Chamber and committees

It is just a general point. You do not support projects that have a more community-directed remit.

That is very helpful. On that point, Douglas Cowan, SOSE is very clear that the funding is linked to working with it so that it is financially viable. Does Highlands and Islands Enterprise take the view that even though those projects are obviously going to make lots of money, like SOSE, you link the funding to being able to make sure the project has a plan to deliver that financial viability?

An issue that has been raised extensively with the committee is the challenge of derelict buildings in our town centres. The committee visited Midsteeple Quarter in Dumfries recently, and our visit coincided with a certain street in the town being closed because a building on it had been deemed to be dangerous. It had been derelict for some years and it became so dangerous that the street had to be closed off. Craig Iles will not need me to tell him about a certain building in the centre of Ayr—the former Station hotel—that was closed because it was dangerous. That disrupted rail services in the town for months.

Something has clearly gone wrong when it comes to the action that we can take to prevent buildings in our town centres from falling into such a state of disrepair. Starting with Mr Rogers, will you tell us what you think has gone wrong? Do councils not have the powers or the funding that they need, or are they too slow to use their powers at an early stage to avoid town centre buildings getting to a point when they are closed because they are dangerous, with all the disruption that goes with that?

That support is available in every part of Scotland. We can think about projects that have been supported by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise. For example, we recently visited Midsteeple Quarter in Dumfries, which is very much a community project. Would it be fair to say that a similar project in Ayr would not be able to get such support, because it would be up to Scottish Enterprise to provide it, rather than South of Scotland Enterprise, which has a community remit?

That would be helpful. Can I come to Douglas Cowan and Bryan McGrath? Because of that community remit, you are able to support projects that, it could be argued, will not make huge profits but are hugely important to the regeneration of our town centres in attracting people to support other businesses. I will ask Bryan McGrath about the Midsteeple Quarter example. How do you ensure that the support that you have provided ensures that the project becomes financially viable for years to come and will not keep coming back to look for funding?

What kind of businesses are we talking about? If I was walking down my high street, what kind of businesses would Scottish Enterprise be supporting there?

I am sure that my colleagues have other questions on that, but I have been cut off by the convener.

Mr Iles, the high-profile case of the Station hotel in Ayr is an example that involves a very absent landlord. It is all very well to talk about working with landlords, but if the landlord is not willing, how do you make sure that action is taken?

You said that there is a need to look at the powers, as well as the resource issue. How would you change the powers?

Martin Avila, you probably do not agree that ownership does not matter; you think that the properties should be in community ownership. That would be a real incentive, because the community, rather than absent landlords, would be driving things.