Chamber and committees

I am trying to keep this simple. Board members have champion roles in their areas of expertise. They are also responsible for giving direction to senior officers and for challenging whatever it is that they challenge. Is that multiplicity of roles not kind of confusing?

As soon as you see the complexity of governance, you get a bit worried, because the committee has come up against a history of poor governance again and again. Obviously, we do not want it to happen in relation to NSET.

The Scottish Government has not established a shared budget for NSET. Do you know why? Will you expand on some of the risks in that?

I am trying to figure out whether things are getting worse or whether they have stabilised.

I guess that a spin-off from that is concern about prisoners’ mental and physical health and the impact on rehabilitation. Do you know of any assessments of the impact of overcrowding and restricted regimes on the mental and physical health of prisoners?

You previously mentioned that a large number of prisoners have mental health problems when they enter the prison estate. Is there any way of determining the extent to which the Prison Service’s restricted regime, double bunking and so on are impacting on those people?

Thank you.

I have a couple of further questions on the economic leadership group. Your briefing paper refers to the group offering challenge and direction to the senior responsible officers for each of the NSET programmes. That is almost a contradiction: what are you challenging if you are giving direction? Are you challenging your own direction?

You referred to champion roles. How does that work?

Julie, can you add anything?

Peter Hunter, do you have any input on that?