Chamber and committees

No—I am saying that the ethical standards commission does. Do you agree that you have the right budget to adequately resource your work?

Perfect. Thank you.

Good morning, panel. Lorna Johnston, you mentioned at the beginning that you have 3.1 FTE of staff to help in the commission’s role. I know that there is a significant backlog for the ethical standards commissioner and the commission. Do you believe that you have adequate budget and resources to fulfil your role in all of this?

Good afternoon—or good morning, I should say. It has been a long day, as it is the first day back after the new year.

The ESC website states that the initial review time is nine months. You said in your opening statement that you are carrying out recruitment and induction. Can you give us a bit more information on why you are in this situation? Are the wait times improving? If not, when are we likely to see an improvement? Also, are the wait times resulting in complainants not pursuing complaints?

I know that you have been in the role for only two years but, given that the backlog has existed for several years, do you believe that the commissioner’s office has enough budget and staff to do the job properly?

Thank you, Mr Walker. That was comprehensive.

Thank you, convener.

I will touch on homelessness, which has already been mentioned. One of the priorities set by the regulator back in March 2022 was about landlords discharging their duties to people who are experiencing, or who have experienced, homelessness, with a particular focus on a duty to provide temporary and settled accommodation. However, the most recent national report on the charter says that the number of times that households experiencing homelessness were not offered temporary accommodation by local authorities has risen. Can you assure me and the committee that you are taking appropriate action to improve that situation?

Good morning, everyone, and thanks very much for coming. Everyone has touched on community empowerment, and my question is based on that. How can all communities, and the people who are in them, feel that they can influence decisions in a local area? In particular, what impact can community empowerment efforts have on more deprived communities? How has that worked out in recent years?

I will pick on Councillor Macaulay because he mentioned the trust and transparency element.

I will ask one more question about the people who did not respond. What else do you think could be done? What was the biggest factor, if there were big factors, that people said was the reason why they did not want to respond, other than the fact that they did not get elected and so did not want to be bothered?

Good morning. I am interested in the types of Scottish welfare fund cases that are being reviewed. For example, what are the most common reasons why a review comes to you? We have heard that there are relatively high uphold rates for community care grants and self-isolation support grants. Does that imply that local authorities are making mistakes or rushing their assessments of the welfare fund applications?