Thank you, convener. I welcome you and other members to their roles in the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to the committee this morning, and to discuss the wide range of issues in my portfolio. It is certainly different to be on this side of the table rather than your side, convener.
My portfolio is both challenging and interesting. You will have noticed that it includes aspects of the work of two previous ministers. I look forward to working closely with the committee while I serve as the Minister for Local Government and Housing.
Although there is much in my remit for me to cover, I will mention two areas that I do not cover. The Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland is now in the remit of the Minister for Parliamentary Business, and local government finance, including council tax reform, remains in the remit of the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution.
I will make a few remarks about areas that are in my remit. The Government wishes to reinvigorate local government by reconnecting it with communities. Our aim is to transform our democratic landscape while protecting and renewing public services. One size does not fit all, but the principle of enabling local control, not on behalf of a community but by a community, will be key in all that we do. That will allow us to realise further our community empowerment agenda and require local government and its partners to relocate influence and control over some functions and local services closer to communities.
A central aim will be to further enhance local accountability and the quality of service provision, taking account of Scotland’s different geographies, from the islands and through the mainland council areas to cities and their surrounding city regions. Government has already recognised that the right solutions for people might differ across Scotland’s diverse communities—no one size will fit all.
We will work with local authorities to review their roles and responsibilities and get more powers into the hands of communities. The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill, which was passed in the previous session of Parliament, provides a framework that will empower community bodies by encouraging ownership of land and buildings and strengthening communities’ voices in the decisions that matter to them. We are developing the necessary secondary legislation and guidance. Three consultations on community planning, asset transfer and participation requests have been published, and we will continue to work with stakeholders to implement the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. Community planning in Scotland continues to improve both locally and nationally, but we recognise that the pace of improvement needs to step up. We expect that the 2015 act, together with other measures, will increase the pace and extent of improvement.
On participatory budgeting, we have committed to setting councils the target of having at least 1 per cent of their budget subject to community choices budgeting, to support the effective implementation of the 2015 act. We are currently looking at how the new commitment can be developed in collaboration with our stakeholders.
This Government has an excellent track record on housing. We exceeded our target to deliver 30,000 affordable new homes, which included more than 20,000 for social rent. We have listened to what our partners said about increasing the pace and momentum of housing delivery. Our bold and ambitious target over the next five years is to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes, of which at least 35,000 will be for social rent.
Communities flourish when people have good-quality, warm, comfortable homes to live in. That is why this Government’s priority is to increase the scale and pace of supply of the right homes in the right places, particularly in the affordable rented and private rented sectors.
The Scottish ministers are committed to ensuring that we have a planning system that works for everyone. An independent panel completed a root-and-branch review of Scotland’s planning system and published its report on 31 May. The Scottish ministers are considering the panel’s recommendations and will publish our response in due course.
Thank you again for the opportunity to speak to the committee this morning. I look forward to answering members’ questions.