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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 22 December 2024
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Displaying 1816 contributions

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Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Role of Local Government in Delivering Net Zero

Meeting date: 22 March 2022

Mark Ruskell

Thank you. My final question is for Jamie Brogan. You are working on developing partnerships with local authorities to tackle climate change and I imagine that there will be some big areas there around heating and energy, alongside transport.

Who do you see as being the biggest partners for local authorities to engage with? Where is that big workforce for delivery going to come from? Thinking about energy, are the utility companies going to come in and do street-to-street retrofitting, investing in district heating schemes, installing household insulation and whatever? Where is the big workforce? When I look at housing departments in local councils, I do not see a vast workforce to be deployed to retrofit and change entire communities. Where is the partnership? Where is the bulk of that workforce in, say, an area such as energy that can engage in partnership working with councils to make the shift to net zero?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Role of Local Government in Delivering Net Zero

Meeting date: 22 March 2022

Mark Ruskell

I have a number of quite specific issues to ask about. The first is on full cost recovery for development management functions. Given the funding difficulties that planning departments have at the moment, where do you see full cost recovery sitting, and how do you think that that can be delivered equitably between minor and major applications? I will start with Pam Ewen.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Role of Local Government in Delivering Net Zero

Meeting date: 22 March 2022

Mark Ruskell

The engagement work with LDPs is critical to them getting the right development applications later on.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Role of Local Government in Delivering Net Zero

Meeting date: 22 March 2022

Mark Ruskell

Jane, do you have anything that you would like to add to those points?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Role of Local Government in Delivering Net Zero

Meeting date: 22 March 2022

Mark Ruskell

Can you give examples of where that kind of expertise and capacity to manage and develop those kinds of new partnerships is working well in local authorities?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Role of Local Government in Delivering Net Zero

Meeting date: 22 March 2022

Mark Ruskell

Jane, do you have any thoughts on that?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Role of Local Government in Delivering Net Zero

Meeting date: 22 March 2022

Mark Ruskell

The context here is very much the decisions that local authorities must make around household developments such as energy efficiency improvements or the installation of solar panels on roofs or whatever, or decisions around electric vehicle charging points or whatever infrastructure is important.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Role of Local Government in Delivering Net Zero

Meeting date: 22 March 2022

Mark Ruskell

My last question is about where decisions are made. Where is it appropriate to make decisions? Robbie Calvert spoke earlier about some of the challenges that departments have, particularly given the loss of senior managers and specialists in, for example, visual impact and ecology. For renewables development, is the current boundary between determination at local authority planning department level and determination at national Government level drawn at the right threshold? I am talking about section 36 applications under the Electricity Act 1989.

I am aware that some councils could receive an application for a hydro power scheme with an enormous environmental impact assessment. That would be hugely technical, with a huge amount of ecological work required around the hydrological assessment, but that might end up on the desk of a relatively junior planning officer. Is that a live issue? Does section 36 set the right level for determination?

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

Crisis in Ukraine

Meeting date: 10 March 2022

Mark Ruskell

Thanks for joining us this morning. In the discussion that we had with the consul general this morning, we got a sense of the trauma of war and of what the long-term impact will be on the victims. I want to ask you about the offer of psychological support that aid agencies can bring and how that works on the ground, both in countries where there is conflict and in the communities to which people flee. Will you provide a sense of the funding and long-term support that is required for that?

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

Crisis in Ukraine

Meeting date: 10 March 2022

Mark Ruskell

That leads me to another question, which is about the nature of the visas that are issued as short-term visas, as well as visas for seasonal workers, and some of the conditions that are applied to them, particularly that of no recourse to public funds. Does the Scottish Government have an assessment of how many people might be captured by that? If people’s visas are being extended until December, and there is some security that they might be in employment during that period, that is good. Of course, if people are out of employment during that period, and they are unable to access benefits and have no recourse to public funds, that is a very serious problem and could lead to homelessness and a range of other problems. Do you predict that that might be an issue and how would you tackle it?