Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thanks for that. That certainly underscores the intentions of the Verity house agreement.

In Wales, as we know, councils have been able to charge a council tax premium of up to 100 per cent on second homes since 2017, and they have been able to charge a premium of up to 300 per cent since April 2023. I am interested in whether you have considered the implementation of that policy in Wales. I understand that there is a consultation on raising the premium on second and empty homes to 200 per cent, but it is 300 per cent there. What lessons can be learned for Scotland?

Do members wish to make any points?

Members: No.

The question is, that motion S6M-11186, in the name of Tom Arthur, be agreed to. Are we all agreed?

Members: No.

The final item on our agenda is to discuss our experience of last week’s visit to a residential building in north Edinburgh that has external cladding, which was made to inform our consideration of the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill.

I will begin with a couple of comments and I will then invite others to give their views. I found it useful to go and see the building and meet people who are living in that context. It might not be relevant to the bill, but my takeaway was that, although it is cladding that we have been talking about all along, a great deal of what came across was people’s concern, to varying degrees, about having to live with the risk of fire, and their considerations around that.

We had some good conversations with the person who is producing single building assessments. It was striking that reports are being made but the challenge lies in getting the throughput of action on those reports. Some of that involves challenges around procurement processes and getting enough people to assess the buildings.

Another thing that was striking, which would not have come home to me had I not gone to see the building, is that cladding is of a particular weight and, when it is removed, it needs to be replaced with something different. I think that it is called Rockwool. That is heavier, which has the knock-on effect of requiring considerable structural changes to the building.

Those are just a few comments. There are many other things that I could say, but I would love to hear from members.

Good morning, and welcome to the 29th meeting in 2023 of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee. I remind all members and witnesses to ensure that their devices are on silent and that all other notifications are turned off during the meeting.

We have received apologies from Mark Griffin this morning. Marie McNair will join us online.

The first item on the agenda is to decide whether to take items 7, 8 and 9 in private. Do members agree to take those items in private?

Members indicated agreement.

It would certainly kick things up in the air or get things started, would it not? You mentioned that you are not going to go over the own-initiative investigative powers, and we discussed that when you were here earlier this year. Just to get it all on the record, can you say what you think the ombudsmen in Wales and Northern Ireland, for example, and other international schemes are able to do that you are not able to? Do you have a sense that the lack of own-initiative powers hinders your ability to fulfil your responsibilities?

I will bring in Pam Gosal for a supplementary question.

Thank you very much for that very thorough introduction and for getting into some of the detail about homelessness. Thank you, too, for highlighting your awareness of the fact that more data needs to be gathered on damp and mould, which has become an issue that the committee has taken on.

In your opening statement, you mentioned the challenging operating environment for social landlords and the financial pressures on tenants. I would be interested to hear how that has impacted on your regulatory approach and what that means for tenants and other service users and landlords.

It is very helpful to hear that that is your approach.

You spoke extensively about the thematic review of homelessness, and you covered part of the question that I was going to ask you. You mentioned that a number of local authorities are not able to comply or meet needs. How are you monitoring how those councils are making progress and moving towards compliance?

That is great—thanks for that update. Willie Coffey wants to come in.