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Chamber and committees

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

The Committee was established in June 2021. It focuses on:

  • local government (including councils)
  • the planning system in Scotland 
  • housing and housing strategy
  • building standards

Next meeting

29th Meeting, 2023

Agenda: Decision on taking business in private, Annual Report of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman 2022-23, Annual Report of the Scottish Housing Regulator 2022-23, Subordinate legislation, Subordinate legislation, Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill, Annual Report of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, Annual Report of the Scottish Housing Regulator, Housing to 2040

09:00am, 05 December 2023

T4.60-CR6 The Livingstone Room

Get in touch

If you want to get in touch, you can contact Euan Donald, the Clerk for the committee.

Address: The Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, EH99 1SP

Phone: 0131 348 5980 Find out about call charges.

Twitter: @SP_LocalGov

If you're appearing as a witness at a committee, take a look at our witness guide for more information.

Members

Members of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Current Members

Ariane Burgess

Convener

Party: Scottish Green Party

MSP for: Highlands and Islands (Region)

Willie Coffey

Deputy Convener

Party: Scottish National Party

MSP for: Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley (Constituency)

Miles Briggs

Member

Party: Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

MSP for: Lothian (Region)

Party: Scottish National Party

MSP for: Uddingston and Bellshill (Constituency)

Pam Gosal

Member

Party: Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

MSP for: West Scotland (Region)

Mark Griffin

Member

Party: Scottish Labour

MSP for: Central Scotland (Region)

Marie McNair

Member

Party: Scottish National Party

MSP for: Clydebank and Milngavie (Constituency)

Substitute Members

Maggie Chapman

Substitute Member

Party: Scottish Green Party

MSP for: North East Scotland (Region)

Gordon MacDonald

Substitute Member

Party: Scottish National Party

MSP for: Edinburgh Pentlands (Constituency)

Alex Rowley

Substitute Member

Party: Scottish Labour

MSP for: Mid Scotland and Fife (Region)

Graham Simpson

Substitute Member

Party: Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

MSP for: Central Scotland (Region)

Committee work

Current

Previous

Future

Future work

At its meeting on 20 June 2023, the Committee agreed a programme of future work. The programme is structured around a set of key themes under each element of the Committee’s remit.

Local Government

At the heart of the Committee’s work on local government is a focus on ensuring that it can be as effective as possible in delivering for the communities it serves and empowering those communities.
This work is connected to the Local Governance Review and New Deal for Local Government, with all other parts of the Committee’s work, linked to these two projects.
In looking at empowering both local government and in turn communities, the Committee will look at the relationship between central and local government, what local government needs to work well and if attitudes should change to ensure that power is devolved to the right levels to provide real community empowerment.
The Committee’s work will focus on the following key themes:

• Are local government and central government working well together as equal partners to deliver on shared priorities and reduce inequalities?
• Does local government have the necessary: clarity on what issues they should deal with and what central government should deal with; certainty of funding; flexibility; and autonomy to work effectively and meet the challenges faced in each local authority area?
• Do we have the right structures in place to allow local government to be effective, maintain services and support its workforce?
• Are communities being empowered and supported to shape their priorities and deliver them?

In pursuing these themes, the Committee will continue to undertake work in relation to:

• The Local Governance Review
• The New Deal for local government
• Understanding barriers to local elected office
• Post-legislative scrutiny of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015
• Community Councils

The Committee will also focus its budget scrutiny this year on the local government budget and more specifically on workforce issues in local government.

In addition, the Committee will consider the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill and will begin work looking at community wealth building.


Housing

The second element of the Committee’s remit relates to housing matters.

Central to the Committee’s work is a focus on ensuring that Scotland has the number of homes needed to meet current and future need and that house building is taking place in the right places and to the right standards.

The Scottish Government sets out its ambitions for housing in Housing to 2040 and the Committee’s scrutiny will focus on the adequacy of that strategy.

The Committee will focus on the following themes:

• Building enough homes or bringing enough homes back into use to meet current and future housing needs
• Building homes with a focus on placemaking
• Creating and sustaining a mix of housing that is financially and physically accessible to all
• Building homes that provide for affordable warmth and zero emissions
• Ensuring that new and existing homes are safe and of a high quality

In pursuing these themes, in the context of Housing to 2040 the Committee will continue to pursue work in relation to:

• the delivery of the affordable housing supply programme
• retrofitting of housing for net zero
• short-term lets
• damp and mould in the rental sector
• cladding
• the Minimum All Tenure Housing Land Requirement and Housing Needs Demand Assessment tool
• the Cost of Living (Tenant Protections) Scotland Act 2022 Regulations

Over the course of this year the Committee also expects to consider the Scottish Government’s climate change plan and a housing bill.


Planning

The Committee’s focus around planning continues to be on the National Planning Framework 4, which came into effect in February 2023.

The Committee has agreed to undertake an annual review to see how it is being translated into local development plans and the extent to which it is achieving its transformational aims.

Correspondence

Committee correspondence

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Heat in Buildings Bill

A letter from the Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights, heat in buildings Bill and a new Social Housing Net Zero Standard, 21 November 2023

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Legislative Consent Memorandum 14 November 2023

A letter from the Minister for Housing, LCM in respect to the UK Government’s Renters Reform Bill, 14 November 2023

Official Reports

Official Reports

Meeting date: Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Decision on Taking Business in Private, Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Interests, Decision on Taking Business in Private, Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1, Council Tax Freeze, Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Decision on Taking Business in Private, Interests, Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1, Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Decision on Taking Business in Private, Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Decision on Taking Business in Private, Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Decision on Taking Business in Private, Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete, Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Decision on Taking Business in Private, Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25, Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Decision on Taking Business in Private, Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Decision on Taking Business in Private, Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Interests, Decision on Taking Business in Private, Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 (Post-legislative Scrutiny), New Deal with Local Government

Reports

Committee reports

13 October 2023

Report tracking the work of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee 2022-23

This report covers the work of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee during the second year of the session, considering the progress of its recommendations from last year and its plans to progress them further.

13 September 2023

Subordinate Legislation under the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act considered by the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee on 12 September 2023

A report on subordinate legislation laid under the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 considered by the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee at its meeting on 12 September 2023.

22 June 2023

Community Planning: Post-legislative scrutiny of Part 2 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015

This report summarises the findings of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee's inquiry into Part 2 of the Community Empowerment Act 2015, which covers Community Planning. The inquiry explored whether the legislation is meeting its ambitions for Community Planning Partnerships to effectively collaborate to reduce inequalities across Scotland.

Remit

To consider and report on matters relating to local government and planning falling within the responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and matters relating to housing and tenants’ rights within the responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice and matters relating to the Local Government Boundary Commission and local governance review and democratic renewal within the responsibility of the Deputy First Minister.