Seòmar agus comataidhean

Good morning. It has been an interesting session so far. As the convener highlighted, I know that you have touched on some of the issues that I am going to ask about, but I will ask my questions anyway.

Before I do so, I apologise to our witnesses for any background noise that they might hear—unfortunately, the sound of the washing machine is unavoidable from where I am sitting, and I am not sure whether you can hear it.

On the local heat and energy efficiency strategies, I know that, in their submissions, some local authorities expressed concerns about their capacity to deliver heat networks in particular. What progress have local authorities made on the development of the local heat networks, and what do you think is needed to drive those strategies forward?

As I am not in the room, I am quite happy to allow the convener to suggest who should answer.

Moving on, I am interested in how councils are improving energy efficiency and decarbonising their own stock. What are your views on the Scottish Government’s proposed target to decarbonise heating systems by 2045, and what local authorities can do to contribute to that?

Thanks for those responses. It is positive to hear that those complaints and suchlike are going down. Obviously there would have been a sort of teething period, so it is good to hear that. I know that the committee was quite concerned about that.

I will move on to my next question. Do you think that the draft plan says enough about how owner-occupiers can best be supported to transition to clean heating systems, what incentives do you think are needed and what role should regulation have in this? I am interested in your views on that.

I realise that the time is quite tight, convener. Does the panel think that the draft plan is clear about the funding required to decarbonise buildings, that split between private and public finance, and how best limited resources should be targeted? There is quite a lot in that question, but I am putting it all together in the interest of time.

I thank the witnesses for their responses so far. I will follow on from my colleague’s line of questioning on a similar area.

I am interested in what you think can be done to improve individuals’ experience of obtaining publicly funded grants and loans for energy efficiency and clean heat. You will probably be aware that the committee has heard some evidence and lived experience that highlights that people often face difficulties in accessing grants. What are your views on that and how do you think the plan’s commitment to continue those schemes can have the most impact moving forward?

Thank you, convener, and good morning. I must apologise to the panel and all committee members for not being there in person. I am still struggling a bit with a cold.

Like Jamie Hepburn, I, too, have had some contact from local fire officers, and I put on record my thanks to them for coming to me on this matter. A lot of the things that they raised with me have already been covered by other members, but I want to ask a wee bit about your views on the consultation on the review. I have heard some criticism that the review was not clear and concise enough for people to think through the actual implications of the changes and that there was not a great level of engagement with local organisations, businesses and community groups. In fact, a lot of the publicity in that respect came through the SFRS’s Facebook page and social media channels. Do you have any comments on those thoughts—or criticisms, if you like—that have been put to me?

That is me now, convener—I have been unmuted.

I am happy enough with that response. Just for clarity, though, I should say that I was asking the question as it was put to me; I was not saying that this is for the FBU to take forward. However, I think that Colin Brown has answered that point, so thank you very much.

It is an exciting development, and I am sure that this committee and other committees across the Parliament will be interested in how the approach continues to develop.

You have been doing other work to improve access for those who are underrepresented in complaints statistics. One such group is female prisoners—we can understand why they might be a very underrepresented group. I am interested in how you are progressing work in that area, as well as in relation to people with disabilities. How do you handle complaints in those areas?

It is probably not about trying to drum up work—certainly not considering how busy you are and the nature of your work. That would not be appropriate. I am always interested to see how you make sure that folks in very underrepresented and disadvantaged groups know about the SPSO and how they can access it.

Good morning. I thank the witnesses for their evidence so far.

I have some questions about complaints-handling processes in local authorities and other bodies. The new child-friendly complaints process was launched across the public sector this year. Mr McFadden, I know that you have not been in your post for long, but are you able to give an assessment of the difference that the new approach has made? What difference would you like it to make over the coming years? Personally, I think that it is a really good initiative and that we should all be working with child-friendly processes. Have you had a chance to assess the early impact of the new approach?

As with the visits to prisons in the new year to find out what is going on, which Paul McFadden mentioned, it sounds like you are doing really great proactive work around the SIMD stuff. I appreciate hearing about that work, which, again is something that we would be interested in hearing updates on.

I have a final question. Earlier, Paul McFadden touched on adult social care provision and so on. Last year, we were told that relatives are often fearful of complaining about care provision because they think that it might impact relationships or that care might not be provided any more. MSPs and other elected members come across that issue quite a lot—it does not need to be the SPSO that people speak to; they come into our surgeries and say that they are worried about their relationship with the council, the health board or whatever. Have you managed to get any more insight into that? Is there anything more that you can do in that area to improve matters and put people’s minds at ease, because, as I said, the issue was raised with us last year, too.