Chamber and committees

What is preventing that?

Acts passed by the Scottish Parliament authorising new rail lines, such as the Waverley Railway (Scotland) Act 2006, gave project promoters wide-ranging powers to build a great deal of the necessary infrastructure without the need for further authorisation from other public authorities. On the LCM, you have recommended that Parliament should not give consent to provisions that would allow the Annandale rail depot to be built, as part of HS2, without building standards and controlled activities consent. Is that consistent with previous practice? If not, why have you chosen to pursue that approach?

Is it your view that it would be preferable for you to be able to come back with an LCM approving consent, should those discussions over the next—

I move to Allison Orr. When it comes to your concerns about rentier experience, we are, potentially, going to move to an economic model in which there is community asset transfer that involves a revenue stream—a stake in places that have community social benefit but perhaps have rented housing accommodation above them. What advice would you give, what would be the opportunities and pitfalls, and what is needed to enable the kind of economic model that allows community and social enterprises to get a revenue stream so that they can be independent from the state? If we are to go to that model, what would be your advice on enablers and inhibitors?

Good morning. We have heard that every town is unique and that any solution has to be unique to the town, and Pauline Smith noted that we need to have strong and creative individuals involved. I accept that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, but if we look at organisations that support the necessary work, such as development trusts, other community-led organisations or the organisations that are involved in business improvement districts, what makes things work? We have heard that business improvement districts have an advantage because they have revenue and can pay people to do things, which is not always the case with development trusts. How do we get the most out of organisations to support individuals, and what should the relationship with councils be? Do we need town champions? What resource is needed for them? What is the interplay between the organisations?

And employees, not—[Inaudible.]

We want our town centres to be vibrant places to live, work and play, and that means that we must work. Retail and hospitality employers are major parts of our town centres. What more can be done in those sectors to ensure fair work opportunities for older people and people who have disabilities? What will be the benefits to town centres if we can get this right?

I thank you for your submissions to the inquiry. I have read them and they are very interesting. Nicoletta Primo has said quite a lot about that already, so perhaps we can go to Ian Buchanan, then Adam Stachura.

What about working with councils?

So do you recommend rental guarantees for social enterprises that provide housing in town centres?

Martin Avila said that more is needed in terms of community development, and we have heard calls for council-based activity, town champions and more planners. However, if there is any resource, it might not necessarily be available for community enterprises or community development associations. How do we get that balance right? Where do the resources need to be? You can say “both”, but—