Chamber and committees

Okay. That is fine.

Thank you very much indeed. We of course note the point that your appointment came after the report had been published and the response from the Government received, but it is fair to say that our sense was that, of the 13 overall conclusions that we produced, six were responded to, one was partly responded to and six were not responded to at all. We were keen to have this session to explore a bit more those areas where we felt as though the response had been insufficient, given the weightiness of the conclusions that we had reached.

I will begin my questioning by highlighting a fairly fundamental point, which is the conclusion that we reached that island communities, taxpayers and the workforce have been badly let down. First of all, do you want to take the opportunity this morning to comment on that? Secondly, where do you consider that responsibility lies for the procurement of these two vessels having a six-year delay and being three times—and counting—over budget?

Sarah Jane Hannah, I want to go back to something that you said about timing. One of the comments that was made to the committee when the Auditor General gave evidence on 29 June was that

“Timeliness is relevant to scrutiny”.—[Official Report, Public Audit Committee, 29 June 2023; c 9.]

There was, I think, some concern about the late approval of your accounts. Are you going to be on course and on schedule for this year’s accounts?

Colin, I am really sorry to interrupt you but we are up against time and I know that Willie Coffey has some questions that he wants to ask. The truth of the matter is that we have been very busy this morning and maybe, rather than ask the panel lots of questions, we can write to you with some of the questions that we do not get to and you can respond. The committee can consider how best that could be prosecuted, if you will pardon the expression.

I underscore the committee’s recommendation that that investigation should be carried out “thoroughly” but also “urgently”. As Graham Simpson said, it is a year since the programme was broadcast.

I will ask another question, which was identified in our report but not really responded to by your predecessor. Will you respond now to the concerns that the committee expressed about the decision to publicly announce the preferred bidder on 31 August 2015, when

“there were still significant negotiations to be concluded”?

Is it the Government’s position that you would just do the same all over again?

We will come on to the business investment framework shortly. I will ask you about the issue of transparency. On 31 May, a meeting took place between the former First Minister and Jim McColl at which no permanent civil servant was present. Does the Scottish Government have a view on that?

Does the Scottish Government have a view on a meeting between a minister and a private contractor at which no permanent civil servants are present?

But not a permanent civil servant.

I find it quite unusual to hear the preparation and implementation of a three-year delivery plan being described as an “irresponsible” act. I think that most of us would view that as the responsible thing to do, given that, as Mr Simpson pointed out, it was initially intended to be produced in August 2022 and was again promised for the summer of 2023.

I am sure that the committee’s view would be that we want to see a delivery plan because that gives some concrete sense of the direction of travel. I do not know about you, Mr Rennick, but I do not know what the rate of inflation will be in two or three years’ time, yet I still have to make plans that are based on reasonable assumptions or otherwise. I think that there is a degree of impatience in the committee that that delivery plan has yet to be produced.

I think that you mentioned that Catriona Dalrymple has been working on some of the transformational arrangements, so maybe these questions are for her.

The report refers to the importance of the transformation of the criminal courts being a fully costed project while the delivery plan is being developed. Will you tell us a little more about the extent to which you have worked out the costings, notwithstanding the high winds of inflation that are around us? How did you get on with the costing of those plans?