Chamber and committees

We are happy to do that. As I said, the LCM landscape is quite difficult, but I try to dispassionately go through it all and make sure that we just do our jobs.

I am not telling Mr Choudhury to go down and chain himself to Downing Street or anything like that, but it is helpful when the committee makes a written appeal on our behalf. Although we work in a political environment, it is important that we are adults about trying to make things function and get the business done. It is always helpful when the committee makes any intervention in such matters, so I encourage you to continue doing so.

There is a standardised template. You will be glad to know that the ministers do not decide on what is in the accompanying documents.

I was going to answer your question, but Rachel Rayner is champing at the bit, so I will let her in.

You have brought up another classic example of why these committee sessions are good, as that is something that we have not really discussed. If you give me the opportunity, I will have a look at that and get back to you at a later date.

I had a fair idea that that question would come up, because the political narrative has been going down that route. We checked, however, and we have not had any more such bills than normal; we have discussed that in relation to UK Government bills as well. I know that everybody gets a bit upset when we start doing like-for-like comparisons with another Parliament and its processes, but, on the whole, we are not doing what you describe. If people listened to the discussion in Parliament, they would think that the position was entirely different, but that is not the case.

In those processes, the Scottish Government tends to ensure that it listens. We say that we will ensure that everybody’s voice is listened to and that we will co-design, and everybody is then listened to. The argument is about whether the conclusions are always what every individual wants. The important thing is to ensure that we deliver on what we have promised in that legislation.

I know, but it is never a great idea to write everything on the face of the bill. If we take that argument to the next level—

I think that you and I are playing out the political pressure on—

As you know, convener, it is important that we have a relationship with the committee’s clerks so that we can work together and talk over any issues in order to move things forward.