Seòmar agus comataidhean

I begin by thanking the committee for its continued interest in the petition. Having spoken to MSPs across the Parliament, I know that many members from right across Scotland have constituents who are affected by the issue. There is considerable interest in it across all political parties.

Today, we are joined by David Cornock and his wife, Margaret. I pay tribute to Davy, as he is known to me, for his campaigning work. Convener, you have outlined some of the changes that he has managed to obtain, but we should recognise that it is a time of continuing grief and great challenge for his family. I pay tribute to them for their work.

Since I spoke in support of the petition at the committee on 15 May 2024, you have received, as you have outlined, a considerable amount of correspondence from key stakeholders. Police Scotland highlighted that the decision to hold a fatal accident inquiry into a death abroad lies solely with the Lord Advocate. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service stated that, although it is correct that the COPFS can conduct inquiries short of a fatal accident inquiry in relation to deaths abroad, it relies on the person being ordinarily resident in Scotland. The Law Society of Scotland stated its view that the concept of ordinary residence is widely recognised and accepted. The First Minister confirmed the Scottish Government’s position is that it is not necessary to change the law at present.

The UK Government’s Minister for Victims and Violence Against Women and Girls supplied statistics that showed that around 1,500 deaths of people from England and Wales abroad were reported to the coroner annually, and between 200 and 400 inquests have been concluded on deaths abroad in each year since 2016. Meanwhile, in Scotland, since the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc (Scotland) Act 2016 was passed, not a single fatal accident inquiry has taken place into the death of a Scot abroad. Given that 200 to 400 inquiries have concluded in England and Wales each year, it is simply not credible to suggest that, in the past nine years, there have been no such cases that involve Scots or relate to Scotland.

The evidence suggests that Scottish families are being denied justice. Convener, you outlined some of the key differences in the system in your opening remarks. We recognise that the system has differences, but the outcomes for people are the key issue for the committee to consider in its work.

We have reached the point at which, as your committee’s inquiries and correspondence have made clear, the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc (Scotland) Act 2016 is not meeting the needs of Scottish families. Whether or not the legislation has met the Scottish Government’s intentions is another question. At this stage, it is only right that the committee considers asking the Lord Advocate and the appropriate Scottish Government minister to come and tell the committee and bereaved families across the country why they believe that the current situation is satisfactory. I believe that it is entirely unsatisfactory, and many grieving families agree with me.

We have heard quite a lot so far about the modelling that is required for different decisions. It strikes me as slightly strange that there would be what you called a touch on the tiller without the Scottish Fiscal Commission indicating what it thought the impact of that touch would be.

Okay. I am still not much clearer on the work that is going to be done, and, if I am honest, it does not sound like you are either, as an organisation. I do not mean that to be critical. It is just a new field that we do not really understand.

Mr Ireland said that you are expecting to see drafts of the plan.

Have you noted the correspondence to the Scottish Affairs Committee?

It is meant to be published alongside the MTFS, and your deadline for Scottish income tax is this week. Is that correct? In your letter to the committee of 24 March, you say that the deadline for providing forecasts is

“Thursday 3 April with Scottish Income Tax at midday on Friday 4 April”.

You will have the information for the MTFS this week to allow you to produce some of those models, but you do not have any indication of the content of the fiscal sustainability delivery plan.

We expect the UK comprehensive spending review to be published in June, but we have had an indication of what the budgets are going to be on a departmental basis through the OBR, so we understand those numbers. Should the Scottish Government not be undertaking its own comprehensive spending review now? Is there any reason for it not to be doing that?

We have been told that the budget process for the coming year will include an additional strategic document called the fiscal sustainability delivery plan. We have touched on that a little already, but what is your understanding of the relationship between that delivery plan and the medium-term financial strategy?

The way that it has been characterised to me by senior civil servants is that two thirds of the year is spent fighting to keep the money that was put in the budget in the first place—particularly in the context of the annual emergency budgets over the past three years—and the other third of the time is spent answering freedom of information requests. The ability for senior civil servants to do anything strategic to deliver against a policy is incredibly limited, which speaks to the need to do something that sets a longer-term trajectory.

What we have had so far from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government is that a comprehensive spending review will begin only after the UK spending review, and there is some doubt as to whether that should report before the election. That will put us back in the spin of cycles, in which people cannot deliver. We will probably be working towards the last year of the current UK spending review. Is there not an imperative to get on and get this done sooner rather than later, so that people can start delivering the policies rather than fighting internally about budgets?

Finally, on 16 January, Shona Robison, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, wrote to the Scottish Affairs Committee in Westminster stating that the policy of the Scottish Government is “full fiscal autonomy”. Has there been any indication to you as to how the Scottish Government is pursuing what would be a major alteration to fiscal policy?