Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you very much. I will open with a question on the subject that you opened with, which is the wider financial climate. You sounded quite optimistic, but the considerable macroeconomic uncertainty and the tumultuous times that we have been going through must have had an impact on your ability to plan your finances and keep focused on your strategic objectives. Do you have sufficient flexibility to manage a variety of incoming risks as a result of the financial climate?

Our next item of business is a decision on whether to take in private item 4, which is consideration of today’s evidence, and whether to consider in private at next week’s meeting an approach paper on the legislative consent memorandum for the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill. Are members content to take those items in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Murdo Fraser and Kevin Stewart have supplementary questions.

That would be helpful. Thank you.

Do you have a date for that strategy being developed?

Thank you. My last question concerns the unlocking sasines work. A key part of your statement is that 95.6 per cent of land mass coverage has been reached. However, people can access the data only if they specifically contact you to request it. What plans do you have for making sure that it appears on mainstream platforms such as ScotLIS?

I want to pick up on the citizen score, which I know that you have done a lot of work on. We understand the fact that you have had different sample sizes. When do you plan to put in place a KPI for the citizen score? How will that appear to members of the public, so that they, too, can track improvement in that?

Our main item of business is an evidence session with Registers of Scotland on its activities and performance. Registers of Scotland is a non-ministerial office that is part of the Scottish Administration and is directly accountable to the Scottish Parliament. Responsibility for scrutiny of it falls mainly within this committee’s remit.

I welcome Jennifer Henderson, the keeper of the registers of Scotland, and Chris Kerr, the accountable officer for Registers of Scotland. I understand that Ms Henderson would like to make a short opening statement.

You have clearly articulated what happens when income is within the normal bounds, but how much flexibility do you have in not normal times? What you have described about the range of parameters is exactly what I would expect you to say, but how much flexibility do you have should abnormal times occur, which, invariably, they do, because that is the nature of things?

You will write the committee with that. Thank you very much.