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Let me give a quick example. We talked about 20-minute neighbourhoods and a 20 per cent reduction in car kilometres. Clearly, more will be expected of the central belt and it will be expected to be delivered at pace. Whereas, if we look at, for example, northern innovation and the action plan within the spatial strategy, there is a recognition of the increased need for private car use in those areas, so I think that the sharing of that burden is reflected throughout NPF4.

Dr Allan raises an important matter. We have to look at what planning is about. It is about the regulation and consenting process for development. It is certainly challenging for the planning system to respond at pace. In the medium and longer terms, as the cabinet secretary and I touched on in our responses to Ms Wishart, we can look at how we promote the types of development that, on the one hand, reduce fuel poverty and energy consumption and, on the other, promote jobs, prosperity and security of employment, which can help to alleviate some of the drivers of fuel poverty.

I do not want to repeat myself, but we have done work on permitted development rights to make it easier for people to ensure that their homes are as energy efficient as possible. It is clearly more challenging for the planning system to pull levers at short notice.

Would Fiona Simpson like to expand on my response?

I echo that point. We have the forthcoming publication of the national strategy for economic transformation, and that will be published ahead of the finalised version of NPF4 coming before Parliament. Clearly, what emerges from that work will be reflected within the finalised NPF4. I would also say that the heart of NPF4 in terms of response to climate change, the climate emergency and the nature crisis is a move towards the creation of a genuine wellbeing economy. That is why community wealth is embedded at the heart of our six overarching principles that relate to sustainability. Creating a prosperous economy that works for everybody is at the heart of this document and it is a spatial expression of all of the Government’s policies, including the Government’s economic policy, and will reflect NSET once it has been published.

I am conscious of time, so I will be brief. We will take into account all responses that we have received through public consultation and that parliamentary committees have received, in writing and orally. We will reflect on those and we will seek to make judgments and seek to incorporate where we think that there are points that we can improve. We will feed that back through our consultation response and into the final NPF4. Our aspiration is to be able to lay the finalised NPF4 before Parliament prior to summer recess for adoption. This work is taking place at the same time as the consultation on the LDP regulations.

I want to be clear to the committee and give a commitment that we very much value all of the engagement. There is still a substantial amount of engagement to take place—I am conscious that your consideration will be on-going. I am heartened to see the amount of community engagement that has started to take place. That is something that, in my ministerial capacity, I am looking forward to engaging in. At this point, we are very much in listening mode and welcome this opportunity to articulate what our thinking has been in preparing the draft NPF4.

We are extremely grateful for all of the contributions that people have made to get to this process and are making now to share their views. I give the undertaking that we will take all of that into account and be clear and transparent about how we arrive at the final decisions that we put before Parliament in relation to NPF4. It is, of course, a matter for Parliament to decide whether or not to approve NPF4, so that it can be formally adopted by ministers.

Fiona Simpson might want to add some more on the process.

Fiona Simpson might want to give a bit of context on how NPF4 relates to some of the other work that is going on in Government around housing, for example.

Dr Allan’s question is important and it speaks to why there is flexibility in NPF4. I am conscious that some of the feedback in other committee sessions has perhaps been that certain stakeholders are looking for a more prescriptive approach, but a balance is required. We need to avoid being overly prescriptive while having flexibility so that planning authorities can take local circumstances fully into account in designing their local development plans.

If the cabinet secretary is happy, I will kick off on that. I anticipate that the southern sustainability action plan in the spatial strategy will be of particular interest to you, Ms Hamilton. It speaks about a network of towns, recognising the unique character of the south of Scotland, and there is recognition that transport is a key issue.

I suppose that there are two aspects. The first is that we want to reduce the need for travel. That is about building up wealth within communities, and job opportunities. You will note that one of the universal policies—from memory, it is policy 5, on sustainable places—is about community wealth building. I know that South of Scotland Enterprise is very interested in that. By promoting greater community wealth building through the planning system and using other levers as well, we can help to reduce the need for unsustainable travel.

However, we also recognise that, in many cases, travel is unavoidable. That is reflected in the spatial strategy for the south of Scotland. Equally and analogously, the action plan for the north of Scotland, which is known as northern revitalisation, recognises the key role that our roads play and also the necessity for car use, which I mentioned to the convener. Part of how we respond to that will be about increasing EV infrastructure to support low-carbon travel, but we also have to see this in the broader context of our wanting to reduce car kilometres by 20 per cent and reduce unsustainable travel. Paragraph 5 of the spatial strategy reflects the fact that, for sustainability, addressing the issues around public transport and indeed cross-border transport will be significant.

I do not know whether Fiona Simpson wants to expand on any of those points.

I am sorry, but I missed the tail end of that question.

The cabinet secretary has covered a lot of the ground. Increasing the population of rural areas in Scotland is one of the statutory outcomes that is required of NPF4, as stipulated in the 2019 act. I highlight that policy 31, on rural places, is expansive. It takes a holistic look at a lot of the different areas and shows how they work together. I am conscious that it can be easy to say “rural communities”, but every rural community is unique.

I return to the point that we must not be overly prescriptive and that there is flexibility. However, there are clear expectations around what we require. For example, policy 31 states:

“Local development plans should set out proposals to support the sustainability and prosperity of rural communities and economies ... Development proposals that contribute to the viability, sustainability and diversity of the local economy should be supported”.

That is reflected in the policy aspects. It is important to remember that NPF4 is unique and that it brings the spatial strategy and what was Scottish planning policy together in the one document. This is part of the statutory development plan.

Our expectations are clear, but I recognise that, to realise those aspirations, there will be some variance between different rural communities. I am sure that Mr Fairlie would have something to say if I was to suggest all rural communities are the same and require the same response.

I want to pick up on that good example relating to Jenni Minto’s constituency. It picks up on the point that I was trying to articulate—probably not as clearly as I would have liked—to Ms Hamilton. The point is encapsulated in the Clyde mission national development because it stretches from south Lanarkshire all the way along the Clyde until Dunoon, and it takes in a whole range of communities. That one national development articulates the point that, as much as we have these semi-defined spatial areas, the borders will overlap. I am suggesting not that you have to draw a hard and fast line, but that there will be overlap. I recognise that in a constituency such as Jenni Minto’s, a whole range of different aspects of the spatial strategy will be applicable and will vary quite drastically from community to community.