Chamber and committees

Graham, do you have anything to add?

Thank you. I have no further questions on that area.

Thank you.

In the interest of brevity, I will resist the temptation to discuss the constitutional settlement, which we have just touched on. We have spent considerable time on that.

One thing that I have taken from this morning’s evidence session, and which is really important, is that you have said that decisions should be fiscally responsible, but I take the view that cuts to employability for disabled people and others is not fiscally responsible, because it will have an impact on their fiscal status.

Can you reassure us—I have not been reassured so far—that you will involve organisations such as the Women’s Budget Group in in-year decisions as well as in longer-term budgeting processes? Will you make a commitment today that you will do that, so that they can help you and provide expertise, so that you can make fiscally responsible decisions that do not further entrench inequality?

Thank you very much, Frank. As someone who uses social care, I cannot imagine what it must be like for people not to be able to rely on it. That is tragic.

The Scottish Government has said that it is doing everything that it can for disabled people to help them through the cost of living crisis. Do you agree with that? Is there anything more that it could be doing?

Thank you for that really clear answer.

Gordon MacRae, I am hoping to hear a bit about the impacts of the cost of living crisis on your members, and also your thoughts on the impact of the rent freeze and what difference you think that it will make to people in Scotland.

I agree. I, too, would like to know more about the detail. I hope that that will become a bit clearer next week.

I have no other questions at this point.

Thank you for that. I have no further questions in this area.

Thank you. That has come across in what you have said and in the Audit Scotland report.

What engagement did you have with the Government on the spending review in June and with the DFM on the Government’s announcements two weeks ago?

I thank the witnesses for their answers so far and for the written evidence that they submitted in advance. I also thank them for the work that they are doing. I say that not just because of what they have always been doing, but because the context that they have just set out is pretty grim. To do the work that they do daily must be really hard. Listening to the stories of the people whom they represent and to whom they provide services must also be really hard.

I agree with much that has been said about the UK Government’s paralysis and inaction. It has not addressed the scale of the challenge and it absolutely needs to do more. I will reserve some of my comments for another moment.

On what the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government can do for organisations, at the Gathering in June, the First Minister committed again to multiyear funding for third sector organisations. I ask Paul Bradley to set out the progress that he has seen since she made that commitment.