Chamber and committees

David and Brian, do you feel that there are any gaps in provision or that there is an overlap? I certainly cannot imagine an overlap between your two bodies, but are there any gaps in provision? One thing that the committee and the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body and the Parliament more widely is looking at is the likelihood of more commissioners coming in and whether any gap needs to be filled by a commissioner or could be filled in another way. Do you have any views on that?

I have to say that you have already commented about that and you all talked about back-office functions and so on, and that covers everything from property to IT to everything else. There is already a high proportion for salaries, but I think that you would prefer if if the money, such as you have, went on staff rather than functions that could perhaps be covered elsewhere. Do you feel that, if additional commissioners are created, they should effectively be locked into a collective auditing system and the back-office functions that you talked about there?

But who is not going to say that? The NHS would say that, the police would say that, and local government would say exactly that.

You think that they are completely distinct.

Where would gaps exist?

You do not think that that could be more efficiently and effectively done under one umbrella.

What about you, Brian?

I know—exactly.

Thank you very much, that has concluded the questions from the committee. Thank you very much for the evidence that you have given this morning. We will continue with our next panel of witnesses and beyond. I will call a break until 5 to 11.

Welcome back, folks. We will continue taking evidence for our inquiry into Scotland’s commissioner landscape. I welcome Nicola Killean, Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland; Dr Claire Methven O’Brien, commissioner, and Jan Savage, executive director, from the Scottish Human Rights Commission; and Rosemary Agnew, Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. I intend to allow about 90 minutes for this session.

I will begin by asking about duplication, because in your submissions—they are excellent and are of a very high standard—the issue of duplication runs throughout. It is important to start with an issue that you have all highlighted. I will go to Nicola Killean first; others can respond subsequently. Your submission said:

“We have a statutory duty to avoid duplicating the work of others as far as is practical. We already have overlapping remits with other Commissioners and Commissions and other statutory bodies such as regulators, inspectorates and ombudsmen. We strongly recommend that parliament makes it a key priority to ensure that any new offices do not further limit the remit of existing offices or create more complexity for children and young people.”

Will you talk us through that a wee bit? Where do you feel that there is duplication with other organisations? Which organisations are they?