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I think that we have a good understanding. Obviously, the Scottish house condition survey is the main element of that just now. The last one was in 2019, and I think that we heard from witnesses this morning that the next one is due in January 2024. Over the past few years, Covid has had an impact on getting proper surveys done. I know that external surveys were carried out.

Some of the evidence that the committee took this morning from CIH, the Scottish Housing Regulator and the SPSO demonstrates that a real collaborative approach is needed. SHR and CIH mentioned that and the work that they are doing to try to gather information. Local authorities also seem to be doing that. One thing that I took from this morning’s evidence session was that there is now more understanding of the reporting systems and where residents and tenants need to go for help. We have probably seen an increase in some of the figures—that was mentioned this morning—but it is good that tenants now have better understanding of that. The new survey that will come out in January 2024, which is about seven months away, will give us a greater understanding of the situation.

The SFHA made a good point, and that was picked up by the First Minister, who tripled the fund to £30 million to recognise that there is an issue in that regard. That is the broader picture.

We are talking about heating costs, but food costs are also going up, so there is a broader impact. We will be undertaking an evaluation of the effectiveness of the fuel insecurity fund. A key point is that I also have responsibility for debt and welfare advice, so I have had initial meetings with agencies about that. It is about trying to ensure that they have the capacity to deal with the issue. That is an incredibly important issue that I have already raised with them, because we want to ensure that people can access that advice as well as the fuel insecurity fund.

We will evaluate the scheme later on this year. It has had a positive impact so far, but the issue is not going to go away this year. I think that it will continue for a number of years, so we need to support the sector in dealing with it. As I said, the fuel insecurity fund does that, and I have talked before about the net zero energy fund. It is about trying to understand how we can accelerate the programme, because the more houses that are net zero and more energy efficient, the better the housing stock becomes in each area and across Scotland.

I knew that that question was coming because I watched the earlier session and heard you saying that you were going ask it later on.

I will be back in a few weeks’ time to talk about another important issue.

Thanks, convener.

I think so, but I will ask Naeem Bhatti to respond on that. On your previous question, though, I should say that the charter is reviewed every five years, but there are on-going discussions and it is looked at on an on-going basis.

That is a really important point to make. Thanks for that.

I will ask about the role of the third sector and communities and the experience of local organisations, primarily, in terms of your remit. I am interested to hear about the strategic planning board level, but also in the team level. What is their involvement? I will go to Alison MacLeod first. One of the key things that you said in your evidence was:

“We would like to see a strategic shift to embrace community led action”.

How do you get community and third sector involvement in discussions to make them relevant and to make the “strategic shift” that you mention?

Lionel Most and Ellen Wright touched on where Glasgow City Council sits. Where do the area partnerships and the TSIs sit on support? Is the support from the TSI and area partnerships for community councils sufficient or does it need to be embedded further? If it is not sufficient, what would you like to see?

That is helpful.