I will do my best, Presiding Officer. I wish you and other members a very happy new year.

He is. [ Laughter .] He will have heard comments from across the chamber, including from Kenneth Gibson, about compulsory sales orders.

In our evidence taking, South Lanarkshire also stood out as a council that took a hard line on applying the empty homes surcharge, and it

Has the minister had any discussions with the councils that are point-blank refusing to take on empty homes officers?

I do not know whether the minister is about to come to it—

They should certainly look to the Western Isles, but not to South Lanarkshire—maybe to Falkirk, which has been ahead on this.

I have been contacted by a 72-year-old constituent in East Kilbride, Matthew Rodgers, who worked for 50 years as a nurse in the national

The test has come under mounting criticism, some of which we heard at the Local Government and Communities Committee last week.

2.

New road projects clearly have the potential to make climate change worse, and any that are proposed under city deals should be backed by