Chamber and committees

I am a Conservative MSP for Lothian region.

My question is on an area that we have touched on already. Are there other widely used building materials and techniques that might pose a problem and which the committee should be aware of? Peter Watton, you touched on asbestos paint earlier. As you look at the issue, are you seeing other examples starting to come forward?

Does anyone want to add to what has been said?

Thank you for that. On future budgeting, do you know what equal pay claims settlement issues are outstanding across local government? Some councils have moved to do it, but what financial level are we are talking about for authorities that have not done it to date?

I have a couple of questions about what the workforce in local government looks like. Our predecessor committee looked at workforce planning in 2018 and noted that local authority workforces tend not to reflect the communities that they serve. What progress has been made towards making our workforce more representative, specifically at senior local government levels? What work has COSLA or the Scottish Government done on that? I will bring in Councillor Hagmann to start.

Thank you for that. Last week, the Withers report was mentioned, and we heard about what still seems to be a lack of connection between workforce planning in our college sector and local authorities, and a missed opportunity to look at different pathways into different jobs. That leads me to my next question on reports that often highlight the fact that most local authority staff are women, and the inequalities around pay and progression in councils. What actions have been taken around that issue and the gender pay gap? Is that improving? Which councils are not managing to make progress on that?

Most of the points that I wanted to raise have been covered, but I have two questions. The first is about changes to services. As I asked in relation to another matter, what work was done to consider potential negative impacts on women and ethnic minorities in the workforce, and what planning is going on around that?

That is grand—thank you.

That was helpful. Does Martin Booth or Robert Emmott wish to add anything?

Finally, I will return to Willie Coffey’s question on equal pay. We have seen the situation in Birmingham. Are you aware of such situations in Scotland? Are there councils that have still to settle longer-term equal pay claims? Which councils might be exposed in that way, and have any concerns been raised with the Government about that?