Chamber and committees

I disagree with that point. The real question, which many members who are clapping need to think about, is what the SNP has actually done in the past 14 years to bring prosperity to communities. The answer is nothing at all.

Communities across Scotland have a proud record of coming together to pioneer innovative work to deliver community regeneration projects. That is what we need to help to achieve. It is vital that we realise the potential of all our communities, and the shared prosperity fund will help to achieve that. I support the amendment in Liz Smith’s name.

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to local authorities to ensure that disabled and partially sighted people are able to participate in the 2022 local government elections. (S6O-00794)

Will local authorities be asked to publicise ahead of the elections the order in which candidates will appear on the ballot paper? Blind and partially sighted people are often looking for that key piece of information, which has not previously been provided.

Given that, at its elections, the Northern Ireland Assembly is providing voter kits, including audio devices, to blind and partially sighted members of the community, what plans does the Scottish Government have to review the position and look at trialling voter kits in Scotland?

Does the minister believe that local government should also play a role in this and, if so, why is it not mentioned in his motion for the debate?

It was perhaps a mistake of the Minister for Parliamentary Business to timetable the two debates that we have had this afternoon together, the first one being on the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2022, with SNP and Green ministers cutting £250 million from local authorities, and the second being this debate on measures that will give local authorities powers and resources, with an additional £2.6 billion of funding.

The shared prosperity fund is a central pillar of the UK Government’s ambitious levelling-up agenda and a significant component of its support for communities across Britain. The fund will provide £2.6 billion in new local investment by March 2025, with all areas of the UK receiving an allocation from the fund via a funding formula rather than a competition.

The purpose of the shared prosperity fund and the UK Government’s levelling-up agenda is to reduce inequalities where they occur anywhere in Britain. I would have thought that all of us would agree about that. That applies equally to Scotland as to any other nation or region of the United Kingdom. I hope that SNP and Green ministers and MSPs agree with many of the principles that the UK shared prosperity fund focuses on—for example, investment and resources being targeted to areas of Scotland that are less prosperous, and working to build stronger, safer and more prosperous communities for all of us.

Projects such as the restoration of the B-listed Granton gas holder in my region, for example, are designed to spread opportunities and improve public services and to restore a sense of community, local pride and belonging as well as to empower local leaders and our communities. At the very time when SNP and Green ministers are cutting local budgets, the UK Government is looking to inject finances directly into areas around the country that need them the most.

I have already outlined this, but I note that the Scottish Government’s motion does not even mention local government and the important role that councils must play in helping to improve and empower communities across our country. Perhaps that is at the heart of what SNP and Green ministers and MSPs are complaining about today—that what we are actually seeing is powers going to local authorities, not to SNP and Green ministers.

The Scottish Conservatives support initiatives that move towards greater local empowerment, and I believe that the shared prosperity fund can help to deliver that very outcome. Scottish local authorities are receptive to making bids to the shared prosperity fund as well as to the levelling up agenda. I know that COSLA has already had many positive engagements with Michael Gove on how that can best be achieved.

The UK Government has made it very clear that it wants to work with the Scottish Government to make the best possible use of the funding across Scotland. I hope that members’ attitudes change so that we can see that happen. As has been stated, local authorities across Scotland are receiving their share of the £172 million in the first tranche of investment. I sincerely hope that SNP and Green ministers will start to get on board with the delivery of the UK shared prosperity fund and will start a positive engagement with all our communities and our councillors who are elected after May’s elections, to get the best possible outcome for all our communities.

Communities across Scotland have a proud record of coming together—[Interruption.] Sorry, but does Christine Grahame want to intervene?

This is an important debate, not just a technical one. I thank all those who work in our local authorities across Scotland for their hard work, especially for going the extra mile during the pandemic.

The Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2022 comes at the tail end of the budget process. Given that we have spent weeks debating the Scottish National Party and Green Government’s tax and spending choices, it might seem at this point that there is little more to add. Nevertheless, it is important that today’s parliamentary process gives us all an opportunity to highlight what needs to change.

The order allocates funding to each of Scotland’s 32 local authorities. We do not intend to oppose it, as that would simply deprive local government of much-needed resources for the coming year, but we have serious concerns about the overall allocation of resources to local councils across Scotland.

As has already been mentioned, I attended the COSLA conference on Friday, alongside other spokespeople, including Alex Cole-Hamilton. It is fair to say that SNP and Green ministers were left in no doubt about how council leaders and councillors across the country feel about the settlement.

Yet again, councils have been left in a situation in which they have to find savings or cut local services. It is a simple fact that SNP and Green ministers have cut next year’s local council budgets by £251 million in real terms. That cut to local government finance has been carried out despite Scotland receiving a record £41 billion block grant from the United Kingdom Government this year. The decision to cut budgets was taken by SNP and Green ministers.

Councils across Scotland have joined together to condemn the cuts. As the COSLA president Alison Evison said,

“It is beyond frustrating that the importance of Local Government’s role in enabling Communities to Live Well Locally across Scotland, has not been reflected in the Budget announcement.”

I want to ask a few questions about some of the outcomes, starting with outcome 5, on repairs, maintenance and improvements. I am sure that every MSP meets tenants to discuss, and knows of concerns around, the timescales for works taking place. How will those be properly monitored? I am always shocked not by the work of the teams that deliver the improvements but by the length of time that people face for those improvements being made. I have a case in which people have been waiting up to five years to get a problem resolved. What difference do you hope that the charter will make?

Graeme Dey responded to a question by alluding to outcome 12. I think that we all welcome the inclusion of homelessness and rough sleeping in the charter. However, an aspect that I do not think is necessarily captured is how supported or assisted living is to be provided for the many individuals who will need it. Is the Government looking at that, too? I believe that around 5 per cent to 7 per cent of homeless people need a supported living model to be put in place, but few people provide that. Rowan Alba Ltd, which is based in the capital, is doing a lot of good work around that in Leith.

I would like that aspect to be looked at, too. That important group of tenants often find themselves homeless and need that supported living model. It would be a positive thing for the charter to include that as the homelessness offering is developed further.

Thank you for that. I have a final question. What plans does the Scottish Government have to carry out a fundamental review of the charter in the next five years? There has been quite a gap between 2012 and 2021. What are the plans for potentially updating the charter in the future?

That leads on to the point that I wanted to make. I am sure that every MSP has dealt with cases involving informal kinship care. Often, it is grandparents who informally take on the kinship care role, and in many cases they have retired. To go back to Linda Richards’s point, such people are often worried about engaging with social work and what that might mean. To be honest, they can be worried about how they might be judged.

For a future model, should informal kinship carers benefit from a recommended allowance? Given your experience, what would that look like, and how could it work for such families, who are often nervous about engaging with local authorities on the issues?