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I represent the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency.

It was about the role that developers should play in carrying out and funding the single building assessment.

This will be my last question. Is there anything else that you would like to see in the bill or is there any action that the Scottish Government should take and which has not already been highlighted to the committee? Again, a number of suggestions have already been made, but this will be your last chance to put in your comments.

Thank you—I appreciate those comments. Ms Kelly, do you want to expand on that?

Is there no timetable? Will it be finished later in the year? I do not want to press you, and I know that it is it is important that we get it right, but at the same time—

Good morning, minister and officials. One of the aspirations of the Verity house agreement was that the fiscal framework, which you have spoken about, would be concluded by September 2023. That did not happen. How confident are you that the fiscal framework can still be agreed? Do you have any timescale for when it will happen?

Good morning, panel. Before I ask my questions, I declare an interest as a former councillor in West Dunbartonshire until May 2022.

We heard last week from four directors of finance, who described the pressures that their councils are facing. We have also had the report from the Local Government Information Unit on “The state of local government finance in Scotland”, which highlighted real concerns about the future of council finances. That position is backed up by the “Local government in Scotland: Financial bulletin 2022-23” report that the Accounts Commission published this morning.

What would COSLA like to happen between now and March, when the budget is finalised, to help public services and local government finance to become more sustainable? I put that question to Councillor Hagmann and then to Ms Kelly.

Thanks for that information. That gives us a better understanding.

Last week, we heard from the directors of finance about the pressures that councils face. A report by the Local Government Information Unit showed real concern about the future of council finance, which was backed up by the Accounts Commission report that was published today. To what extent will the budget contribute to public services, and to local government finance becoming more sustainable?

I am aware of that, too. Councillor Hagmann, do you want to add anything?

Absolutely; we heard similar views last week.

The Verity house agreement commits to multiyear budget certainty where possible, but the Scottish Government budget includes only one year. Last week, we heard views from finance officers on the issue. Does COSLA believe that the Scottish Government could and should have provided indicative multiyear settlements in its budget this year? What impact does a single-year budget have on local government and third sector partners?