Plenary, 21 Dec 2006

Meeting date: Thursday, December 21, 2006

Official Report 753KB pdf

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Question Time

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SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE

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Education and Young People, Tourism, Culture and Sport

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sportscotland

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps sportscotland is taking to encourage the uptake of sport in areas of multiple deprivation. (S2O-11557)

Sportscotland is investing £1 million annually through its community regeneration programme in projects in areas of multiple deprivation. Those projects aim to assist communities to develop through sports and physical recreation, and aim to promote capacity building by helping groups to establish and sustain projects by developing voluntary and other community organisations.

As the minister is aware, the recent multiple deprivation index confirms the key areas in my constituency that fall within the top 15 per cent of deprived areas. Like the minister, I strongly believe that sport is crucial to regeneration and to the health and well-being of my constituents. Is the minister willing to meet me and key stakeholders to discuss the provision of sports facilities and developments in my constituency?

I would be delighted to meet the member to discuss issues in which we share an interest. A number of projects in Fife are being supported through the initiative that I mentioned. The projects target people in areas such as Lochgelly, Levenmouth, Dysart and Kirkcaldy. I would be more than happy to meet Ms Livingstone to discuss those matters in more detail.

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Education Reform

To ask the Scottish Executive what lessons it has learned about education reform from other countries. (S2O-11505)

We have learned that Scottish education is a success story. We are in the top third of the countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and we have shown steady improvements in literacy and numeracy. According to PISA—the OECD's programme for international student assessment—our 15-year-olds are among the best performing in the world. Scotland is in the main stream of educational thinking and policy in the European Union and worldwide, and we are recognised as leading the way in several areas such as curriculum reform, assessment, self-evaluation, enterprise education and school meals policy.

Furthermore, following a commitment in the ambitious, excellent schools programme to benchmark education in Scotland against international standards as a basis for bringing about further improvements in performance, we have taken forward a suite of benchmarking activities, including initiating a series of ministerial conversations with some EU member states and a country review by the OECD, to showcase Scottish education on the world stage and to share and learn from world-class experience.

I am sure that most of us would agree that it is important to share best practice in education, wherever that best practice may come from.

With regard to the bottom-performing 20 per cent of pupils, how many other countries are looking to Scotland to copy what we are doing?

Interestingly, over the past week or so I have spoken to ministers from New Zealand and Canada. Both those countries report problems similar to ours with that particular group, and both report similar difficulties in trying to make progress. There are things that we can do to make headway, and others will look to learn from our experience. If we can improve by learning from the experience of others, I see no problem in doing so.

Is the minister aware that Finland tops the league tables that we are talking about? The Education Committee and the minister's predecessor visited Finland last year. Is the minister aware that a key aspect of Finnish education is the emphasis on the early years? Finland has high-quality nursery teachers, educated to degree level, working with children from a very early age.

The minister announced recently the introduction of structured play into primary 1 classes, but will he assure us that he will not swap teachers from nursery schools in order to implement that policy in primary schools? We cannot have nursery pupils losing out on their education because of the introduction of structured play in primary 1 classes.

There is no chance of that happening. Purposeful and structured play is important, and we can learn from countries such as Finland how play can help to develop a child's education and learning experience at a later stage.

Good teachers are important in our schools. An educational underpinning of the curriculum in the early years is essential and teachers can contribute to that. Our nursery nurses and other staff also make a phenomenal contribution in our early years sector. They are part of a team effort to develop and deliver excellent standards of service.

We will look to ensure that resources are available, but we also need to ensure that training is available. The curriculum for excellence allows us to put a structure around that to enable teachers to identify the best way of imparting knowledge and learning experience to children. Everyone recognises that that more flexible approach in the early years will provide definite results later in a child's development.

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Marine Wildlife Tourism (Mull)

To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs and what income marine wildlife tourism brings to the island of Mull. (S2O-11578)

That level of detail on tourism employment and income is not held centrally. However, we know that tourism accounts for 10 per cent of all employment in the VisitScotland network area that includes Mull.

The minister is aware that wildlife tourism is important to Mull, which is part of a candidate area for a possible coastal and marine national park, although it is true that local people have yet to be convinced of the benefits of that, since they have not been made clear. Given that, what discussions have taken place between the minister's department and Ross Finnie's Environment and Rural Affairs Department about the potential benefits of coastal and marine national parks, potential downsides and the need for infrastructure improvements in areas that might be considered to cope with any increase in visitors, such as road and harbour improvements?

