Chamber and committees

Have the councils expressed concern to you on the issue? Several times this year, I have raised with you the issue of integration joint board funding that has meant that the capital has lost out on resources. As a result of that, we are already not in a great place here in that regard. I wonder whether those concerns have been put to you already.

Good morning, panel, and thank you for joining us. I have a couple of questions on barriers to disabled people seeking office and what happens when they gain elected office.

I am sure that you are both aware of the quite high-profile case in Edinburgh of a newly elected disabled member who highlighted the lack of support, accessibility and, to be honest, basic workplace health and safety advice that were provided. What conversations have taken place in COSLA to ensure that that changes? I do not think that it is acceptable that the situation arose in the first place.

Following on from that, what positive impact has the access to elected office fund made?

My final question is on the fact that the vast majority of councillors in Scotland represent a political party and come through a party political network. What more can be done? My party established the Women2Win campaign, for example, which has provided the peer support network that was missing. Are there also lessons from other political parties that could help to turn the situation around?

That is helpful. Thank you.

I cannot remember who gave us this evidence, but last week we heard about an information technology platform on which the data would be hosted. That might present an opportunity for data to be shared and accessed across the UK and Scottish Governments, with all local authorities being able to share it.

On potential benefits, would you agree that planning data would benefit from being processed at a Great Britain level, and that the data could be compatible?

Thank you. There might be something to learn from the Scottish Parliament. The Presiding Officer might not agree with me in relation to the chamber, but there is probably learning from our code of conduct that could be applied to other people who are in elected office.

There was a concerning story in the Edinburgh Evening News after the last election about a newly elected disabled member of the City of Edinburgh Council. No assessment of her needs was done. I hope that newly elected members coming to Parliament feel that assessment is made of whether they have additional needs. Is that something that you have had feedback on from newly elected members?

Good morning, minister, and good morning to your officials, too. In the limited time that we have had to take evidence from planning stakeholders in Scotland on the matter, we have heard that they are unclear about the term “planning data”. What do you think planning data is, and do you think that that demonstrates that there are gaps in data in our planning system in Scotland?

That is very helpful. As you say, we have a framework here in Parliament, which is available. I imagined that local authorities would be following that as well, so I am disappointed to hear that that has not been the case.

On the issue of member support groups, which you touched on, do you see different services being provided depending on the size of councils and the numbers of councillors who are being supported? Given that each council sets different rules and has different systems in place to support elected members, are national standards needed? Some of my Conservative colleagues who have joined councils have been surprised by the lack of secretarial support in some areas, whereas in other councils they have been very pleased with what has been provided. Does that need to be pursued?

Good morning, and thank you for joining us this morning.

I want to talk in more detail about the culture within councils, and specifically to look at the past five or six months when we have had new councillors in place. Do you have any information about training being provided and councils making their newly elected members feel welcome and part of the organisation? Obviously, we have councils with very different numbers of elected members. Do you have evidence about the introductory phase for new councillors?

Thank you. Does anyone else want to come in?

Good morning.

A number of my questions have been answered, but I want to go into more detail on software systems, because the UK Government is mandating the use of particular software systems for planning authorities in England. Do you have any concerns about what the practical implications of that might be for Scottish planning authorities in the future? You have all touched on that in relation to communicating data, but do you want to raise any specific issues?