Seòmar agus comataidhean

I have a wee supplementary. Under your leadership, COSLA had its first job-sharing role for a spokesperson. That had never been done before, and it goes without saying that such a move allows local authorities to look at the levels of change in their own areas. It is incumbent on us all to increase representation from different groups. I just want to put that on the record.

President, you have mentioned community wealth building quite a few times in your evidence this morning. In a recent letter to the committee, the Scottish Government said:

“We intend to introduce Community Wealth Building legislation during the current session to encourage the model’s wider adoption across Scotland. Part of this will be removal of any impediments experienced by local authorities and other ... ‘anchor’ organisations seeking to advance a wellbeing economy.”

What is COSLA’s understanding of those impediments? What more can the Scottish Government do to help remove such barriers?

I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests, as I am still a serving councillor on East Ayrshire Council.

What are your views on the role of local government in Scotland’s economic recovery from the pandemic? What actions are required, and how can those be taken in such a way that there is no further increase in inequalities? We know that the impact of the pandemic has been heavily gendered. I welcome your views on those questions.

I will ask about the affordable housing supply programme. We know that Scottish councils share the ambitious target of delivering 50,000 affordable homes over the next five-year term and that they have warmly welcomed the five-year resource planning assumptions that give them some certainty over their plans. However, what evidence does the Scottish Government have on the increasing costs of building new homes and the extent to which that might affect the progress of the affordable housing supply programme? How will that be monitored and reviewed over the next five years?

I want to explore further the issues with diversity that you have talked about. As a former member of COSLA’s barriers to elected office working group, I am aware of all the work that is being done in the background by COSLA and by councils in general to increase the representation of under-represented groups in our councils. You have already touched on the outputs of that working group. Can you expand a little bit more on those today?

What progress is being made on the review of grant subsidy benchmarks and will there still be a differential between councils and RSLs? Are you confident that revised benchmarks will allow councils to meet the shared ambitions of the Scottish Government and local authorities to tackle poverty, inequality, homelessness and climate change?

I will follow on from Mark Griffin’s question. Is there any evidence of councils using their equality impact assessments to look through a gendered lens at the decisions they make that affect women? We know that women are, by and large, in precarious employment and are often the most affected—as Elma Murray outlined—by such decisions. Looking back over the last little while, are we seeing evidence that councils are taking that proactive approach?

I have another question, which touches on your earlier comments about community wealth building. As you will be aware, the Ayrshire growth deal included £3 million from the Scottish Government to directly support a regional community wealth building model. How will the Scottish Government support councils and other anchor organisations to take a community wealth building approach in order to aid our Covid recovery and move to a wellbeing economy model?

What is the commission’s view generally on the mainstreaming of participatory budgeting and community empowerment? Also, what are the risks around the transparency, accountability and resourcing of these important workstreams and policy areas?

Thank you for that answer—I will follow up on it. With the £3 million for Ayrshire, and in the other pilot areas that you mentioned, there is money to support local government through the creation of community wealth building officer posts and so on. When we are looking to passport learning and best practice across the country, will there be support from the Scottish Government to ensure that all local authorities will be able to avail themselves of the creation of such posts within their services?