My officials meet Mr Finnie's officials regularly, and Mr Finnie and I meet regularly to discuss such issues and issues that are of interest more generally in our portfolios. One subject that we discuss with increasing seriousness is the sustainability of tourism, which is dear to my heart and to Mr Finnie's.

We want more visitors to come to our country and to spend time in our rural and coastal areas, but it is important to understand that we want visitors to spend more money during their stay if we are to grow our tourism economy and to bring the benefit and effect that we would like to bring to communities up and down the country.

We do not want more visitors all to come at a particular time. We must be better at encouraging them to visit different areas at different times of the year, so that they do not converge on one area at the same time. We must provide better public transport and more environmentally sustainable accommodation and visitor attractions, so that our visitors do not damage the feature that many of them come for: our environment and landscape.

Having a coastal and marine national park will allow us to support the tourism industry in whichever area of the country the park ends up being located and to maximise the benefits for the community, while ensuring that tourism is sustainable in the environment that it inhabits.

I thank the minister for her answer; I was heartened by much of what she said. Will she consider Mull as a complete economic system? Will she work with her ministerial colleagues in enterprise and transport to support Argyll and Bute Council, Argyll and the Islands Enterprise and the community on increasing the number of jobs and the number of people who work on the island of Mull? Will she address the concerns of many in the business community about a disconnect between the terms and conditions that people want and those that are being tabled to them for the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry service between Oban and Craignure?

As I said in my answer to Ms Scott, I meet my ministerial colleagues regularly to discuss such matters. As a result of the tourism framework for change, co-ordination between VisitScotland and the enterprise networks nationally and locally is now much better. We very much want to encourage that.

We want to ensure that those linkages at a local level involve not just the big agencies, but local agencies and businesses. I have absolutely no problem in concurring with Mr Mather that that needs to happen and, where it comes within my purview to do so, I will certainly ensure that such co-ordination takes place.

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Culture (Scotland) Bill

To ask the Scottish Executive how the proposed culture (Scotland) bill will ensure that everybody has the right to participate in the cultural life of the community and enjoy the arts, as required by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (S2O-11575)

The provisions of the culture (Scotland) bill take existing international cultural rights as their starting point. I refer the member to my statement to Parliament on 19 January and to the cultural policy document, "Scotland's Culture", which I launched that day.

I am well aware of the minister's statement and of "Scotland's Culture" but, with respect, that was not the question that I asked. My question was: what provisions are included in the bill that will ensure that more people have access to the arts and culture?

The culture bill will give greater practical effect to those rights and entitlements in each local authority area. We want to encourage people to get involved in planning cultural services and to take part in, and enjoy, the opportunities that result. The pathfinder projects that I launched this week—13 projects across the country, which involve 26 local authorities and many more community planning partnerships and other organisations—will provide us with a good opportunity to give local authorities guidance and advice on how initiatives might work in their areas. The point of the measure is to ensure that we have a citizens-based approach to culture. That is exactly what we are doing in the culture bill.

Regarding the right to participate in the cultural life of the community, I want to ask about the youth music initiative. What should I say to parents who, having been told that their young child would be offered the opportunity to learn a musical instrument in the new year, find that the form that comes home with the child, who desperately wants to learn the piano, gives the child the choice of learning only either the violin or the viola? Does the minister agree that that is no choice at all? What actions is she taking to ensure that the music initiative works to the benefit of enthusiastic and well-motivated children who want to learn certain musical instruments?

If Mr Maxwell wants to pursue that issue, I will be happy to look into the matter for him if he will write to me. We need to understand that an initiative that is provided through schools will have some restrictions on the number of instruments that might be available to any one child, given the number of children who might opt to play a particular instrument. All those things need to be balanced.

In my experience, learning to play one instrument almost automatically leads one to begin to understand, and to want to play, other musical instruments. Therefore, I would encourage that child to take the opportunity that is available and to move on to another instrument at another time.

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Olympic and Commonwealth Games (Facilities)

To ask the Scottish Executive what provision is being made in Scotland for the preparation of facilities for the 2012 London Olympics and possible 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth games. (S2O-11533)

The Executive is investing significant funds through the national and regional facilities strategy to put in place facilities to give elite and up-and-coming athletes top-class facilities in which to train and prepare for future success. Those facilities and others will be available in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics and a possible Commonwealth games in Glasgow in 2014.

