Chamber and committees

No, I did not, but I can pick that up with the minister outwith the meeting, unless you want me to ask it now.

I apologise, Presiding Officer. I understand what the minister says about the need to interact with others and look at the full picture when considering whether to endorse NOVA Scotland fully. However, my understanding is that the police are supportive of endorsement and want to proceed. The last conversation that I am aware of was in October last year. Has there been any update since then?

Absolutely. That is something that I completely support and is why I am so supportive of NOVA Scot: it is not about looking at veterans in silos—for example, as only men—but about ensuring that we consider the needs of women, families and young people, who are part of the forces family as well. Everyone can be supported through the system, but it is not fully operational yet. That is why I am bringing the debate to the chamber—to try to convince the Scottish Government to give the expanded service the green light so that we can get the support to people who need it.

Importantly, Op NOVA has dedicated caseworkers who are assigned to work directly with veterans, enabling them to build a strong one-to-one relationship. It provides veterans with someone whom they trust while the best programme of help and support for them is worked out. We have that through NOVA Scot but, again, the number of referrals that the Scottish service gets will be significantly lower, because it does not have the same access that Op NOVA has to the various other sectors.

The outcomes from Op NOVA speak for themselves. Of the total referrals that were received from Op NOVA, 82 per cent of veterans who engaged with the service noticed that their mental health improved; 76 per cent

“reported progress to a crime-free life”;

and 66 per cent noted improved relationships with family and friends. Those statistics can be replicated in Scotland if the Minister for Veterans and the Scottish Government would agree to put pen to paper.

Many veterans already feel a sense of detachment from decision making in this country, and they often feel that MSPs are not standing shoulder to shoulder with them. We can show today that, as a Parliament, we do care. NOVA Scot is about not just reducing reoffending in our veterans community, but showing that there is a tailored model of support, should any veteran fall on hard times. The best part is that it does not even need legislation. What NOVA Scot needs is the Scottish Government’s buy-in, so that it can hit the ground running by providing access to other sectors and ensuring that the project is veteran centred, with everyone pulling together to reduce veteran crime rates.

I firmly believe that adopting such a person-centred approach can positively change the lives of veterans throughout Scotland. I finish with a question to the minister. Will he approve the letter today, and will he give the green light to NOVA Scot?

For us as members, among the many highlights of being elected to represent our communities are the fantastic people whom we get to meet along the way. There are literally thousands of people in communities across the country who spend every single day helping others without expecting anything in return. I am fortunate enough to know one of those people: Scott Muir.

I first met Scott when I was a councillor in North Lanarkshire. I was aware of a veterans cafe that was being held every Friday, so one afternoon, I decided to pay a visit. When I arrived, I could not have been made more welcome. They were not used to politicians visiting, but they very quickly invited me to sit at a table with some members of our armed forces and veterans community. I was offered a bowl of soup—they told me that it was road-kill soup; to this day, I do not know whether it was or not, but it was enjoyable all the same—and we spent the next few hours chatting away. I listened to their views on the issues of the day and asked whether there was anything that the council could do to help them.

It was there that I met Scott. He is one of the driving forces behind Veterans Community (Lanarkshire)—VCLAN—which is the group that is responsible for holding those cafes every Friday. It is a brilliant initiative to enable our armed forces and veterans community in Lanarkshire to get together, enjoy a warm meal and socialise. Scott is the definition of a community champion—I know that I am going to be in a lot of trouble for mentioning him in the chamber, as he is not someone who enjoys having the spotlight shone on him, but he certainly deserves the recognition; I suppose that he can chin me later for doing so.

The truth is that I would not be raising the matter of NOVA Scotland in the chamber today if it was not for Scott. When he shared with me the NOVA Scot proposals and how the service had the potential to transform the lives of many veterans in Scotland, I knew that I had to seek answers from the Scottish Government.

So, what exactly is NOVA Scot? To put it simply, the project champions veterans in the justice system or in times of crisis. The NOVA Scot service, were it to be introduced in full, would enable veterans to live stable lives by providing access to practical and emotional support across a range of areas including education, employment, accommodation, living skills, self-care, mental health and wellbeing, friendships and communities, drugs and alcohol and living a law-abiding life.

NOVA Scot has already established a direct referral pathway with Police Scotland and received referrals from a vulnerable persons database. Any veteran whom Police Scotland encounters who is deemed vulnerable—for example, there might be concerns relating to their mental health or to addiction or suicide—will automatically be referred to NOVA Scot.

Although the service is working well, veterans who are arrested or who go through the custody suites are not currently referred to NOVA Scot. That is because Police Scotland is able to refer those who enter the justice system only to organisations that are funded by a statutory body. As NOVA Scot is not currently funded through that model, it falls outwith the remit. Ideally, the service needs a letter of support from the Scottish Government, which would open the door to NOVA Scot being able to improve the identification of veterans in the justice system. Susie Hamilton, the Scottish veterans commissioner, has recently called for such improvements to be made in order to prevent reoffending.

There is a gap in the justice system when it comes to supporting veterans. I must stress that although veterans are no more likely than any other civilian in Scotland to commit a crime, the reasons that they fall into the justice system can often be prevented. By providing veterans with assistance early on, there is an opportunity to prevent them from ending up in the justice system in the first place.

NOVA Scot has been modelled on the highly successful Op NOVA service, which was commissioned in England in 2023 but has been operational since 2014. The primary objective is to provide a single pathway to support veterans to prevent them from entering the justice system. Op NOVA has access to, and receives referrals from, the police, the national health service, HM Prison and Probation Service and the NHS GP connect service.

That is the main difference between Op NOVA and NOVA Scot. The system in England has access to various different areas to which Nova Scot currently does not have access. As I said, all that is needed is for the Scottish Government to give the green light to replicate that system through the creation of a bespoke service in Scotland, which could transform lives.

Good evening, minister. It has been helpful to have a statement from you in the extraordinary meeting that we are having this evening.

Today, I have been contacted by stakeholders who were concerned that we would be reopening the debate on wood-burning stoves. Those stakeholders act on behalf of rural communities, which certainly do not want to repeat the debates that we have recently had, so I welcome your statement this evening.

My question is about the continuation of dialogue with stakeholders on the issue. We know that wood-burning stoves are one heating energy source, but there are others. I assume that the proposed heat in buildings bill will shortly be coming down the line. I am looking for more reassurance from the minister that dialogue on alternative heating energies is on-going and that, looking ahead, the Scottish Government is considering whether they can be used to help our rural communities.

Thank you, minister.

This morning, the minister and I received a copy of a letter from a house builder who eloquently described the current state of our planning system and the decisions taken by the Government that have made it incredibly challenging for small and medium-sized house builders.

The last time that the Scottish Government undertook a review of the planning system, it resulted in the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 and national planning framework 4. Since both of those have been in place, there has been a decline in house-building delivery, a loss of house builders, a decline in the number of construction companies and the declaration of a housing emergency. Scotland is now a hostile environment for anyone in the housing industry.

What role will the planning hub have in looking at those particular issues, which are really important to our housing sector? How much will the Government invest overall in the hub to prevent such issues from recurring and the hub itself from becoming a talking shop?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its progress towards creating a planning hub. (S6O-04099)

Thank you for that helpful clarification of your processes.

Good morning, minister and officials. Scottish ministers will have the power to set the commencement date for the proposed changes in the Renters’ Rights Bill. Briefly, can you give the committee an update on the timescale that the Scottish Government is considering?