Chamber and committees

Congratulations on your election as the deputy convener of the Public Audit Committee, Sharon.

Again, that is a well-made point. There will be new funding instruments to support agriculture and replace EU structural funds, the European social fund and so on. Some of the details still remain to be seen, but I absolutely think that it should be the committee’s job to scrutinise how that funding is being applied and whether reforms or improvements could be made. It is important that we understand that a huge change is taking place as a result of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union and what that means for the landscape that people face.

I thank members for their contributions. It is important that we got some of those points on the record in public session. As previously agreed, we will discuss our work programme in private. I think that we are all clear that the legacy paper from the session 5 committee will form an important starting point for us in considering what our work programme will be in the short-term and medium-term future.

I look forward to a constructive and productive working relationship with members, and I bring the public session of the meeting to a close.

There is a clear sense that we will be in very challenging times, especially for the public sector, and that organisations, from the national health service to the court system, will be under incredible strain. The Auditor General for Scotland has identified the importance of understanding the pressures that there will be to ensure that, despite those pressures, good governance, proper working practices, workforce planning and investments that are made are effective. We will return to that.

I was struck, too, by the sense that the previous committee understood that we are not dealing with people who come before us on a case-by-case basis. There are often common themes that run through things and systemic failures that need to be tackled. It is important that we, too, have the broader understanding that we are sometimes dealing with pretty fundamental failings in the way that organisations are approaching their remits and that those failings can be common across the public sector. We need to understand that there are, at times, common themes that we need to pursue, and we need to ensure that lessons are learned not just by the single organisation before us but throughout the public sector.

The recommendation that we consider international experience is really important. I am keen that we pursue that when we discuss the work programme.

That is an extremely well-made point.

The legacy paper mentions the defensiveness of some of the accountable officers who have come before the committee. I hope that we see a change in approach from people who are brought before the committee to give evidence.

We have a job to do. We are here to serve the interests of Parliament and the people, and we will do whatever is required in order to do that. However, it is important that we have oversight of what happens in the future, not just oversight of an issue, or, sometimes, a crisis that has arisen. We need to have a longer-term reach.

The next item that we have to consider is the legacy paper, which was circulated in advance of the meeting.

I place on record our thanks to the session 5 Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee for its legacy report. I am conscious of the fact that two members of the committee in this session were members of that committee and that they played a part in putting together the legacy paper. It is clear that the legacy paper will be an important part of the consideration that we need to give to our work programme.

I invite any member of the committee who has any comments on, or who wishes to add anything in connection with, the legacy paper to indicate that they want to speak.