Chamber and committees

I totally take on board the idea that we need a nuanced approach. Some of it is to do with the fact that we have many islands, a lot of coastline, a lot of big rural areas, and a high concentration pattern in the central belt. A nuanced approach is definitely needed. I get a sense that the situation is different from that in other parts of the UK, where there are not so many islands, for a start. We have a very different set of issues right off the bat.

I have one more question, which is about housing. The report expresses significant concern about the record number of children who are trapped in temporary accommodation, failing homelessness services, and a chronic shortage of social housing across the country. How can local authorities respond to those immense challenges?

We now move to item 3, which is an evidence-taking session with Reform Scotland on its devolving Scotland initiative. The intention is that the session will allow the committee to further explore issues relating to the on-going review of local governance and build on the success of our recent joint event with Scotland’s Futures Forum on the future relationship between local and central government in Scotland. We are joined for this item by Alison Payne, the research director at Reform Scotland. I welcome Alison to the committee.

I will start with a few questions, and then I will bring in colleagues. You once said:

“Scotland is unusual internationally in the weakness of its local authorities.”

I am interested in hearing why you said that and about how Scotland’s local democracy compares with that in other parts of the United Kingdom and Europe.

That is a really useful insight. We have been doing quite a bit of work on understanding the barriers to local elected office. I am interested to hear Reform’s perspective on what more can be done to help Scotland’s councils be more representative of their diverse communities and what role could—what needs to be done to improve council remuneration. I absolutely agree that it needs to be improved; I am not sure why I stumbled on that question.

Before I bring in Miles Briggs to add another layer of complexity with his questions, I want to pick up on a few things. One thing that struck me while you were talking—you mentioned this at the beginning, and it was also mentioned in the committee’s previous evidence session—was the fact that, in the EU, local municipalities can raise 40 to 50 per cent of their revenue at a local level. You painted a picture of a Scotland with a lot of diversity. Is there that level of nuance in other countries, such as France? I realise that I have quite a fixed picture of that situation, whether that is of 250 people with a mayor or whatever. Is it quite diverse, depending on the geography and local issues?

You are bringing in an element of belonging, in a way.

This might be a radical idea for reform, but I was in conversation with somebody about forestry. We spoke at length and, several times during that conversation, we came back to local government reform. One of the points was that local authorities might own more land, perhaps for forestry or agriculture. Again, that ties into the community wealth building agenda. That may be a radical idea, because we do not do that. We tend to look at that more at the national level. We have talked about the need for a more local and nuanced approach. In that conversation, we kept coming back to the point that that is an opportunity. Local authority-owned forestry could be an income generator, and it could provide timber for housing. Has there been any thinking around that kind of approach? I know that we have the common good land, but that has evolved in a slightly different way. Certainly, locally to me, a lot of that land is a golf course rather than for other things.

Thanks for that. Does anybody else want to come in on that?

From being on the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee, I am aware that there are regional land use partnerships. In my region, Highland Council is involved in the regional land use partnership. It feels like that is another step in the direction of looking at land use.

Thanks for that. That is really helpful. We will keep an eye out for that work.

It is clear that it is about more than housing; it is about the full support package to help people. One thing has been flagged up to me in my region in conversations about housing. When I talk to people about “affordable housing”, they say, “We need housing that people can afford.” It would be good to have a look at what we mean by that. In the committee, we discuss affordable housing—housing that people can afford—at the local level, as salaries and incomes may be very different across the board.

Another thing that we have been looking at is whether the housing need and demand assessment is fit for purpose. You have pointed to the importance of councils understanding the need in their area to bring forward the right type of housing.

Thank you very much. It has been a super morning. The evidence has been really helpful for us, and we appreciate it.

I now suspend the meeting to allow for a changeover of witnesses.