To ask the Scottish Government how the planning process monitors the delivery of any job creation figures included within planning applications, including applications for salmon farms, once they are built and operational. (S6O-05268)

Planning authorities may monitor developments to consider whether they have been carried out in line with approved plans and conditions, which must have a planning purpose. They can also take enforcement action where appropriate. However, it is not the role of the planning system to monitor the number of jobs that are created as a consequence of any grant of planning permission. Planning decisions are made in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Decision makers identify the considerations that are, in planning terms, material to the determination of the application.

Recent independent research indicated that job numbers in salmon farm applications may be significantly overstated, for example by applying job figures per pen even where pens will be empty on rotation. Does the Scottish Government agree that it should adopt best practice by analysing and verifying job creation claims before approval and after farms are established to ensure that there is transparency and accuracy in decision making?

The salmon farming sector and its wider supply chain are an important employer in Scotland, particularly in our coastal and island communities. An independent report on the sector’s economic impact, which was commissioned by Salmon Scotland and published last month, showed that Scotland’s salmon farming sector supports 10,850 jobs in Scotland and contributed £953 million gross value added to the national economy in 2024. On any individual case, it is for the planning authority to satisfy itself as to the accuracy of any information that is provided in support of an application and to decide how much weight to give to any particular material consideration when deciding on the application.

There are 3,600 businesses across the country that are involved in the Scottish salmon supply chain. That includes W&J Knox in Kilbirnie, which supplies new nets and ancillary products, as well as washing, sterilising and repairing existing stock items, employing more than 60 people locally in my Constituency. Does the Cabinet secretary agree that it is important that figures on job creation and sustained jobs include the wider supply chain?

As I indicated in my previous answer, the salmon farming sector, together with its associated supply chain, is a significant source of employment in Scotland, particularly in coastal and island communities. Mr Gibson rightly underscored the essential contribution that fish farming makes not only through direct employment but, as the business in his Constituency illustrates, through the extensive economic activity that is generated across the wider supply chain.