Chamber and committees

Bill Lobban said that he does not believe that money should be ring fenced, and I think that somebody else mentioned that, too. What are your thoughts, and those of the other witnesses, on whether there should be any restrictions on how the additional revenue raised from the measure is used? How has any additional income from reducing council tax discounts on second homes been used? Has it helped increase the supply of affordable housing?

That is fine.

I am interested in the grace period in the regulations, which applies when a new owner undertakes renovations and repairs within six months of purchasing the property. Do you agree with that? Will it encourage empty home owners to bring their properties back into use?

Yes, I have a final one. I am interested in hearing the panel members’ views on how the draft legislation links with the Scottish Government’s long-term housing aims as set out in “Housing to 2040”.

That is okay. I am interested in whether people agree that the additional money should not be ring fenced, and whether any income from reducing council tax discounts on second homes has helped to increase the amount of affordable housing.

Do you think that six months is enough or should there be a bit more flexibility?

I hope that you will get an opportunity to come in in a moment, Peter.

Twenty years ago, I worked on an education initiative project for young people who did not attend school. Graham Hutton spoke about going forward to the past. Some of the stuff about developing the young workforce was happening then, too. Pauline Walker mentioned the need for young people in deprived areas to have a purpose. The point about soft skills and engagement is a really important one to take on board.

There are parents’ nights, and we get report cards that tell us how kids are doing in working towards qualifications in their subjects, but how do you identify young people’s ambitions and check in with pupils to ensure that they are getting the opportunities to fulfil those ambitions, and that the flexibility exists to enable them to go on and pursue the careers that they are really interested in in an inclusive way? That is quite a big question.

We heard last week about the real need for a culture change, but change takes a long time and this one could take up to 10 years. What would be a reasonable timescale for embedding change and is there anything that you think would help to expedite that culture change?

The report states that your interpretation of success is about everybody having equitable access to learning opportunities and being able to reach positive destinations in their work and life that can help Scotland’s economy to flourish. How should we measure that success during the implementation period of the recommendations? Should we use qualitative data, quantitative data or a mix of the two?

I have a short follow-up question. Would equipping the leaders right at the top of education with skills in systems thinking and systems leadership have positive influence?

Peter, it would be helpful if you could touch on the practical level, looking at what we need to get rid of and what we need to be doing.