Chamber and committees

How I would interpret your completely fair observation, Mr O’Donnell, is that the private sector is, in essence, insulated from the effect of inflation, and the public sector carries the can. The argument that those contracts represent some degree of risk transfer is complete baloney.

Thank you. I turn to the capital cost issue. Do you have any current experience of the real increase in capital costs in the current environment? I am probably talking about capital costs in this financial year versus what you would have expected them to be, let us say, three years ago. For example, for a particular project two years ago, you might have expected it to cost £20 million, but, in fact, it has cost £20 million plus X—are you able to furnish the committee with any live examples of that, because that would be a helpful piece of data?

What is the month during the year when the inflation rate for the private prison contracts is set?

Essentially, the private sector contracts were inflation proofed at the time of the agreement of the contracts. What is the risk transfer involved in that, whereby the private sector is protected from the rampant inflation that the public sector faces?

That is helpful. Thank you.

Do I understand correctly from that point that the organisation’s culture is fundamental?

Dr Bruce said earlier that we have to be clear about what good looks like. Does “good” exist anywhere today?

I will start with Ms Buchan and raise one point in relation to part 1 of the bill. I am interested in COPFS’s concerns about the proposed provisions that are set out in sections 16 and 17 and the potential that they

“may unintentionally impact on the Lord Advocate’s retained functions”.

The committee has looked at issues to do with the scope and role of the victims and witnesses commissioner for Scotland. We would benefit from hearing the concerns of the Crown about the role of the commissioner and how those issues might well have an impact on the statutory functions that are specified in section 48(5) of the Scotland Act 1998, which protects the independence of the Lord Advocate.

How long has it taken you to get from that starting point to where you are today?

I will come on to that in a second. How long has it taken you from the recognition of the point that you started off with that there must be a big cultural change in the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and that you have to own and lead it to get to where you are today?