T he cabinet secretary will be acutely aware of the long-standing problem that we have of vacant and derelict land and buildings that blight the appearance of our countryside, cities, towns and villages. Such land and buildings are mostly owned by absentee private owners who, by their inaction, have shown that they could not care less about the impact that that has on our local communities.

Does the cabinet secretary agree that more needs to be done to tackle the problem? Does she also agree that councils need more than their rarely-used amenity powers, which are not effective in dealing with such important issues?