Chamber and committees

You have obviously got a very high-profile commissioner job. As the convener hinted at, it is not one of the ones that people would seek to undermine, given the good work that happens there. Do you feel, with that high-profile nature, that the scrutiny tends to increase? Is it your view that that is what happens and that for other commissioners, who are not quite so much in the public eye, that scrutiny process is not as strong?

Good morning, Ms MacMillan. You have made it very clear that you had a specific remit, which was about advocacy for those with a disability and autism and in relation to their vulnerability. Nonetheless, the title of your report from March 2023 is “The role of commissions and commissioners in Scotland and the UK”. Does it strike you that your very specific remit does not quite fit with that title?

May I just pursue that? With all due respect, this committee is looking at the big picture. The committee needs to do that from the perspective of getting an overview and carrying out scrutiny, but it needs to look at the cost aspect, too. Therefore, when I see the title of that report, I think that it is exactly what the committee wants to look at—the role of commissions and commissioners in Scotland and the impact that the UK might have on that.

The issue that the committee has to look at is commissioners who have different roles. You have been very clear that your research relates to advocacy for one particular group, but there are other commissioners, some of whom handle complaints, some of whom have a regulatory role and some of whom have an investigatory role. The committee wants some idea of the whole picture. With regard to your specific remit, do you have any concern that there is no overall strategy for that bigger picture and what it might be?

I am sorry, but I did not say that—I did not say that at all. What I am saying is that it is only part of the bigger picture.

—and what I am asking in relation to the title that you presented the committee with, which is the issue that we want to delve into, is whether your specific role would raise questions about the overall strategy for commissioners in general. I am asking whether that came up, either in your own research or with the people to whom you spoke.

I fully understand that you have been examining one specific aspect; indeed, you have said so several times now. However, have questions not been raised about the overall role of commissioners and their respective staff and how they are serving Scotland? Has that not come through your research at all?

If you are considering potential overlap, that means that comments must have been provided about other commissioners. Did those comments not raise questions? Let me put it this way: do you think that there should be an overall strategy for commissions?

I will ask one more question, specifically on the issue of an autism and learning disability commissioner. Do you feel that the demand for the new commissioner resulted from the needs of those vulnerable groups of people not being as well looked after as those of other groups? Has that situation arisen, because there are gaps in the care that they fully deserve and to which they are entitled, or has the proposal been made in addition to the care that is provided?

It would be very helpful if we could get details on when we might expect the revised financial memorandum, convener.

Thank you very much.