Chamber and committees

I put the same questions to Paul White. I am interested to hear your take on things.

I cannot see whether Caroline Brown or Chiquita Elvin would like to come in with any final thoughts. If not, I am happy to pass back to you, convener.

I will ask the panel a couple of different questions. It is fair to say that everybody believes that our greenfield sites should not be used if at all possible and we should be using brownfield sites whenever we can. How could NPF4 policies on vacant and derelict land be strengthened to reduce the pressure on our greenfield sites?

Heather’s sound was very soft, but I think that I got most of that.

I think that my questions are for David Hunter and Paul White, but I would be happy to hear the thoughts of Chiquita Elvin and Caroline Brown, if she joins us again. Do the policies that are set out in the draft NPF4 give sufficient consideration to the travel and accessibility needs of all disabled people and people with mobility issues? If not, what would you like to see in the NPF4, and what would you change?

I note my entry in the register of members’ interests, which says that I am still a serving councillor at Aberdeen City Council.

I am pleased to speak on the Scottish Government’s motion, and I welcome the publication of the joint Scottish Government and COSLA consultation on prevention of homelessness duties. In Scotland, we already have strong rights for those who find themselves in a homelessness situation, but it is important that we strengthen the legislation around early intervention, to give people facing homelessness more choice and more control over where they live. Early action should be a shared public responsibility, and we should be looking to act as early as possible to ensure that disruption to people’s lives is minimised. At the end of the day, everyone should have a home to call their own, no matter who they are, what they do for a living or what they earn. It is their right to have somewhere they call home.

We all have a duty, which is why I asked Carol Mochan whether she agreed about the void situation. Aberdeen City Council currently has 1,200 council houses that are sitting empty, which costs our tenants and the housing revenue account £2 million. One thousand and two hundred council houses out of our stock of, I think, 22,000, is a large number, and they could go a long way in helping the homelessness situation.

Improving access to early interventions will, I hope, reduce the need to use temporary accommodation facilities. Although temporary accommodation provides a safety net for those at risk of homelessness, it can prove to be very expensive for local authorities and tenants alike. Ensuring that quick access to sustainable accommodation and suitable support is available if homelessness occurs will help to stop the cycle of homelessness that can happen. Putting in place adequate support to sustain existing tenancies will also save the individuals involved from the incredibly stressful and traumatic experience of going through the homelessness process to get rehoused.

At this point, I would like to say a big thank you to the team at Aberdeen City Council. Kay Diack and her homelessness unit do an absolutely brilliant job. Engaging with tenants who are facing homelessness has been successfully implemented in Aberdeen, and the council, in partnership with Turning Point, is running a housing first scheme to support tenants with multiple needs to move away from homelessness. Housing first is proven to be successful in supporting people who have histories of repeat homelessness and who experience multiple disadvantages into independent and stable accommodation. Once housed, they are provided with supportive services and connections to community-based support so that they sustain their housing and avoid returning to homelessness.

It is essential that we look to strengthen our existing homelessness prevention legislation and ensure that there is a duty on public bodies to ask people about their housing situation and take action if needed, as early intervention is absolutely key. Placing a legal duty on health and social care services, children’s services, police and other public bodies to ask and act to prevent homelessness really will be game changing for people who are potentially facing homelessness.

I whole-heartedly support the motion.

Does the member agree that it might help the situation all around if local authorities could get their void properties up to scratch?

This might be an unfair question, but how do you see that developing? What is needed for that to happen?

Before I ask my questions, I have a supplementary question on cybersecurity, cabinet secretary—I apologise if this is not within your remit. You were talking about what public agencies and local authorities need to do with regard to cybersecurity. Does the Scottish Government ask them to report back so that it has assurances that public agencies and local authorities have business continuity and disaster recovery plans in place? I am aware that that is not always the case.

My questions are about the transport part of your remit. The strategic transport projects review has 45 recommendations, one of which is to achieve a 20 per cent reduction in car kilometres by 2030—I am used to miles, not kilometres. We all recognise that reducing the amount of car travel will require a step change in how we use public transport, and that we will need to increase significantly the number of trips that we take using our bicycles, if we have them, or on foot.

How does this year’s budget compare to previous budgets on that? I am aware that, in the 20 years between 1999 and 2019, the average distance travelled by car increased, so I am interested to hear what the difference is in this year’s budget.