The London organising committee of the Olympic games is required to provide a pre-games training camp guide that lists approved facilities and locations for sport. The guide will be made available to competing countries. Will Scotland submit a bid for a place in that guide? I understand that that must be done by 31 January.

On 4 December, sportscotland held a seminar for local authorities and other facility managers to explain the specification requirements for facilities that they might want to qualify for inclusion in the LOCOG brochure. The deadline for submissions is, as Mr Arbuckle said, 31 January and the brochure will be launched at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. It is almost certain that Scotland will be represented in that piece of advertising.

I welcome the announcement about the university of sport, and I would like to suggest—I am sure along with you, Presiding Officer—that the University of Stirling with all its expertise in sport is a prime candidate. Will the minister comment on that?

I am sure that the member does not need me to point out that the re-election in Scotland of a Government of a Labour complexion is required for that proposal to be taken forward, as it is a key plank of our manifesto for sport. There is a list of universities in Scotland that might want to be considered for that accolade, and in the fullness of time we will work with those universities to help them to develop such a proposal and consider which would be best suited to the title.

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Community Schools

To ask the Lib Dem-Labour Scottish Executive how it is supporting the development of community schools. (S2O-11527)

What complexion is Jeremy Purvis?

I do not know—sometimes I wonder.

The integrated community schools concept is now mainstreamed into the wider integrated children's services agenda. Some £25.8 million is made available each year to local authorities to provide support for that broader framework at school and neighbourhood level.

Does the minister appreciate the frustration of some communities when they see schools closed in evenings and at weekends, unlike Beeslack community high school in Penicuik, which is a shining example of a community school? Will the minister support an innovative approach in which communities can establish properly constituted development trusts and, under a service level agreement with the local authority, operate and manage the community use of schools in evenings and at weekends when local authorities are not using them for school purposes?

What Jeremy Purvis proposes is certainly interesting, although it could be somewhat complex. However, the model that a local authority wishes to adopt is a matter for local decision making. We have already seen some benefits from local trusts in the provision of leisure facilities.

I hesitate to be more definitive, because I do not want to do anything that would impact on the current relationship between local authorities and schools. However, I know that several local authorities are considering imaginatively how they can access funding and get better use of facilities.

Jeremy Purvis is right to say that it is incredibly frustrating to see community assets closed in the evenings when communities want them. We provide substantial amounts of money to local authorities for education and other services, and it is for each local authority to determine how best to use that money. Local authorities tell us that they prefer funding not to be ring fenced, but often there is pressure when local authorities either cannot afford to use their facilities in the evening or find some bureaucratic impediment to their doing so. I encourage local authorities to work with communities to come up with a solution that is best suited to local needs.

Will the minister consider giving head teachers more decision-making powers in the running of community schools so that education takes precedence over other services?

Education already takes precedence in our schools, and head teachers have considerable responsibility and flexibility. In a recent announcement, I allocated more capital and revenue money to be paid directly to head teachers for use in their schools, so we have considered the idea sympathetically over the years.

However, we could find ourselves going beyond a situation in which head teachers are responsible purely for the management of education in schools and into one in which we ask them to become business managers. In some local authority areas, we have seen the development of business managers who are responsible for the management of the physical infrastructure and the non-essential education responsibilities. In all cases, a proper balance needs to be struck.

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Vacant Teaching Posts (Secondary Schools)

To ask the Scottish Executive how many secondary school teaching posts are vacant. (S2O-11500)

The Scottish Executive carries out a teacher vacancy survey each February. The last annual survey showed that 1.5 per cent of posts were vacant and 0.4 per cent were vacant for more than three months.

I understand that there may be as many as 13 vacant posts at Northfield academy in my constituency and that there may be barriers to filling those vacant posts permanently in order to keep places open for probationers. Can the minister guarantee that the need for probationer posts is not being met disproportionately by schools such as Northfield academy?

I am not aware of the specific situation at that school, but everything that I hear about the guaranteed year's employment for probationers indicates that it is a proven success, which has resulted in many more young people coming into the teaching profession and many people returning to teaching or coming to teaching from other activities. Clearly, a project of such scale will always have some implications and in some cases there will be difficulties with how it is managed.

