Chamber and committees

Thank you. That is a really interesting point that we need to take on board. Clare, do you have any thoughts on that?

Thank you—although I will come straight back to you, because my last question is for you. My question is on the minimum all-tenure housing land requirement as set out in the draft NPF 4, which is there to support a consistent and more simple and transparent planning system for housing. I know that Planning Democracy has already submitted thoughts on that; we have also touched on it this morning. Do we need to make changes in order to achieve the aims of simplicity, consistency and transparency in housing land requirement? I would welcome your thoughts on that.

I do not want to cut you off, but I can see that Robbie Calvert would like to come in. Robbie, would you like to give us some brief thoughts?

Thank you for that. I see that Ailsa Macfarlane and Clare Symonds would like to come in. We are only halfway through our questions, so if you could make only additional comments that would be great.

Thank you, Professor Sparks.

My final question is for Dr Brown. Do you think that the policies in the draft NPF4 will produce an environment that meets the needs of children, women, older people and disabled people? If not, what changes would you like to see?

That is great, Dr Brown, and it is a really good segue into the question that I have for Professor Sparks.

A huge driver behind the draft NPF4 is living locally. Given your expertise on retail, Professor Sparks, do you think that the framework will drive local investment in planning, or will we still end up with out-of-town retail as opposed to in-town retail?

That is interesting. The local authority in my area revised its numbers upwards, which was to do with Covid in-migration. Flexibility must be looked at in relation to all such issues.

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the designation of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization biosphere reserves in Scotland as areas of significance for sustainable development and climate change. (S6O-00657)

The Galloway and Southern Ayrshire biosphere, which covers my constituency, has had significant support from South of Scotland Enterprise, local government, a range of private businesses, environmental non-governmental organisations and community representatives. It is identified in the local development plans and regional spatial strategies for Ayrshire and southern Scotland. Does the minister agree that it is a great shame that the UNESCO biospheres appear to have been missed by the draft national performance framework 4? In recognising the importance of the key strategic values on which they lead—sustainability and contributing to the wider social, economic, environmental and tourism aspirations of the area—can the minister commit to ensuring that UNESCO biospheres are truly recognised and highlighted in the new NPF4?

Will the cabinet secretary provide an update on how the recommendations support the shifting of freight from road to rail and how that will benefit the south-west?