Chamber and committees

As we agreed at the start of the meeting to take the next item in private, I close the public part of the meeting.

Mark, you said in your statement that there is virtually no greyhound racing industry in Scotland. I read in the background papers that greyhounds are initially raised in Ireland. I am beginning to get the picture that it is a cross-border industry and that dogs come from elsewhere to race at Thornton, but could you explain that a bit more?

Jim Fairlie asked about the fact that there are no vets at Thornton, and you talked about euthanasia in your opening statement. How does euthanasia happen at Thornton? You might not know.

Thank you for that. I will pick up on what you said in your opening remarks about now being the time to act, for various reasons. What timescale is now in your mind for this opportunity, because of Covid and with Shawfield closing?

Thank you for that. Bear with me, as I have a few more questions.

You have kind of spoken about this, but I want to hear a bit more about it. The Scottish Government has voiced a commitment to ensuring that sentience is taken into consideration in animal welfare. What needs to change in order for greyhounds to be afforded the level of protection that they deserve as sentient beings?

Thank you very much, Mark.

As that was our only public business today, I close the public part of the meeting.

Good morning and welcome to the 12th meeting in 2022 of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee. I ask all members to ensure that their mobile phones are on silent and that all notifications are turned off during the meeting.

Our substantive business for today involves consideration of two draft reports, both of which the committee previously agreed to consider in private. However, as two new committee members are attending for the first time, we are first required to meet in public so that they can declare any relevant interests. I welcome Marie McNair and Annie Wells to the committee. The first item on our agenda is for Marie and Annie to declare interests. I invite them to do so in turn.

I thank Marie and Annie for their declarations. I call Mark Griffin.

Thank you very much for that, Rosemary. We will pick up on some of the points that you have made.

I am heartened to hear you talk about a change in working practices in acknowledgement of the need to handle cases with empathy, and I think that you are absolutely right when you say that that needs space. Often, when people come into an environment to complain, they need a great deal of empathy. It seems to me that you are bringing more of that into your work, but the approach that you are taking to resolutions will, I think, also give you ease. You will be able to sort out some complaints more speedily, but you will also have the ability to be empathetic with perhaps more complex issues. I really appreciate that way of working.

I call Graeme Dey.

We are now going to move on to questions from Willie Coffey, who is joining us online.