I cannot respond on the particular case now, but the fact is that more teachers are coming in and we are spending more money not only on the school infrastructure but on bringing in teachers. We are on target to meet our commitments for new and additional teachers in the relevant subjects. If there is an issue in one school in Brian Adam's constituency, I urge him to discuss the matter with the local authority.

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Finance and Public Services and Communities

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West Dunbartonshire (Public Services)

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to improve public services in West Dunbartonshire. (S2O-11542)

The Scottish Executive has placed the duty of best value upon local authorities and other public service organisations in West Dunbartonshire. The duty requires that organisations secure continuous improvement in the performance of public services. The duty is audited by Audit Scotland, and the Scottish Executive takes whatever action is necessary to ensure that public services improve in line with the recommendations made in the audit reports.

My colleague John McFall MP and I are grateful for the strong action that the minister has taken to improve the operation of West Dunbartonshire Council. I know that ordinary members of staff, who deliver services daily to my community, share that view. That said, will the minister ensure that the council takes up his offer of external assistance? I believe that such assistance is necessary on two counts: first, to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to take forward a challenging agenda for improvement and, secondly, to restore trust and confidence in the local authority.

I thank the member for those comments. Clearly, it is extremely important to restore trust and confidence within the community as the council has had its troubles over the past few months. There has been due process, both through the reports from Audit Scotland and, subsequently, in the public inquiry and the recommendations from the Accounts Commission.

The member is right to say that we have written in strong terms to the council. I have made it clear that I expect it to accept without reservation the Accounts Commission's recommendations. I understand that the council is undergoing a change of political leadership and have been assured this morning that as soon as the new leadership beds in I will receive a quick reply to that letter. I look forward to receiving that response and thereafter to seeing the improvement plan that will be put in place. I look forward to seeing willingness on the part of the council to bring into the authority whoever and whatever is necessary to ensure that the people of the area receive services of the quality and standard that they deserve.

I am sure that the minister will agree that the best way to improve public services in West Dunbartonshire would be to dump the disastrous Labour administration in May and elect an Scottish National Party administration in its place. Does the minister agree with the findings of the Accounts Commission and does he accept the view of the trade unions that the Labour administration in West Dunbartonshire presided over a culture of bullying and intimidation?

I am afraid that the member has missed the point. We are trying to improve the situation in West Dunbartonshire, not make it even worse through the election of an SNP administration.

I said that there has been due process. Audit Scotland spent a considerable time examining the issue and the Accounts Commission held a public inquiry. As I said, I have made it clear to the council that I expect it to accept the recommendations. A number of unacceptable practices were highlighted during the public inquiry. I expect those practices to cease and I expect a culture to be developed that ensures not only that such practices do not recur but that politicians and professional officers are properly focused on serving and improving the quality of life of people in the area.

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Public Spending and Revenue

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total gap has been between public expenditure in Scotland and revenues raised since 1999. (S2O-11551)

According to the "Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland" analysis, the cumulative gap between public expenditure in Scotland and public revenues raised in Scotland since 1999 is a massive £49.7 billion.

Does the minister agree that the massive deficit to which he refers and of which he has given details would prohibit the writing off of student debt, make impossible a council tax freeze—even if that were legal—and make a nonsense of any promise that workers in a separate Scotland would pay no extra taxes? Budgeting may seem difficult, but it is obvious that we cannot spend what we do not have. Will the minister assure us that Executive policies are designed to protect hard-working families through service provision, as well as being fair to, for example, small businesses in Scotland?

I assure the member that the United Kingdom serves Scotland well, as is self-evident from the figures that I reiterated a moment ago. I concur that the report highlights the fact that affection for nationalism would die instantly if we ever found ourselves in an independent Scotland. The figures make it clear in a very serious way that the progress that this country has made would not only come to a crashing halt but would be thrown into reverse gear. Generations would be denied the opportunity to maximise their potential and this country would be an economic basket case, simply because one political party had decided to put an ideology before the best interests of its citizens. I am confident that if we continue to discuss those figures and the potential impact of that ideology, people in Scotland will again reject it, allow progress to continue and allow Scotland to flourish as it should.

