Chamber and committees

My next question is on the responsibility on local authorities, when they move to introduce a scheme, to do a consultation and an impact assessment, and the responsibility of Government to look at that and approve it or not. Do you feel that those burdens are appropriate, or should they go further? I am asking for people’s general views on local authorities’ responsibilities when they choose to introduce a scheme.

Good morning, cabinet secretary. What work has been done in Government to minimise closures of public buildings due to RAAC-related concerns, which we have seen across the local authority estate in the rest of the UK? I am thinking of things such as schools, social work services and one-stop shops. What work is under way to keep those buildings open? Are you aware of any related work across the wider public estate, including in the NHS and general practices?

We heard from the previous panel that the cost of some of those mitigation measures is pretty huge in comparison with potential research that might be undertaken. Rather than having continuous mitigation or monitoring of some buildings, an alternative avenue would be to invest in research to make sure that it is managed at a more appropriate cost level. What work has the Government done on that? Will you reflect on the opinion of the experts on the previous panel on that subject?

Thanks, convener. Good morning, everyone. I was going to ask a question about the staff and resources that local authorities need to do the identification and remediation work, but our local authority colleagues reflected on that under the previous question. Instead, I ask Sam Piplica and Chris Goodier to comment for their professional bodies on whether we have the numbers of surveyors and structural engineers that we need to do the identification and remediation work that is required. I have heard that, because of the way in which the UK Government has reacted, it has perhaps acted as a magnet and pulled skills down to the rest of the UK. I ask Sam and Chris to comment on the availability of skills in Scotland to do the identification and remediation work.

Last year’s spending review suggested that public sector workforces, including local authority workforces, would have to shrink if they were to remain sustainable. Minister, is that still the Government’s view?

Minister or Councillor Hagmann, is there a more detailed breakdown by department of the headcount at local authority level? That might help us to understand the issue with workforce numbers in local government and the movements between departments.

Councillor Hagmann, with the Government’s suggestion that the workforce will have to adjust to remain sustainable, is it possible for local government to reduce workforce levels while still providing the level of service that it is providing or is expected to provide?

As service delivery changes, how are COSLA and local authorities assessing the impact on the workforce, particularly on women and minority groups, to make sure that the changes are not impacting on them more negatively than on other groups? Similarly, what assessment is carried out of the impact on women and minority groups in communities that rely on the services that are going to be delivered in a different way?

You talked about the number of applications for asset transfers and participation requests, and we heard that the number of participation requests is a good bit lower than the number of asset transfer applications. Does the Government have an opinion on why that might be? Do you consider that more work needs to be done to improve awareness and encourage communities to go down that route?

Councillor Heddle, is it possible for local government to meet the Verity house agreement’s key commitment to sustainable public services while also meeting pay demands from local government staff?