Seòmar agus comataidhean

Absolutely.

That is very helpful. I have had conversations with representatives of Moray Council and Western Isles Council. The Western Isles are a bit ahead and Moray is taking some inspiration, so there is a peer-to-peer learning aspect there.

We are bringing lots of layers to the conversation—I call it a lasagne—and sometimes it is tricky to manage it all. I will bring in Angus Hardie now. I am not sure what point you wanted to come in on, Angus, but I think that it was to do with the five pilot areas. Iain Gulland indicated that he wanted to come in, too, perhaps on infrastructure.

Having talked to people on this subject, I sense that one example would be Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn in the Western Isles, which generates an income of £400,000 a year from three wind turbines. I see that as a community anchor organisation, because it employs a lot of local people and looks after their interests. My sense, then, is that it is about the context in which words are used. It is also important that the local authorities—if they are the anchor institutions—the CPPs that we are beginning to talk about or other anchor organisations really recognise those strong community anchor organisations, as they are an important part of the mix.

Something that has come to mind during this conversation is the local governance review and the whole “Democracy Matters” conversation that is going on in Scotland. There is an opportunity there. Indeed, more and more people are talking about it; I have had conversations with people from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities who recognise that communities need to be supported into a place of leadership. There is a lot going on in Scotland at the moment, and it is very exciting.

I see that Angus Hardie wants to come back in.

That was helpful. It is also interesting that the CPPs were highlighted in the Verity house agreement. As Neil McInroy said, they are brilliant, but they need some help to bed in or to move into a more strategic partnership.

I am going to suspend the meeting briefly, if that is okay with everyone. As we are rapidly going over time, I just want to check in with everybody and make a game plan.

Thanks for that.

Louise, the Ayrshires are not part of the pilot project, but you have, as Neil McInroy has said, been doing it on your own toot. Do you have any perspectives on this matter?

Thank you for pointing to those international examples. We will certainly have a look at those.

Matthew Brown indicated that he wants to come in.

That is an interesting point. That is certainly part of the conversation that is going on about efficiencies and things like that. Linda Somerville made an interesting point about infrastructure and looking to the potential in the renewables sector. Community Land Scotland, Community Energy Scotland and the Scottish Community Alliance have put forward a proposal on how we get community ownership of renewable energy, rather than just community benefit payments. It would be interesting to explore that as part of the mix.

Rob Davidson wants to come in.

I look forward to seeing that roll out. Miles Briggs has a couple of questions.

Absolutely. That issue needs to be cracked.