Is the minister aware of a parliamentary answer that was given in the House of Commons in 1997 by the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury, which showed that, using the GERS methodology, between 1979 and 1995 Scotland contributed £27 billion more to the UK, at 1997 prices, than we received in return? Given that the Government is now using the same methodology, does not talk of a structural deficit highlight the total failure of this Government's stewardship of our finances and the fact that it has squandered the financial advantage that we had in 1997, or are these claims just a bogus attempt by the Government to talk Scotland down? Does the minister agree with the Daily Record, which, following the release in 1997 of the information to which I have referred, commented in an editorial:

"The SNP have done us all a service by scotching the Tory myth that we are subsidy junkies"?

Editorials in the Daily Record have improved massively since that time; anyone who saw its editorials last week will testify to that. I say to Mr Swinney that we are not in 1979—we are not in the past, but in the present. At this time and over a sustained period Scotland has incurred a fiscal deficit. However, the figures that Mr Swinney cites and the figures for the present time are illustrative of the fact that, when one predicates an economy on the volatility of oil prices, one puts at risk the economic stability of a nation. Historical data, the data from the past five years and even the figures on which Mr Swinney depends for his argument tell us that.

I am happy to agree with the Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform about the benefits of being part of the United Kingdom. As one unionist to another, I wonder whether the minister will agree that one reason for the gap that has been identified may be the significant increase in public spending that has taken place since devolution. Is the Executive's failure to get value for money for all that extra spending a result of ministerial incompetence, or is it a cunning plan to undermine the bright sparks on the SNP benches?

It is because Mr Brownlee cannot recognise progress when he sees it—that is the main reason.

I am interested in the analogy about increased public expenditure, because that is the very public expenditure that we would have to eliminate in an independent Scotland if we were to have any chance whatever of balancing the books. It is important and interesting to examine what the consequences of that elimination would be. Our children would not be educated to anything like the standard that would be required to enable them to compete in a competitive and ever-changing world. We would no longer have more than 50 per cent of our young people moving on to further or higher education, and our economy would be in reverse as the rest of the developing world moved further and further ahead. That is the real price that would be paid if we were ever, for one second, to adopt the crazy ideology that the SNP puts forward. It is far too great a price and it is a price that the people of Scotland will reject in due course.

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Affordable Housing (Planning Applications)

I will move the questions away from the election campaign and back to business.

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is given to local planning authorities on the inclusion of requirements to provide affordable housing when determining planning applications. (S2O-11526)

Scottish planning policy 3, on housing, and planning advice note 74, on affordable housing, provide guidance to planning authorities on the provision of suitable affordable housing through the planning system.

The minister will be aware that there is a significant shortage of affordable housing in my constituency of North East Fife, and that most of the planning applications are for housing that could not be described as affordable. Can he reconcile that with the recent decision by the reporter from the Scottish Executive, who upheld an appeal by a developer over the contribution that Fife Council was seeking towards the cost of affordable housing in a recent planning application? The reporter determined that the amount that Fife Council was seeking was too high and ruled that no money should be allocated to affordable housing. How is Fife Council to achieve its affordable housing policies within its planning regime if Scottish Executive reporters will not help it?

PAN 74, on affordable housing, was introduced in March last year. The independent research that was commissioned by the Scottish Executive took the firm view that the quota system for a benchmark of 25 per cent of all housing to be affordable must remain the backbone of the affordable housing land supply in Scotland to ensure the mixed communities that are an important and worthwhile objective of the Executive.

That is clearly what Fife Council is expected to take forward in its structure plan, which has been submitted to the Scottish Executive for consideration. We are listening to the concerns of residents from all parts of Fife, which suggest that the plan should provide for sufficient housing to meet assessed needs, as well as for the wider infrastructure and amenity requirements. A number of those issues need to be addressed before a decision is reached, but I hope that, in the context of considering the structure plan and how affordable housing fits into that, we will have a tight framework for examining the kind of issues that Iain Smith has highlighted.

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Lone-parent Families Support

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to support lone-parent families across Scotland. (S2O-11535)

In addition to the support provided by the UK Government arrangements, the Scottish Executive supports lone parents though a number of organisations and initiatives. Examples include: the lone-parent helpline, where funding of £450,000 has been awarded over three years to provide advice on money, child care, housing, debt and relationships; the parenting across Scotland consortium, which is currently piloting new ways of providing information and support to families; and the working for families programme, which is providing £50 million over four years to help a range of groups, including lone parents, progress towards or into employment by tackling child care and other barriers.

