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My amendments 73 and 78, along with Jenni Minto’s amendments 36 and 37, Monica Lennon’s amendment 74 and Rachael Hamilton’s amendment 38, will ensure that ministers and relevant authorities have regard to the scope of food-related issues that will affect the outcomes of good food nation plans. My amendments 73 and 78 will ensure that consideration is given to the climate emergency and the nature crisis in their own right. Jenni Minto’s amendments will ensure that animal welfare is given the consideration that the matter justly deserves. Monica Lennon and Rachael Hamilton have made important contributions through their amendments, which ensure that consideration is given to child poverty and education respectively in good food nation plans.

As the cabinet secretary explained, the benefit of Rachael Hamilton’s amendment 39 is not so clear, but I hope that the Government will work with her to take the idea forward before stage 3.

I press amendment 73.

Amendment 73 agreed to.

Amendments 36 and 37 moved—[Jenni Minto]—and agreed to.

Amendment 38 moved—[Rachael Hamilton]—and agreed to.

Amendment 74 moved—[Monica Lennon]—and agreed to.

Amendment 39 not moved.

Yes, we can.

I can always remind you.

Clearly, we face a very challenging situation. Does anyone else want to come in on the challenges?

As no one else wants to come in, I draw to a close what has been a rich evidence-taking session. You have given us plenty of directions to look in and things to be aware of, which will be tremendously helpful in giving everyone on the committee themes that we might discuss with the minister next week.

As agreed at the start of the meeting, the next item will be taken in private. I close the public part of the meeting.

Good morning and welcome to the 14th meeting in 2022 of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee. I ask all members and witnesses to ensure that their mobile phones are on silent and that all other notifications are turned off during the meeting.

Agenda item 1 is to decide whether to take item 3 in private. Do members agree to take that item in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Thank you for that data. It is reassuring to hear the raft of requirements.

Peter Drummond and Laura Hughes have indicated that they want to come in.

Thank you, Peter. Laura Hughes wants to come in on this question, too.

The next item on our agenda is to take evidence on the Building (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022. The SSI is a negative instrument and there is no requirement for the committee to report on it. However, given the committee’s long-standing interest in issues related to fire safety in buildings, and following on from the work of our predecessor committee, the intention is that this session will provide an opportunity to discuss that topic more broadly. Then, at our next meeting, we will take evidence on the regulations from the Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights.

We are joined today by David Aitken, who is the building standards team leader at Dundee City Council and a past chair of Local Authority Building Standards Scotland; Chris Ashurst, who is the group co-ordinator for the High Rise Scotland Action Group; Peter Drummond, who is the chair of the practice committee at the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland and chair of the building standards (fire safety) review panel; George Edwardes, who is the technical steering group manager for the Fire Protection Association; Laura Hughes, who is a manager for general insurance at the Association of British Insurers; and Craig Ross, who is a building standards specialist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. We have apologies from Dr Paul Stollard, who is the former chair of the building standards (fire safety) review panel.

I welcome our witnesses to the meeting. There are a lot of you, which is fantastic. Before we get started, I want to correct for the record a factual error in one of our committee papers, which states that Dr Stollard chaired the most recent fire safety review panel. That panel was in fact chaired by Peter Drummond of RIAS. I apologise for any confusion.

George Edwardes and Laura Hughes join us remotely. Given the number of witnesses in the session, I do not expect everyone to respond to every question. It would be helpful if members could direct their questions to a specific witness where possible, although I will be happy to bring in others who wish to contribute. If other witnesses wish to comment, they should indicate to me or the clerk their desire to do so, and I will bring them in at an appropriate point. I would be grateful if George and Laura could indicate when they wish to come in by typing R in the chat function in BlueJeans.

I will now open up the session to questions from members. I will ask the first question, which I direct to Peter Drummond. Are you satisfied that the requirement to use only non-combustible material in external wall cladding systems on buildings with a storey that is 11m or more above ground is sufficient to protect occupants from the possibility of significant fire spread up the outside of such buildings?

Thank you. Chris Ashurst has indicated that he would like to come back in.