Seòmar agus comataidhean

As Paul McLennan did, I declare an interest as a serving councillor—I am a councillor on North Lanarkshire Council.

My question relates to the findings of the 2019 Scottish household survey, which found that only 18 per cent of people in Scotland believe that they can influence decisions that affect their local area. That relates to what Rona Mackay was talking about.

Why do you think that the figure is so low? What are the barriers to people being able to have an influence? Do you think that participatory budgeting is the key to getting more people involved in decisions that affect their community?

I would like to start with Rona Mackay.

I am conscious of time, so I will go to Pauline Smith and then see whether there are any other comments.

Should the role of community councils be strengthened or changed and, if so, how? Some community councils flourished during the pandemic but, unfortunately, others have not been able to meet. What role will community councils be able to play as we head out of the pandemic?

Good morning. Like Paul McLennan, I am currently a councillor—I am a member of North Lanarkshire Council. I refer everyone to my entry in the register of members’ interests in that regard.

As the convener said, I want to discuss the parliamentary process. Do the witnesses believe that there was sufficient consultation on the proposals? Did you have an opportunity to comment on the planned changes, in the context of Covid-19 and the challenges that that has brought?

Given that we are exploring that theme, do Leon Thompson and Paul Togneri think that there would have been more opportunity for stakeholders to feed in views if all the changes had been introduced via primary legislation? Would that have been beneficial?

Declaration of interests has always been a grey area for councillors. The requirement to leave a meeting if you have declared an interest is significantly different from the process that is used by, for example, the Scottish Parliament. Has further consideration been given to declarations of interests? Should there be more clarity about councillors’ participation in meetings when they declare an interest?

Thank you for that clarity.

I will give an example. If I was a councillor sitting in a council meeting and I declared an interest, as I did earlier in this meeting, I would have to leave and not participate in the meeting. Has any work been undertaken to ensure that if, as a generic example, a councillor who has worked for a third-sector organisation was doing a piece of work in a committee in relation to community empowerment, they would not have to leave the meeting, but could participate and provide the knowledge and experience that they have in that work?

I declare that I am a serving councillor in North Lanarkshire Council.

I refer to my entry in the register of member’s interests, as I am a serving councillor in North Lanarkshire. I also have a sore throat this morning, so I will try to get through this without losing my voice.

I want to focus on 20-minute neighbourhoods. What are the panel’s views on the practicality of 20-minute neighbourhoods, especially in more rural communities? Craig McLaren, could you start please?