Chamber and committees

I am glad to hear that you are aware of that.

I will move on to placemaking, which is another key strand in “Housing to 2040”. However, concerns that that ambition will not be achieved were flagged to the committee during our round-table sessions, partly because of the failure of the current planning framework to take into account the concerns and needs of local residents, as well as the focus on developing unaffordable private rented housing. You will also be aware that there have been challenges with local authorities not having the resources and skills to deliver on placemaking. To what extent do you think that the ambition is being realised? Can it be realised, given those circumstances?

Of course, it is important to ensure that not only the local development plans but the local place plans that communities are busy developing—although they may not be alive to it yet—will come on board and that the ideas that communities propose, which are often based on rich evidence and experience, are honoured and that communities start to see those things happening around them.

We have a few more questions to go.

In the case of rural and island communities, there are requirements around Government strategy on repopulation and maintaining population in the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018. There are lots of things to support us and ensure that we take a nuanced approach.

Good. I am glad that you have someone on board who has that kind of awareness of de-speculation.

The third item on our agenda is to take evidence on building safety and maintenance and the housing to 2040 strategy from the Minister for Housing. The minister is joined by Joe Brown, who is deputy director of more homes in the Scottish Government, and Laura Dougan, who is unit head of housing strategy and delivery in the better homes division of the Scottish Government. I welcome our witnesses to the meeting and invite the minister to make a short opening statement.

Thank you for that update. Our first session will be on building safety and maintenance; after that, we will take a short break and then focus on the housing to 2040 strategy.

Something that has come up time and again in committee evidence sessions and round tables is a need for some kind of central database that would hold information on the design, construction and maintenance of Scotland’s buildings. I think that you are aware of that from the time that you were on the committee. Is the Scottish Government considering that—perhaps starting with new-build properties, for which that information could be easily obtainable? Obviously, that has come up because of things such as RAAC and the cladding issue, but also because of a sense that we could respond more readily to issues such as damp and mould if we understood what buildings were made of.

Thank you for that. Your example was about people in a community space who got together, and who pulled together to catalyse an event with Changeworks. We can see very much that that collective action needs to happen.

Great; thank you very much. All communities should be on alert and should get together.

Stephanie Callaghan has a brief supplementary question.