Has the Government identified possible criteria for deciding which other public bodies might be designated as specified public authorities in the future?

I will move on to the theme of the private sector, which you have touched on a little already. It is important for the public sector to lead by example, but we heard evidence from Pete Ritchie of Nourish Scotland, who reminded us that public food is a maximum of 1.5 to 2 per cent of the food supply. The private sector delivers the vast majority of our food and, to quote Pete,

“is operating on rules that generate ill health and environmental degradation”.—[Official Report, Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee, 26 January 2022; c 27-28.]

A first step in changing those rules could be mandatory reporting for the private sector, which would increase accountability. Can the minister give us an update on whether Westminster will proceed with the recommendations from its national food strategy report. If it will, can the data for Scotland be separated out to inform policy development here?

As you have heard, witnesses have been clear in their evidence that we must take the private sector with us on the journey towards being a good food nation. The bill does not set out a clear mechanism for that to happen. I understand from previous evidence why that is the case. What are your thoughts about amending the bill to require the Government and relevant authorities to engage with the private sector when drafting and implementing their plans? What form would you see that engagement taking?

Thank you, Meghan.

Thank you for that response. We look forward to that.

I thank you and your officials for your evidence today, and I want to let you know that the committee expects to publish its report on the draft national planning framework in April.

We will have a short break before we reconvene in private for item 2. As that was the only public item on our agenda, I now close the public part of the meeting.

Good morning, and welcome to the sixth meeting in 2022 of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee. I ask all members and witnesses to ensure that their mobile phones are in silent mode, and that all notifications are turned off during the meeting.

We have two items on our agenda, both of which relate to the fourth national planning framework. First, we will hold our final evidence session in the inquiry with the Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth, Tom Arthur, then we will go into private session to consider the issues that have been raised in evidence.

Mr Arthur is joined by Scottish Government officials. Fiona Simpson is the chief planner, Andy Kinnaird is the head of planning transformation and Helen Wood, who is joining us online, is the head of planning performance. I would be grateful if Mr Arthur could, in order to allow our broadcasting team to activate her microphone, make it clear when he wishes to bring in Ms Wood to respond to specific questions. I welcome Mr Arthur and his officials to the meeting.

I intend to allow up to 90 minutes for this session. Before I invite the minister to make opening remarks, I place on the record the committee’s thanks to everyone who has helped to inform this important piece of work. In particular, I thank SURF—Scotland’s Regeneration Forum, the Built Environment Forum Scotland, Rural Housing Scotland, Scottish Rural Action, Voluntary Health Scotland, Scotland’s Towns Partnership and the Scottish Youth Parliament, all of which provided invaluable input to our scrutiny. I know that members particularly enjoyed the visits and online workshops, which really helped us to understand the ways in which planning impacts on communities and the importance of getting the planning framework right. I thank everyone who has assisted our work on the topic.

Before I open up to questions from the committee, I invite the minister to make a short opening statement.

It is good to know that the work is happening. I understand that it is complex, but it seems that we really need to do it.

Graeme Dey has a couple of questions.

Thank you. It is good to have clarity about the process that we are all involved in.

I will move on. I have a few questions about the fact that a lot of this will be delivered at local level. Numerous stakeholders have voiced strong support for the Scottish Government’s intention, which is briefly outlined in policy 1, to move to a plan-led system. However, many go further and advocate for a public plan-led system, in which local authorities would have considerably more agency to shape their local communities and to manage land use more proactively. Do the minister and his officials believe that the draft NPF4 supports local authorities to do that? Will the minister commit to taking on board that ambitious but important objective, as voiced by stakeholders?

My next question is connected to that point. The way in which we use land is becoming increasingly complex, with growing needs and competing pressures. It seems to me that we are at a critical point in national planning, where we need to ensure that land is used for the right purpose. Not all land is the same—we have peatland, farmland, land that is appropriate for housing and so on. However, throughout this process, I have been struck by how limited our overall understanding is of land use in Scotland.

What work will the minister undertake to improve current land use mapping on a national scale to support those who work on spatial strategies, national developments and policies in the national planning framework? Although we are inviting planning authorities to take forward some of the work, we are also talking about things such as nature networks, where collaboration needs to happen.

I call Miles Briggs.