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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 2 April 2025
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Displaying 1482 contributions

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Finance and Public Administration Committee

National Care Service (Scotland) Bill: Financial Memorandum

Meeting date: 26 September 2023

Michelle Thomson

I have a wee point off the back of that. We have not discussed the national care service board and the governance therein today, although we may well at some point in future but, in the light of the current situation, I would expect to see the same rigour in its financial governance as in the policy element and standard governance. Again, I ask that you give that just as much attention, with a bottom-up as well as a top-down approach.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

National Care Service (Scotland) Bill: Financial Memorandum

Meeting date: 26 September 2023

Michelle Thomson

I want to pick up on the point that Liz Smith made. As well as finance, the committee is concerned with public administration, and we all know that the public purse is right under the cosh and every penny is a prisoner, if I may use that terminology. That suggests that the relentless focus on cost and value must be accentuated, but I am not necessarily sure that I am confident about that yet. For example, we all concur that the Verity house agreement is about a positive process but we do not yet understand how the fiscal framework will operate, because that work has not been done.

I suppose that the question is whether, as well as the top-down, policy-driven and thematic approach that you have outlined, you are doing the work to ensure that every single funding line is managed very tightly. That underpinning will give the committee confidence, not just on the finances but in terms of the public administration part of our remit.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

National Care Service (Scotland) Bill: Financial Memorandum

Meeting date: 26 September 2023

Michelle Thomson

Being able to follow the money will work for us, I sense.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Sustainability of Scotland’s Finances

Meeting date: 26 September 2023

Michelle Thomson

Good morning, everybody. We started this conversation with the convener asking about confidence. Sandy, what impact do you see on investor confidence and products in your sector of Rishi Sunak’s recent U-turn on net zero commitments?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Sustainability of Scotland’s Finances

Meeting date: 26 September 2023

Michelle Thomson

Continuing on the theme of confidence, I am interested in the nature of confidence in women-led businesses. How is that distinct from the situation in male-led businesses? What is your data telling you?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Sustainability of Scotland’s Finances

Meeting date: 26 September 2023

Michelle Thomson

You have led me on to my next area of questioning. It struck me that £15 million is a relatively low figure for entrepreneurialism, given the figures that were bandied about before the 2021 election. I appreciate that, as you said earlier, it is still early days but, given the new deal for business, and Mark Logan and Ana Stewart’s very good report on encouraging female entrepreneurship, what is your sense of there being a relentless focus on enabling more than half of our population?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

National Care Service (Scotland) Bill: Financial Memorandum

Meeting date: 26 September 2023

Michelle Thomson

Okay.

A concern raised about the previous financial memorandum was the ability to scrutinise detail, given that it is a framework bill. How will the new approach of evolution rather than revolution, as set out by the convener, alleviate and mitigate them? What new risks will it introduce?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Sustainability of Scotland’s Finances

Meeting date: 26 September 2023

Michelle Thomson

Despite the Scottish Government’s protestations of continued focus, to what extent, if any, will the lack of confidence inevitably flow into funding flows, given the nature of how those operate out of the city? Is that lack of confidence inevitable, meaning that change in funding flows will take place, despite the Scottish Government’s protestations that it will continue on the path that it has set out?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment

Meeting date: 20 September 2023

Michelle Thomson

I thank the witnesses for a very engaging session thus far. I want to ask about artificial intelligence. They say that AI is like quantum physics: if you claim that you understand it, you are merely proving that you do not. I note Professor Hayward’s recommendation 12 for the Scottish Government to establish a cross-sector commission on AI urgently. Do you agree that it is vital that industry and academics, as well as practitioners and Government, are involved in that? Will you set out briefly what key themes you would like to see evaluated? The nub of my question is this: is there, in your opinion, a risk that some of the known issues with AI, particularly cheating, could push people back into teaching to the exam to alleviate said cheating rather than embracing the much wider perspective that you have outlined this morning?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment

Meeting date: 20 September 2023

Michelle Thomson

On that point, do you think that the fact that you even had those two facets indicates that there is still a relatively low level of awareness, regardless of whether it is among Government or wider practitioners, of exactly what the threats and the opportunities are of artificial intelligence?