Chamber and committees

I will turn the question on its head. Do members of the public fully understand a councillor’s role and the fact that they get paid a certain amount of money and that it is not a full-time role, even though, in its own way, it is? Shona Morrison mentioned that she cannot even go to the shops—I know how that feels—but it is rewarding, too, and it is nice that constituents come up to speak to us. Do members of the public understand a councillor’s remit and role and how they stretch their time, in that they sometimes have their own job as well as being a councillor?

You have touched on women, lone parents and disabled people. Did you find anybody from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds? Were there any barriers there? There are cultural barriers, especially when people have to go back to the home to look after their children and sometimes to look after extended family as well, and also have a job and do council work. It may happen to other people as well, but I am just asking that question.

Okay. Thank you.

Doing comparisons is something, but did you find any good practice from any authorities and the work that England, under the UK, has done?

Thank you for that. It is so important to understand.

Good morning, panel. Thank you so much for giving us your opening statements and letting us know about all the work that you have done.

Councillors are out and about in their local areas and are often recognised by the public for the work they do. Did the remuneration committee examine any views of the public on the value they get from their local councillors and their opinions on council pay issues?

I think that it was in relation to that, minister. The witnesses last week talked about the fact that, to bring more planners on, the fees are needed. Maybe local authorities are ring fencing the money for something else. It would be interesting to probe that a little bit more, which I will do.

It is good to hear you say that there is a lot of work being done. We need to have new entrants coming in, and we need to encourage people to go into the planning profession. We have heard over the past few weeks that there is an inadequacy in that regard.

It does not help when—as stakeholders have told us—there are cuts to the college budgets, which is obviously having a negative effect on skills delivery. What is the Scottish Government looking at doing to encourage new entrants into planning?

Also, are you content that the work that you are doing will deliver the workforce that is much needed, both now and in the future? We are talking about renewables and we are talking about a lot of climate change. We need those transferable skills as well. What is your view on that?

I will come back on the planning profession side, but first I want to probe something that was brought up at our meeting the week before last. You talked about the fees system. Homes for Scotland brought that up and said that there is no use charging higher fees if people are not getting an adequate service. Last week, we heard that the fee system is ring fenced. Are you looking at that?

Good morning, minister, and welcome to your role.

As we have heard, there is a housing emergency. I was lucky enough to speak to 31 out of 32 councils, and one of the issues that each council brought up was the pressures on housing. Since then, five councils have declared housing emergencies, so it is good that the Scottish Government has declared a housing emergency.

Are you satisfied that the approach to housing that is set out in NPF4 will deliver the homes that Scotland needs? What more can be done to the planning system to deliver those homes?

Now that a housing emergency has been declared and we have NPF4 in place, is there anything that you think needs to change in relation to the planning system, as someone who is newly in post?