Chamber and committees

Do you have a timescale for that? Will it be the autumn?

That would be appreciated. I have had conversations with people who talk about the idea that communities need to be in the lead because they live in the place. Local authorities facilitate and support their involvement, and then developers come in to deliver on the community’s vision. At the moment, we have it the other way round, so we end up with sprawl on the edge of towns and a lack of transport networks. Things are going in the opposite direction to which we really need to be going. Yes, there might be a shop, but where are the places for people to come together and for the community? Another aspect of placemaking is the active travel networks that we are keen on being delivered through the national planning framework. It is good to hear that you are aware of those things and are keen to support them so that placemaking happens.

Thanks very much for those useful questions and responses. I call Stephanie Callaghan.

It is reassuring to hear you say that developers should be looking at local place plans, because that will help us to get that sense of place. It will be interesting to see how things develop in the years to come.

I thank the minister for what has been a long but useful and thorough session in our first meeting after the recess.

As we agreed at the start of the meeting to take the next three agenda items in private, I now close the public part of the meeting.

Good morning, and welcome to the 11th meeting in 2024 of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee. I remind all members and witnesses to ensure that their devices are in silent mode.

We have received apologies from Willie Coffey and Gordon MacDonald. Colin Beattie is attending the meeting as a Scottish National Party substitute member. I welcome Colin to the meeting and invite him to declare any relevant interests.

The next item on our agenda is to decide whether to take items 4 and 5 in private. Do members agree to take those items in private?

Members indicated agreement.

It is good to hear that that is being considered.

I will bring in Stephanie Callaghan next.

It is heartening to hear that more local authorities are taking on empty homes officers.

Before we end this part of our question session, I will come back to the Scottish house condition survey. Our papers note that ALACHO is concerned about the house condition survey data not being of sufficient quality to provide a true picture of the quality of Scotland’s houses. I raise that because of my experience of issues around damp and mould in my region and the seemingly low numbers that we are getting. I am concerned that, if we do not get a strong picture of the quality of Scotland’s houses, we will face issues down the line that are worse to deal with, including health issues.

What is your view on that? What could the Scottish Government do to make the Scottish housing condition survey more robust, so that it gives us a true picture that will enable us to serve people in Scotland and ensure that their homes are fit to live in?

It is good to hear that there will be a consultation. However, something that I would like to highlight is that, whatever standards we end up with, we must ensure that things are rural and island housing proofed. I do not know whether you have been across the issue of wood stoves and the regulation that came in recently, but we have heard previously that we absolutely need to take some action on it. If we are going to bring in a single set of standards for housing quality and accessibility, the fact is that, as you yourself have highlighted, we will need to take a nuanced approach across Scotland, because the issues facing island communities, and even mainland communities, central belt communities and so on, are different. Whatever the consultation is, it would be good to see it support all voices being heard.