Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thanks. That is a good way to finish my questioning.

Will audit work on that be considered in the future? Community planning is looked at in the best value report, but it is considered more from a council point of view, rather than there being a focus on how the third sector is involved. The feedback that we have shows that some third sector organisations think that engagement with councils has worked very well and others think that it has not. Taking into account what you said about the pressures that exist, I wonder whether Audit Scotland and the Accounts Commission might in the future look at whether councils are doing enough to embed the third sector into community planning.

I declare an interest as the owner of a property in East Lothian, which is rented to my in-laws.

Last week, Shelter Scotland expressed concerns about tenants being evicted for rent arrears of more than £2,250. Shelter called for that amount to be increased, because evidence from its law service about work on eviction cases showed that the average amount of arrears was about £5,700. Have you considered increasing that figure?

The report on the 2022 act does not provide any data on changes in homelessness over the period in which the act has been in force. Can you say any more about the impact of the measures to protect tenants from homelessness? Are you expecting any increases in homelessness as the six-month restriction on enforcement of eviction orders comes to an end?

One of the key questions is how we ensure that growth is sustained across all 32 community planning areas. Stuart, I do not know what your experience is of hearing from local areas about that, but how can we get a more equitable experience?

I will not touch on every aspect of the third sector. I chair the cross-party group on social enterprise, which has also discussed the issue, so it has been picked up outwith this committee’s evidence sessions, and the same thing has been said there. There is a mixed picture across local authorities in relation to how people see community planning partnerships. They agree that the exercise is worth while but, across the board, there is a mixed picture as regards how people see participation and the involvement of local authorities.

Have the objectives of the 2015 act been met with regard to third sector participation? What can we do to ensure that the growth in community planning partnerships is sustained, along with the wellbeing of the groups, across all 32 local authority areas? I know that the convener will touch on locality plans. Part of the context that has come through is that participation is sometimes fine at that level but that, when it comes down to localities, it does not quite flow through.

Thank you.

Yes—it was about whether the ambitions of the 2015 act have been met in terms of third sector participation.

The issue of the third sector’s involvement has been raised a couple of times. I used to chair a community planning partnership when I was an East Lothian councillor, and I know that one of the key things is, as has been said, the involvement of local organisations. Do you see any issues with regard to the involvement of your national organisations?

A prime example that I want to highlight is the poverty-related stigma report that Peter Kelly’s organisation has published and which talks about BME communities being twice as likely to be affected by such issues. How can we get national organisations involved in some of the discussions that are happening at local level in community planning partnerships? After all, that will be fundamental, because there are certain issues that need to be addressed at local level; indeed, Peter Kelly touched on the work that Inverclyde was doing in that respect.

My second question is about the role of TSIs, which Peter Kelly has mentioned. The evidence and feedback that we have received from the third sector on TSIs have been very mixed; some organisations had had very good experiences, while others had had not so good experiences. How do we get an equitable experience across all local authorities?

I will bring in Peter Kelly for my first question and then open things up to the other witnesses.

I know that that approach was strongly backed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

I have a final question about fiscal flexibility—I have asked about it before. I know that discussions are on-going between the Scottish and UK Governments. Do you want to say anything about that, particularly about the uprating budget and how the block grant is adjusted? Is there anything in those discussions that would benefit your department?