Chamber and committees

I will ask about some particular issues. As John Mason rightly pointed out, a person is unlikely to cycle 20 miles into a rural community to have a meal and do their thing then cycle home again. Local bus transport operators, for example, are therefore really important, but there are financial pressures, particularly when they are subsidised by local councils. There are a number of issues, which you have raised. However, what specific issues have you discussed with the local enterprise bodies and how do we ensure that they are being addressed?

A bus route in a town centre might be extremely profitable, while a route in a rural community might not be profitable. Other services might also not be profitable, because they cost a lot more to provide. Of course, issues in many rural communities are also seasonal, in that services do very well in some parts of the year but are limited the rest of the time. What issues were raised, how can they specifically be dealt with, and how are they being taken forward by enterprise bodies?

So the valuation might be £50,000, but that will not take into account the cost of making it safe.

Those are fair points. In many communities across the Highlands and Islands, particularly in some of the islands, community is very important. In many ways, those communities are unique, and their sense of entrepreneurship is very much established. However, they still need support, and when there is pressure on council budgets in the Highlands and Islands, that causes issues.

I have a slightly different and more technical question about an issue that has been brought up before. Does a compulsory purchase by a council take any liabilities into account? For example, a property might be valued at £100,000, but it might be in such a state of disrepair that it will require £100,000 just to make it safe and then another half a million pounds to bring it up to spec. How does that work? Obviously, that will be quite an important consideration in any decision that a council might choose to make.

Good morning. Some of the issues that I was going to raise have been covered by Maggie Chapman, which is great. I will therefore ask about rural communities, which are obviously an issue for me, up in the Highlands and Islands.

Rural towns and villages often face a number of obstacles. For example, the costs of delivering goods there are higher, and transport can be limited and more costly, and is provided by local authorities a lot of the time. The internet and broadband can also be less reliable. There is a load of areas of concern. In addition, because they are more expensive places in which to deliver public services, they can also be places from which public services such as post offices and banks are withdrawn first. We have all seen examples of that.

How do we make sure that rural communities do not miss out and are able to overcome the particular barriers that face their town centres?

Is that not a massive disincentive for a council? It essentially means that what it pays for a property does not represent anything close to what it will get back. Is that not right?

It does. An issue that we have seen in a number of areas with regard to economic development and support is that there are almost too many options and opportunities, and different pots. Is that a problem in this field? It can be quite confusing for a local community, a town or a local high street to find the right support for their area.

Before I move on to put my questions to Martin Avila, I want to ask about some of the larger national bodies. A lot of public bodies have a role in helping with regeneration and support, whether that involves tourism or the arts, or whether they are economic bodies. What are the key bodies for that regeneration and support? How well do they co-ordinate and engage with communities?

I put the same questions to Martin Avila. First, how well is local government funded to provide support? I am asking about on-the-high-street support and, for example, local champions and development officers. My second question is on the wider role of the larger bodies such as the heritage lottery fund, arts bodies, tourism bodies and other economic bodies. How well do they co-ordinate? Does the approach make it easy enough for people who enter the field to get the help and support that they need?

I want to put questions to Ian Buchanan and Adam Stachura on the same issue. During and after the pandemic, there have been issues around public toilets being closed, which has limited their availability and therefore limited accessibility for a number of people. From speaking anecdotally with friends and colleagues, I understand that that must have been a concern for older people, people with disabilities and others.

A lot of councils have cut back and closed loos. There have been issues in the Highlands and Islands, in particular, where loos have been vandalised and then closed. Even where there are developments and plans for new toilets or upgrades, they are not always for toilets of the highest accessibility level. For example, they might be disabled toilets but not changing places toilets.

How do we ensure that we not only embed facilities into plans but make sure that they are the right facilities and that it is not just a tick-box exercise? We talked about disabled or older people having their say. If councils are signing off plans, should there be somebody who is responsible for ensuring that the right facilities are embedded into developments? That is for Ian Buchanan first and then Adam Stachura.

Thanks very much. That is very interesting.