Chamber and committees

My second question is similar to one that I put to Homes for Scotland and is about responsibilities for small and medium-sized developers. The Government has said that it is open to negotiations on responsibilities. What does that mean in practice? Are you considering either the turnover threshold of £10 million, as exists in England, or the loan system that has been introduced in Wales? Obviously, the last thing that we want is developers going out of business and the potential for more orphan buildings. What reflections do you have on that, minister?

I am an MSP for the Central Scotland region.

Does anybody else want to comment on community engagement?

I put the same question to Jackie Weaver. Do you have examples of how well or how badly community or parish councils are engaging with the wider community? What best practice models have you seen in making sure that the wider community’s views have been expressed?

We have touched on the issue of how community councils convey the views of the community to authorities, whether that is national Government, local government, health boards or other statutory authorities. How do they do community engagement that allows them to genuinely convey the community’s view, rather than the individual views of the members of the community council? Is that happening, and how is it happening?

Thank you for that. As well as asking about how community councils represent the views of the wider community, I would like to ask about how we make sure that community councils and community councillors are representative of their communities and how we increase the number of volunteers. I do not know how many community council elections have been contested over the past 10 or 20 years. How do we increase the level of participation? How do we make sure that people with caring responsibilities and people from marginalised communities are involved? How do we make sure that community councillors are as representative as possible? I will come to Emma Swift first.

Jackie Weaver, do you have any reflections to offer on the diversity of parish councils in England?

The changes introduced under Barclay on self-catering properties were already well out of date when they were announced. Wales introduced the 140-day rule back in 2010. A year later, the Government has announced more consultation on taxation affecting housing. In the spirit of suggesting areas of additional funding, will the Government consider including in that consultation abolishing the short-term lets rates relief, which could save councils £21 million?

I, too, congratulate Bill Kidd on bringing this debate to the chamber to allow us to mark firefighters memorial day 2023. I echo what I think all speakers have said: this debate is particularly poignant as we remember Barry Martin.

I want to thank, as the motion does, the firefighters who serve communities across Scotland, and to recognise their courage and dedication. I fully agree that, as the motion says,

“all fire stations should have safe work practices”.

Russell Findlay detailed some of the work that the FBU has done to look into the conditions in stations up and down the country, and it is incredibly alarming. As we look to recognise the bravery and sacrifice of firefighters, we must also look at the conditions that we are asking them to work in every single day.

In my region, 60 per cent of stations, including Bellshill, Motherwell, Kilsyth and Coatbridge, are considered to be in bad or poor condition. In Cumbernauld, the station requires remedial action, is considered in bad condition and has scaffolding supporting the structure. Crucially, however, it lacks the single occupancy showers that are absolutely vital to proper decontamination. The FBU has raised concerns that firefighters are being unnecessarily exposed to carcinogenic fire particles for long periods of time, which means that those decontamination facilities are absolutely crucial. Firefighters, who work hard to ensure the safety of people in our communities, need to be well equipped, well resourced, well protected and well paid. We owe that to them and their memory, but that includes giving them the facilities that they need to properly decontaminate.

On Friday, when we marked international workers memorial day—a day to remember the dead and fight for the living—the FBU, along with the Scottish Trades Union Congress and the wider labour movement—came out in support of my proposed Scottish employment injuries advisory council bill. I want to put on record how grateful I am for the support of the FBU, because it is its work that is making the case for a devolved employment injuries benefit that works for its members and can bring that system into the 21st century.

Thanks to Maggie Chapman and others who took part, we have previously debated the work that the FBU has done through its decon campaign, with the help of Professor Anna Stec from the University of Central Lancashire. That work has been absolutely groundbreaking. Not commissioned by any Government, it confirms the World Health Organization’s finding that firefighting is a cancer-causing occupation and it identifies an epidemiological case for including cancers in firefighters in Scotland in the new employment injuries assistance benefit. Those involved in the campaign have been using Scottish firefighters’ death certificates, and I think that it makes a case that the Government absolutely cannot ignore.

It is a principle of fair work that workers have an effective voice in Government. Having an advisory council where firefighters have a direct role advising Government on what the benefits to support them should look like is fundamental to that idea, and they can do that only through an independent statutory council that operates without fear or favour of Government, which is, ultimately, their boss.

Firefighters know their workplaces and they know how the lack of decontamination facilities is giving them cancer. We must give them a voice and enable them to get justice through the employment injuries benefits system and to take their place on a council advising Government.

The industrial injuries disablement benefit is now fully devolved, and it is entirely within the gift of the Scottish Government to set out the entitlement. Will the minister commit to looking at the particular cancers that are affecting firefighters and consider prescribing those for the purposes of employment injuries assistance, as it is called now that it is fully devolved to the Scottish Government?