Chamber and committees

That is very helpful. There are many smaller such charities across Scotland—the minister and I know about the work that the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home does; she does a lot of fundraising for it, which is very appreciated and welcome—but a lot of them do not have people working on policy, so it will be useful to ensure that they are supported in understanding how they can play an important part in the work.

As no one else wants to come in on that question, I will move on.

It is also important for us to look at how data on candidate diversity and equality characteristics are recorded. Can the witnesses outline how the information is collected? Are there better examples from the United Kingdom or other parts of the world of how the data could be recorded? Should it be mandatory for the data to be recorded at the nomination stage, for example?

That is very helpful. I know that Laura Hutchison also wants to come in, but I will expand my question slightly. The committee has been trying to understand why some people have decided to stand down after just one term in office. Have you looked at any data on that? I will bring in Laura Hutchison. If anyone else wants to comment on that specific point, I ask them to let us know.

I will come back to that theme, because it is important that we discuss the issue of support services.

It is more about the other challenges that Councillor Evison touched on earlier and is a two-part question. First, do you know what support services are provided by different councils? I believe that the City of Edinburgh Council, for example, provides pooled secretarial support to all council groups. Do you have any information on what that picture is like? The second part is around personal security. Sadly, in this country, a councillor’s house has been firebombed, which is under investigation. That is seen by the public and I think it puts people off. They are worried about their security and about people knowing where they live. We have introduced changes such as not publicising home addresses, but people live in their communities and are known. Will you comment on that issue, too?

My second question is about looking to the future. Given your experience on the council, what needs to change if councils are to put in place better support services? We know that some councillors do not have any secretarial support whatsoever while others do receive it. Could our witnesses comment on that?

The second part of my question is about personal security, which has, sadly, become an issue that we are acutely aware of. I know that most councillors will be working on their own. As parliamentarians, we are considering our security here, in the Scottish Parliament building, and the same is happening at Westminster. Do you have any reflections on that?

I ask Cameron Rose to start, and we will move around the panel.

Thank you for that.

Councillor McAllister, you outlined that you have been working from the bottom of your garden for most of the pandemic and since you were elected. Specifically on different working means and methods, a lot of us have moved to working from home. Has doing so improved the way that you are able to undertake your role as a councillor?

In addition, on personal security, do you have any reflections on your concerns or on any information that has been given by Aberdeenshire Council?

Good morning. I have a couple of questions that follow on from Willie Coffey’s questions. People moving between local authorities is one issue, but will you also capture information on changes of dog ownership? Has that issue been explored?

That is very helpful. The wider review probably presents far more opportunities. I think that I am right in saying that the minister said in her opening statement that the information that will be shared will include that relating to microchipping.

My questions follow on from what we have already heard with regard to data and diversity. Do the witnesses have views on how we collect that data? We have already heard that the data is patchy. What are your views on making the recording of data mandatory at the nomination stage? Ethan touched on that earlier, so I will bring him back in.