Seòmar agus comataidhean

I have been looking back at your comments last week at the Transport Committee and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee of the House of Commons. We know that you fired 800 experienced workers who had, on average, 20 years’ service. You sent in security guards in balaclavas, with handcuffs. It was an extreme act of corporate terrorism. The select committees published their ruling yesterday, saying:

“Peter Hebblethwaite ... is not a fit and proper person to run a company that operates critical national infrastructure.”

When will you resign?

This has been a very interesting session. I say that as a former young planner and former planner, but it is great to be talking about the future of planning today.

It will be no surprise that I believe that planning jobs are the ultimate green jobs and also that the profession and the opportunities for planners need more visibility.

Going back to the point about routes into the profession and universities, I am old enough to say that I studied planning in the late 1990s at the University of Strathclyde. That is no longer an option for planners, but there are two universities in Scotland where you can study planning as an undergraduate: the University of Dundee and Heriot-Watt University. Thinking about what Robbie Calvert said about being more diverse and thinking about people from more working-class backgrounds, I know that, when I go to schools, lots of young people want to talk about planning even if they do not know what the planning profession is, because they know that planning is all around them. This generation is more aware of and more passionate about environmental, social and economic justice.

What would I say to young people in Central Scotland, for example, who cannot afford to move away to Dundee or cannot even travel to Heriot-Watt because public transport is very expensive in this country? What routes are available to them right now and do we have enough planning schools in Scotland?

And the last word goes to the future of planning, Jane Tennant.

Thank you.

That is great. Thank you. As we are pushed for time, I will move on to my other question, which is about planning. That will not surprise you, given the questions that I asked in our previous session. I feel that I am putting Chris Brodie under the spotlight, but he told us that he is also a former planner. Some points were made about planning apprenticeships, which exist in England. Is Skills Development Scotland looking at that?

I was also interested in what Simon Hewitt said about colleges being anchor institutions. We have talked a lot about routes into planning, especially through universities, but we have not really heard about opportunities in further education. Are there routes for planning technicians, for example? It would be great to hear a few words from our panellists about that and about planning apprenticeships.

Good morning, panel. I was just listening to the answers to Fiona Hyslop’s questions, and I thought that Robbie Calvert was right to say that this sort of thing is not new to planners and that planners have been working with sustainable development since the early 1990s. With regard to climate and nature issues, do you think that sufficient weight is being given to the net zero agenda or are planners being expected to take everything into account and try to be all things to all people, which means that we are still not getting that clear emphasis? From a development management point of view, where does net zero sit for most planners in the pecking order of material considerations? That question is for Robbie Calvert first and then Pam Ewen.

That is interesting and a point that we could push through. In the past, this committee has asked Scottish Enterprise to define a green job, which it was not able to do, but having planning given as an example of a green job could open some doors.

I have a final question—I know that we are pushed for time, and I am trying to catch the convener’s eye. I want to ask about 20-minute neighbourhoods. Previous generations of planners could say that they had helped to create new towns. When we look at the challenges and opportunities ahead now, we want to see planners at the heart of creating 20-minute neighbourhoods, which in many cases would involve working with what we already have. Is that a way to encourage people into planning and motivate the current planning workforce? What are the main opportunities and barriers? Perhaps we could come to Pam Ewen, Jane Tennant and then Robbie Calvert if there is time, convener—I am getting the eye, so could you be very brief, panel?

Thank you, Pam, for that very good and brief answer.

Thank you, Robbie. Do you want to comment, Pam?

Thank you for mentioning the Jim Boyack Memorial Trust. I was a trustee many years ago and I am glad that it is still going from strength to strength. The last time I checked, the annual grant was about £1,500, or maybe just over £2,000. Is there an opportunity for that fund to be supported by the Scottish Government and other stakeholders? Does that already happen, or is it mostly made up of individual donations?