Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thanks for that data point. That is something that we need to do more work on. I have been working with officials on that, and I recognise the need for more data at all levels to understand what is in the system at various points. I know that, in your previous evidence session, Tony Cain and others referred to how much land was available, how much had been approved through the planning system, how much was being built on and how much was brownfield. There is a need for more of that in the work that is happening, and the guidelines on housing land audits will help make sure that everybody is working to the same set of definitions when pulling that data together.

NPF4 recognises that brownfield sites are preferable; indeed, it is one of the clear directions within it. Every such site will have its own specific challenges, depending on where it is and the history of the site—it might need to be decontaminated or the costs of development could be prohibitive—but the direction of travel is to bring as many as possible back into use. The stats that you have quoted indicate that that is happening to some extent, but more needs to be done.

I recognise the issue in my constituency, where a considerable amount of former housing land and other brownfield sites can be brought back into play. NPF4 provides the overarching policy; it is for local development plans and local planning authorities to figure out what bits of those sites should be brought back into use to suit their circumstances, and what processes would be required for that.

To summarise, then, I think that we need better data. NPF4 prioritises the use of brownfield sites. Some progress has been made on that, but it is down to local planning authorities and communities to bring forward what they think is needed to suit local circumstances.

I absolutely recognise that. You are right that in a small community, those numbers can be hugely important. I will hand over to Andy Kinnaird in a minute to go through some of the detail on that.

Clearly, rural revitalisation is one of the overarching principles in NPF4. We have already talked about the proportionality and flexibility in local areas having either local development plans or local community plans that recognise local factors and are able to support accordingly. That is understood within the framework, but, as it beds in, if such issues are raised, they need to be considered and addressed. I listened with interest to the witnesses that you had from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, who talked about the applicability of NPF4 locally. Andy, do you want to go into some of the details?

First, we need to recognise that this is not just a Scottish issue; it is an issue across the whole UK. The workshop last week was interesting because it covered a wide range of different things and it was good to have different people with different perspectives coming to the table. One thing that came out of the workshop was the question, how do you get young people in school interested in planning? How do you make that an exciting career option for young people so that they grow up and say, “I want to be a planner”? We need to address that and highlight the fact that in that role, you are dealing with issues that are hugely important to individuals, to communities and to society. It is a varied career dealing with a range of different policy aspects and it will be a fulfilling career as a consequence of that.

As well as making it more attractive for people to come into the process, we also need to look at how to make provision for people with experience in adjacent sectors to move into planning mid-career; they might find that an interesting career transition later in life.

On the education side, you are right about the capacity that is there. That is an issue. Some of the education providers, including the University of Glasgow, are looking at what they can do to help put in provision to help train more planners.

Yes. Clearly, there are hugely important imperatives around the climate impact of peat. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar gave statistics about how much peat it has—it is an awful lot. That is clearly a factor, but that is where the value of the local development plans comes into play—they can take those factors into account and understand how they work in a local context.

I think that the ruling reinforced the application of the policy. I do not think that we have any plans to review it, but watching the data and getting better data to watch are hugely important parts of what we need to do across a whole range of what is in the pipeline. Andy, do you want to comment further on that?

As has been said, the MATHLR figures are based on an assessment that is increased by 25 to 30 per cent to give the final numbers, and those are then seen as a minimum for delivery. The expectation is that local authorities are delivering in excess of what is in the MATHLR figures.

That will be part of the consideration that we give it in the round, but I do not see anything else.

That is absolutely true, and that is a basic principle with regard to customer service. In the public as well as in the private sector, it is very important to tell customers what is going on. It makes people feel much more comfortable and understanding of the situation. The work that the national planning improvement champion is taking forward in the framework for evaluation of how different local authority planning departments are performing is a key part of that. That is not only with regard to what they are delivering, but how they engage with customers—that is a big part of that work.

The situation is more complicated than that because there are shortages in the private sector as well and the different sectors are looking over their shoulders at each other, because they are worried about the others stealing their people. The fact that we had everybody in the room together at the event last week highlighted the need for people to work more closely together on some of that stuff.

If planners in different parts of the process are duplicating work, there might be an opportunity to get an understanding of that across the whole system in order to streamline the process. By comparing notes, people might be able to take us to a more effective place. That is one part of the solution, but there are clearly a number of other legs to that.

Thank you very much.