I thank the minister for highlighting all that investment. Does he agree with the assessment of One Parent Families Scotland that more of that expenditure is needed to support lone fathers across the country? If he agrees with that assessment, what steps will he take to build on the successful projects in Edinburgh and Falkirk that engage lone fathers in children's programmes, which they generally feel excluded from or are discouraged from joining?

I acknowledge the work that One Parent Families Scotland has done in relation to lone fathers. The programmes that I referred to—and other programmes that I could mention—benefit lone-parent fathers as well as lone-parent mothers.

I could have added to my list sure start Scotland, which helps many families with young children, the Child Poverty Action Group tax credit project and One Parent Families Scotland's sitter service. All those initiatives help lone mothers and lone fathers and build on the significant progress that we have seen from the Westminster Government, including the increase in help with child care costs that lone parents can get from 70 per cent to 80 per cent this year.

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New Homes (Purchaser Protection)

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in taking forward the recommendation of the housing improvement task force to formulate legislation that provides protection for purchasers of new homes. (S2O-11549)

I regret the problems that Helen Eadie's constituents have faced through late completion of their homes. The housing improvement task force recommended that such problems should, if possible, be tackled through a voluntary code and the Law Society of Scotland has been trying to broker such a code. However, talks have now been suspended while Homes for Scotland consults its members. I hope that Homes for Scotland will develop constructive proposals and a way forward, but we will certainly monitor that, with legislation as a backstop should progress not be made.

I know that the minister is aware that I have been pursuing this matter tenaciously for a long time. I think that I have been persevering for four years by sending letters and having meetings with Malcolm Chisholm and Johann Lamont. I am concerned that although my constituents pay deposits on houses and are given dates of entry, the dates are seldom met. In some of the worst examples, they have been kept waiting for 18 months for entry, which means that they have had to take up alternative accommodation and put their furniture into storage. In the worst case, a cost of in excess of £20,000 was incurred. That concerns me enormously. I am not reassured by the answer that I have received from Homes for Scotland and I do not think that the Law Society is taking the matter on board.

A little question, please.

Will the minister see whether there is a way to expedite a resolution? I do not think that the voluntary approach is working.

The problem is that if we were to legislate for a fixed entry date, the implication would be that damages would be payable if the date was missed, but that could be due to factors that are beyond the builder's control. To insure against all risk of delay could drive up the price of new houses generally. We would need to be satisfied that legislation would be a proportionate response to the scale of the problem. We have attempted to secure a voluntary agreement, which we hope will deliver the necessary change, but I do not rule out the backstop of legislation, not necessarily in this session, but in the next, which I hope will put further pressure on the various parties to reach an agreement.

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Supermarkets (Planning Applications)

To ask the Scottish Executive what its role is in deciding whether appeals against the rejection of planning applications for supermarkets proceed to public local inquiry. (S2O-11577)

When a planning appeal is lodged, if either the appellant or the planning authority wishes it, the Scottish ministers must give them the opportunity to be heard by an appointed person—in other words, by an inquiry reporter. That applies to all types of development, not just to supermarkets. If neither party wishes an inquiry or hearing, the case will normally proceed by an exchange of written submissions unless, in the particular circumstances of a case, the Scottish ministers consider an inquiry or hearing to be necessary.

The minister will no doubt be aware of the Executive's involvement in an application for a supermarket in Crieff, where ministers—before Des McNulty took up his post—overturned a decision that had been made by the local council, and which followed extensive and long-standing consultation of the community about a preferred site for a retail development in the town. How does the minister justify the Executive's action in overruling the democratically determined wishes of the community, with the result that a cherished town-centre green space, which also has an economic use, will be replaced by an unwanted development?

It is difficult for me to respond to a specific question about a planning application of which I was not given prior notice—I was not involved in the determination.

Under the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006, the Scottish ministers, rather than the appellant or planning authority, will decide whether oral proceedings are necessary. Decisions will be made on the basis of the issues that must be examined. Much of the evidence in major cases could be examined through written submissions. We will reserve hearings for cases in which opinions need to be expanded in an inquiry process in which adversarial examination is necessary. An appeal will no longer proceed exclusively through one process. Implementation of that element of the 2006 act will require secondary legislation, which I expect to introduce now that the act has received royal assent.