Chamber and committees

Willie Coffey joins us on BlueJeans.

We have come to the end our questions. I thank the minister and his officials for their evidence. I look forward to seeing you again next week, when we will consider the motion on the social housing charter.

Item 3 is consideration of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (Remuneration) Amendment Regulations 2022. As that is a negative instrument, there is no requirement for the committee to make any recommendations on it.

As no member wishes to comment on the instrument, does the committee agree that it does not wish to make any recommendations in relation to it?

Members indicated agreement.

Good morning, and welcome to the seventh meeting in 2022 of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee. I remind everyone to ensure that their mobile phones are on silent and that all other notifications are turned off during the meeting.

Agenda item 1 is a decision on whether to take item 5, which is consideration of the evidence that we have taken on the Scottish social housing charter, in private. Do we agree to do so?

Members indicated agreement.

Under item 2, we will take evidence on the Scottish social housing charter from the Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights. Mr Harvie is joined by the Scottish Government officials Michael Boal, from social housing charter and regulation, and Anne Cook, who is head of social housing services. I welcome Mr Harvie and his officials.

The committee has received copies of the updated charter with changes from the previous iteration in 2017 shown in red. A Scottish Government briefing, a letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, and written submissions from Living Rent and the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers were also included in the meeting pack.

Members should note that we will be invited to consider the Scottish Government’s motion on the charter at next week’s meeting, which Mr Harvie will also attend. I intend to allow up to around 90 minutes for this session. Before I open to questions from the committee, I invite the minister to make a short opening statement.

Thank you for those responses. I move to questions from Mark Griffin.

For the awareness of all, the committee will have the SHR in soon, on 22 March.

It is coming through clearly that a number of pieces of work around housing are being progressed over this parliamentary session. The charter is one piece, the new deal for tenants is another and there are lots of others. All those bits will, I hope, work together to make housing better for people in general.

I will bring in Miles Briggs with some questions.

I will move on to the theme of the private sector, which you have touched on a little already. It is important for the public sector to lead by example, but we heard evidence from Pete Ritchie of Nourish Scotland, who reminded us that public food is a maximum of 1.5 to 2 per cent of the food supply. The private sector delivers the vast majority of our food and, to quote Pete,

“is operating on rules that generate ill health and environmental degradation”.—[Official Report, Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee, 26 January 2022; c 27-28.]

A first step in changing those rules could be mandatory reporting for the private sector, which would increase accountability. Can the minister give us an update on whether Westminster will proceed with the recommendations from its national food strategy report. If it will, can the data for Scotland be separated out to inform policy development here?

As you have heard, witnesses have been clear in their evidence that we must take the private sector with us on the journey towards being a good food nation. The bill does not set out a clear mechanism for that to happen. I understand from previous evidence why that is the case. What are your thoughts about amending the bill to require the Government and relevant authorities to engage with the private sector when drafting and implementing their plans? What form would you see that engagement taking?