Chamber and committees

Yes.

Last week, my colleague Sarah Boyack invited scothosts, a group representing hosts of Ukrainian refugees, to meet members. Scothosts has produced a thoughtful analysis of the good and bad aspects of the supersponsor scheme. A pressing issue that it highlighted is that the welcome desks at Glasgow and Edinburgh airports, intended to welcome Ukrainians arriving into the scheme, have frequently been left unstaffed during normal working hours, which has meant that refugees, sometimes with a low level of English literacy, have been left to fend for themselves on arrival, particularly when travelling on to other parts of the country. How can the Scottish Government ensure that that important initial part of any warm Scottish welcome is available to refugees?

Another point raised by scothosts was that the hosting of refugees is not an event but a process, and that the inevitable longer-term needs, not only of refugees but of hosts, will need to be addressed. How will the Scottish Government amend its approach in response to continuing challenges with our Syrian and Afghan refugees? Refugees are the same regardless of where they are from.

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Transport Scotland, Network Rail, Winchburgh Developments Limited and West Lothian Council relating to the provision of a railway station at Winchburgh. (S6O-01003)

The people of Winchburgh were first promised a railway station 15 years ago, but Transport Scotland would not let West Lothian Council make the station a condition of the development. We now hear that, as a result, there may be no station at all. Would the minister consider visiting Winchburgh with me to see for herself the massive scale of development and the folly of a nation in a declared climate emergency forcing hundreds of new residents into cars and private transport?

Culture is one of the sectors that have been hit hardest by the pandemic. What lessons has the Scottish Government learned from the experience of Covid in order to shield the culture sector from the impact of future pandemics?

Does the Scottish Government agree that the school curriculum should contain education on racism and colonialism and that such reforms are not party political, but are sensible and reflective measures on our common history?

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My system went down. I would have voted yes.

The minister said that all who flee conflict and seek refuge should get the care, compassion and support to which they are entitled. However, in Edinburgh, we still have hundreds of refugees from Syria and Afghanistan who are stuck in hotels and other temporary accommodation. There is no suitable permanent housing. Homes for Ukraine is welcome, but not everyone will fall within that scheme. How will the Government ensure that the refugee housing crisis does not continue?

I commend the committee and its members for their hard work in producing the report. It provides a good overview of the benefits and problems of the draft planning framework.

The framework will set the stage for Scotland’s development in the coming years as a nation that is committed to sustainability, biodiversity and tackling the climate crisis, and the committee clearly recognises the importance of getting it right. That is partly why I and my colleagues on the Scottish Labour benches find the lack of detail in the framework particularly concerning.

If NPF4 is to be successful, planning authorities across Scotland must have clarity, both in terms of their priorities and the definitions of the areas that they are to prioritise. Such clarity is particularly important because of the emphasis that the Scottish Government is putting on the climate emergency. Of course, we welcome that emphasis, but the authorities that will be operating under the framework must have confidence that they are following it as it was intended to be followed. Any lack of clarity defeats the point of having a national planning framework in the first place and invites piecemeal implementation across local authorities.

We must also ensure that people have confidence in the planning system and the role of local development plans. In the Lothian region, I have heard that the Scottish Government has not provided robust interim guidance on the issue of effective land supply. Reporters have also been given requirements that have led to their approving speculative sites that do not fit with local development plans. In such circumstances, how are local populations and local authorities to be brought along with the planning and development process? Any national framework must be a collaborative process that brings along local populations and local authorities and does not alienate them.

If we are to ensure a truly national planning framework, we must have a commitment from the Scottish Government to properly funded planning departments. After years of real-terms cuts to local authorities, we have a situation in which planning departments have been cut back to their bare minimum. How do we expect the framework to work at a national level, when its implementation will depend on how, or whether, local authorities across Scotland have been able to shield their planning departments from nearly a decade of cuts?

It is crucial that we get answers to those questions right now, so that we do not have to chase solutions to them years down the line and risk wasting yet more time and resources in pursuing goals that are not clearly set out. Therefore, I join my colleagues in calling for a pause to the process, so that those points can be addressed.

Good morning, minister. I have a couple of questions. What can the Scottish Government do to clarify the definition of kinship care? Will legislative change be considered?