Chamber and committees

The lack of respect shown towards the devolved nations through the proposed bill is staggering, and the uncertainty that it is causing for the work of this Parliament is deeply concerning. Can the Scottish Government offer an assurance that it will provide what certainty it can by staying committed to the plans laid out in the programme for government and to the principles of the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021?

Good morning and thank you for your helpful comments so far. I am interested in the role of community organisations in service provision. I appreciate the comments that have been made so far about service requirements and the fact that communities are best placed to help to shape the thinking on that issue. However, I want to expand on a point that Fiona Hyslop made about community representation and how it can best be achieved in the medium and long term.

How can we ensure that full communities are represented? For example, the inclusion of young people is important because they have specific needs. How are young people represented in each of your areas?

Thank you. I am keen to hear Margaret Morrison’s views.

Thank you for your comments. Those were thorough responses. I am conscious of the time. I am happy for anyone to come back in if they have anything to add, but otherwise I will hand back to the convener.

You mentioned the expansion of early learning and childcare. Do the flat cash allocations for local government take into account the future costs of early learning and childcare—for example, the expansion of free school meals? You also mentioned volatility. Is there an element of that to what the review says on that expansion?

Good morning. I appreciate the comments that have already been made on employability and the focus on steps that have already been taken towards addressing that priority. What impact will the flat cash allocations for schools and tertiary education have on the ability of those sectors to improve parents’ employment prospects?

Absolutely. Thank you. The RSR is obviously just a review—as you said, these decisions will be made in the budget. That is why I asked about volatility, as we do not necessarily know where we are with inflation and everything else.

My question follows on from my colleagues’ comments. Some of the points have been covered already, but this is a really important point. The committee has heard a lot of reports about the divergence between local authorities in the methods of collecting public debt. For example, benefit letters can be difficult to read, and there is little time between a missed payment and debt being passed over to a collection agency. The methods that are used by collection agencies can be really distressing at times—some are more incessant than others. Further, earnings arrestments are not means tested, which is concerning when we think about families, single parents or just people in different situations.

Would it be possible for there to be some form of national standard across all local authorities that would give us peace of mind that collection will be carried out with more decency and respect in mind? I appreciate that the responsibility lies with the local authorities, but it would be good if we knew that there was a one-size-fits-all method for how debt collection is carried out.

Absolutely—thank you for that. I believe that the process will be a big upheaval for people, so we need to make it as concise, simple and easy as possible as we move forward. That is an important way of thinking.

I thank you all for your responses. As I said, I will pass back to the convener now.

I thank the witnesses for their answers so far.

We have touched on some of the issues surrounding private finance, but what are the key challenges relating to partnership working as a whole between the private and public sectors, including the enterprise agencies? Can you provide some detail, and any relevant examples, of ways in which your organisations are working with the private sector to deliver nature restoration and natural infrastructure projects? I will go to John Cunningham first, because he touched on his partnership working in a previous response.