Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you.

Thank you, convener. I welcome the witnesses and refer everyone to my entry in the register of members’ interests. I am a councillor in East Lothian Council.

Do the witnesses agree with the Scottish Government that the coronavirus pandemic has affected the valuation of such a wide range of properties and business activities that it is more appropriate to take account of those effects at the next revaluation date?

A few of you mentioned appeals. Are material change of circumstances appeals an appropriate route for specific factors that affect individual properties or a limited number of properties? Leon Thompson touched on that issue. What are your thoughts on that specific subject?

Thank you, minister.

Minister, in your opening statement, you explained the reasons for revising the code. Does the revised code place new responsibilities or sanctions on board members or has the exercise been aimed at increasing clarity?

If the code is approved, what work will be involved in the roll-out and in publicity?

I refer members and the public to my entry in the register of members’ interests: I am still serving as a councillor on East Lothian Council.

I refer to my entry in the register of members’ interests. I am a sitting councillor in East Lothian Council.

Moving to Nicola Barclay—and perhaps taking a slightly different slant—I know that your members deliver a large amount of housing, to which there is obviously an affordability element. Given that 25 per cent of nothing is nothing, it is in your members’ interests to develop housing as quickly as possible to achieve that affordability. As you have said, the cost of house building has gone up massively in the past few months, particularly since Brexit, but there is also the benchmarking element to take into account. I guess, then, that my question is the same as the previous one, though, as I have said, it comes at the issue from a slightly different slant.

As a brief supplementary, are you hearing from your members that these costs are a longer-term issue? I think that there are some issues with supply as a result of Brexit—indeed, some of your members whom I have met have said as much—but are these just teething problems or have we gone beyond that? Is this a longer-term issue that will be with us for the foreseeable future?