Chamber and committees

We are really pushed for time. Morag Treanor wants to come in—I ask her to be very quick, because two more members want to ask questions.

Before we turn to the main item on our agenda, I can confirm to the committee that we have published our report on kinship care, which is now available on our website. There has been some social media activity about it, and I encourage you all to share that if you can—that would be fantastic.

Our main item of business is the first of our pre-budget scrutiny sessions. The focus is on the resource spending review and its impact on poverty, as well as the forthcoming equality and fairer Scotland budget statement.

I welcome our first panel: Dr Alison Hosie, research officer at the Scottish Human Rights Commission, and Sara Cowan, co-ordinator of the Scottish Women’s Budget Group.

I have a few points of housekeeping to mention before we kick off. Please allow our broadcasting colleagues a few seconds to turn microphones on before you start speaking and ensure that you can see the chat box in the corner of your screen. If you put an R in the chat box, which I have on my screen, I will bring you in as appropriate. Natalie Don, who is a committee member, also joins us remotely, so I will be keeping an eye on that.

We have about an hour for the first panel. I invite members to ask questions, starting with my colleague Emma Roddick, who will come in on the theme of poverty as a rights violation.

Morag, do you want to come in on the previous point? I am sorry—I have just remembered.

On the point about lone parents being penalised in the Department for Work and Pensions system, there was a worrying announcement yesterday on people who are on 10, 12, 13 or 14-hour contracts being pushed into increasing their hours, because otherwise they will face penalties. Is that worrying for CPAG?

Thanks for that, Pam. Do you want to go on to the next theme on the list, which is human rights and equalities budgeting in a crisis?

Thank you for that.

Our next theme is changes to the budget process. My colleague Natalie Don, who joins us remotely, will kick off the questions.

I have a final question for the panel, about something that we have not yet picked up on.

The national performance framework is high level. In general, its 81 indicators are statistical measures that indicate broad trends. What is the best way of using the NPF to inform the scrutiny of this year’s budgetary decisions? As well as those that will be taken in the Parliament are those that will be taken by local authorities and their partners for local outcome improvement plans and community planning partnerships. How do we make sure that the NPF directs and informs those budgetary decisions at a much better level than is currently happening?

That is a fantastic short answer. Sara Cowan, do you have anything to add?

Welcome back.

I welcome our second panel: Ed Pybus, policy and parliamentary officer, Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland; Morag Treanor, deputy chair, Poverty and Inequality Commission; and Paul Bradley, policy and public affairs manager, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. Thank you for coming along, and it was great to see that you were in the room during the first session, to hear the evidence.

Our first theme is about the impact of the cost of living on individuals and organisations. To start us off, I turn to my colleague Emma Roddick.

Several of the committee members come from the voluntary sector and understand the challenges, so it is good to hear that situation highlighted.