my proposed land ownership and public interest bill, I found widespread support for a public interest test on transfers of large landholdings. Will the cabinet secretary support the inclusion of a public interest test in the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill ahead of stage 3?

As the member will be aware, and as we have discussed at length during stage 2 consideration of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, we have looked at introducing wording that would reference a public interest test in a way that is ultimately workable and that would achieve the aims that we have set out in the bill.

I look forward to continuing to engage with Mercedes Villalba and members across the chamber as we look to strengthen the bill and work on amendments ahead of stage 3.