Seòmar agus comataidhean

Miles Briggs has some questions.

Roslyn Clarke and Donna Birrell, you do not need to come in on this question, but I want to make sure that you remember to put an R in the chat box when you want to come in—I know that, sometimes, it is difficult to respond to questions in a hybrid meeting.

I will ask two more questions. I am asking these ones because I represent the Highlands and Islands and I want to raise a lot of rural and island issues.

The Scottish Government is committed to developing a remote, rural and island plan. What do you think are the most important aspects to include in it?

The next item on our agenda is evidence on the regulations from Patrick Harvie, Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights, and from the Scottish Government officials David Blair, programme director on cladding remediation; Steven Scott, head of the technical unit for building standards; and Dr Stephen Garvin, head of building standards.

I welcome the minister and his supporting officials to the meeting. At last week’s meeting, we had an interesting discussion about the regulations with stakeholders in which we touched on a number of issues relating to fire safety in buildings more generally, along with challenges in respect of access to insurance. Members will be aware that, on Thursday 12 May, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government made a ministerial statement providing an update on the single building assessment programme.

Before I open up to questions from committee members, I invite the minister to make a short opening statement.

Thank you for your opening statement. I will begin by asking a few questions. Can you assure the committee that fire safety will be a key consideration in any Scottish Government programme to retrofit existing homes with insulation? What practical steps is the Scottish Government taking to ensure that new fire hazards are not being introduced to existing homes?

I have a question about direct emissions heating. What practical impact might the requirement to design and construct buildings with direct emissions heating systems that are capable of reducing the building’s energy demands have on the design and use of new homes?

Thank you. Mark Griffin, do you have any more questions?

Thank you. Mark Rodgers, is the picture similar in Highland Council? How is it going there for you?

Thank you—that is helpful. The point is that we are seeing increased housing pressure in Inverness because people are having to leave rural areas. I take your point that we need to get the right houses in the right places. It seems like we need to drill down to another level and take that into account.

Is anybody working with modern construction methods yet?

Thank you very much for that answer, which included even more useful detail. It is quite astounding to hear about the land issues that you have experienced.

I have a few more questions, after which I will bring in other members. I will start by directing my next questions to Mark Rodgers, but I ask other witnesses to indicate should they wish to come in. To what extent does the existing housing funding and planning system help to meet the specific challenges of developing affordable homes in rural areas? How successfully has the Scottish Government helped to address such challenges?