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With the governor of the Bank of England stating that “apocalyptic” food price increases, along with global food supply shortages, will increase inflation further, the current cost of living crisis will get worse and energy prices are expected to increase again in October. Do you acknowledge the view of some energy and poverty advice bodies that neither the UK Government nor the Scottish Government is treating the situation as a real crisis?

You said that the market regulation has failed. What changes do you want to be made to improve matters?

We have heard that Ofgem is saying that, in the short term, if anybody is in trouble, they should just go to their supplier. Should there be some requirement for independent advice to be provided, rather than reference to suppliers?

You have also been outspoken about the unfair transmission charges. We have heard that those could have consequences. I am interested in your views on that. What changes does Ofgem need to make?

Do you agree with the consumer expert Martin Lewis that the potential move to changing the energy price cap four times a year suits energy companies rather than consumers?

Give me your views on Ofgem, please.

What is Historic Environment Scotland’s view on double or triple-glazing historic buildings?

The measures that both Governments are taking are welcome, but as we heard last week from Greg Hands MP, the UK Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change, the UK Government is adopting a wait-and-see approach. It has not brought forward an emergency budget, and it is clear that it sees the challenge of energy price increases as a welfare issue. What is your view? Do you see it as a welfare issue, an energy issue or both? With your insight given your energy responsibilities, what measures on energy could be delivered? Keith Anderson from Scottish Power has proposed a social tariff of £1,000 so that there is a cut in bills. What is your view on that?

Roger, will you give us your perspective on area-based approaches, particularly with regard to pre-1919 properties, many of which might be owner occupied? What role could Historic Environment Scotland play in supporting such approaches? You might be aware of the myth of Historic Environment Scotland being somehow an inhibitor rather than an enabler of change, particularly with windows. Will you also reflect on what the draft national planning framework 4 will mean for conservation and how it might be used by Historic Environment Scotland to celebrate our heritage in some dynamic way? I realise that that is quite a big area to cover, but I am interested in hearing your views on it.

I think that the convener will want to move on, so it might be helpful if Historic Environment Scotland wrote to the committee with its views on NPF4 from a conservation perspective, because the committee has a wider interest in that regard.

Thank you. The culture investment in Paisley has been—

Stephen—I saw you nodding there. Do you want comment on how we make this happen and what you think needs to be done?

I apologise for being late. At another committee, I was questioning a United Kingdom minister on the energy crisis.

Members have discussed international cases and considered the importance of good design in town regeneration. The witnesses have referred to that. We heard about Clonakilty in Ireland, which even has its own town architect, who is in a prominent and influential position. There are obviously resource implications.

I am struck by what I have heard. Towns are about people, not buildings. Who facilitates that common vision, which we hear about again and again as a theme? Do local authorities have the planning, design and development capacity that they need in order to do that?

If I dare be controversial, I will say that one of our submissions said that we probably need to have a hierarchy of towns that we work through, because not everybody will be able to do everything at once. We have heard about cities—Aberdeen and Glasgow have been referred to—but how do we do it for towns? Where is capacity needed? Central national support is necessary for some planning aspects. My home town—Linlithgow—has a really good local community plan for what the community wants, but planning authorities often have to react because they cannot be proactive, as Craig McLaren said.

What do we need in order to crack the matter? We want to make recommendations to get change.

I hear those points and I absolutely understand the need for more planners and better skills capacity. I take that as read.

Craig McLaren, what do we need to do to bring that together? What resources or skills would you like to see coming from national agencies? What would that mean for local communities? Do we need to have a hierarchy, or to prioritise certain towns, so that we can really embed work before we move on to the next town? Do we need a longer timescale?