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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 22 December 2024
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Displaying 1357 contributions

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Education, Children and Young People Committee

Scottish Languages Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 15 May 2024

Michelle Thomson

Good morning and thanks for joining us. I want to take a sense check on the financial memorandum. Your written submission gives some fairly stern commentary on some of the issues that you cover often, such as resource, the seeking of more investment and the potential diminishing of trust within communities if the associated funding is not in place. I am a bit confused about how that relates to the financial memorandum, which sets out the fact that things are moving from one body of good practice, in the existing plans, through what is in essence a refocusing. First, how rigorously have you been through the financial memorandum, and what additional commentary can you therefore give? Secondly, what discussions have you had with the Scottish Government that articulate at a detailed level the concerns that you have illustrated in your written submission?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Scottish Languages Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 15 May 2024

Michelle Thomson

You have given a general sense of how long-term funding constraints have affected you, and I do not disagree. I know from my other life on the Finance and Public Administration Committee that your commentary is the same as that of a multitude of other sectors and organisations. However, I was trying to explore the extent to which you have had active discussions with the Scottish Government on the specifics that are contained in the financial memorandum.

Let us assume that the bill goes through, that the refocusing take place and that you have to do that work on your existing resource. Have you had discussions on what that would look like? The financial memorandum suggests that it can happen within your existing envelope. Have you gone down to that level of discussion with the Scottish Government?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Scottish Languages Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 15 May 2024

Michelle Thomson

I will come to James Wylie first. Like the convener, I was very heartened by your description of Orkney. It is a place that I have not been yet, and I certainly intend to visit.

We touched on this earlier, but I want to explore what is missing in the policy landscape for supporting Scots, or Orcadian. To what extent does the bill address that?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Scottish Languages Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 15 May 2024

Michelle Thomson

So that I am clear, do you think that more is missing from the policy landscape, apart from standards? I am trying to drill into what the bill might enable and what is missing or where the gaps are. Has everything else been covered, or is it just standards that are missing?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Scottish Languages Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 15 May 2024

Michelle Thomson

That helps to make it clear that your commentary is about the general funding envelope.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Scotland’s Commissioner Landscape

Meeting date: 14 May 2024

Michelle Thomson

In some respects, you have answered my question because you did not say, “We have no idea how we could improve things without the installation of a commissioner.” Arguably, that would be an answer. However, you already have quite a lot of ideas. The original example that you gave about Ellie Wilson promoting the transcripts of rape victims was another earlier version.

Clare Haughey, I have my cutting knife in the name of Ivan McKee. Realistically, what are the remedies and how readily to they come to mind with regard to a situation in which the patient safety commissioner was to be no more?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Scotland’s Commissioner Landscape

Meeting date: 14 May 2024

Michelle Thomson

My last wee question is for you both. We have conducted a thorough investigation so far, and everybody who has appeared before us has had a good grasp of their particular area and has convincingly articulated why a commissioner is necessary and, indeed, effective. However, from our point of view, we look at the entire landscape rather than one individual silo, which is perhaps where the mismatch comes in.

Again, this is a slightly hypothetical question for you both, to finish off. If you were us and you were required to look at the entire landscape, bearing in mind the need for efficiency and effective government and the critical financial constraints, what would your reflections be? Audrey, you smiled, so you can go first.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Scotland’s Commissioner Landscape

Meeting date: 14 May 2024

Michelle Thomson

Does that not play to Liz Smith’s earlier comment about systemic issues and organisational and cultural issues resulting in people’s voices not being heard? Is working on those issues another remedy? It is difficult, as I know from previous experience, to change the culture of an organisation, but is that a potential remedy?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Scotland’s Commissioner Landscape

Meeting date: 14 May 2024

Michelle Thomson

I have a wee follow-on question for you, Ms Nicoll, about your committee’s recommendation to consider a time-limited period should a victims and witnesses commissioner be established. Did you consider what that time period might be, given the considerable organisational establishment and set-up costs?

10:30  

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Scotland’s Commissioner Landscape

Meeting date: 14 May 2024

Michelle Thomson

Good morning. The example of the third sector body that Audrey Nicoll mentioned illustrates my question. I was looking at the new responsibilities of the ministers and cabinet secretaries and noticed that Ivan McKee’s responsibilities include public service reform, efficient government and so on.

I have almost hypothetical questions for you both. Audrey, if a stringent new cap on public sector expenditure was brought into force that meant that the commissioner, whom you were required to consider as part of your recent scrutiny, were removed, what specifically would you do to address some of the issues around the treatment of victims and witnesses? Secondly, Clare, I am not saying that the patient safety commissioner will be removed—I do not want to set any hares running—but, given that it is a slightly different situation, if that commissioner were removed, hypothetically, what could you do to address the perceived gap?