Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you for that, David. What about you, Euan?

That was a good wee plug there, Euan. Well done.

I will come to you next, Councillor Stockan, and then conclude with Alex Nicoll. First of all, is there anything else that you would want to say on the local democracy bill? Secondly, do you have any thoughts on the council tax and, specifically, on local funding that you might want on Orkney or in the isles generally?

Sorry, but I want to bring back the discussion to the new deal. We have taken a lot of evidence on the national care service. How would that impact on the new deal? I am not knocking back your evidence—I think that we have heard others in SOLACE say that, too—-but I want more of a focus on the new deal aspect of it.

That is really helpful. You have led me to my next question, which is about the fiscal framework and is for Shona Morrison first, although I will put it to the other witnesses as well. You heard from the council leaders about the fiscal framework, but what would COSLA like to see from it?

Council tax will come up in some of the later questions. I would like to get your thoughts on additional fund-raising opportunities.

I will play devil’s advocate and say that there would be shared priorities as part of that.

It is important to add that context as well.

I want to move on to—

My apologies.

Thank you for that really helpful answer.

During the summer, the committee commissioned research that looked at how local authorities around Europe raise their revenues. We touched on that with council leaders when we talked about the workplace parking levy, for example, or the tourist visitor levy. Would COSLA support such things in principle? I will come to you first, Shona. I am thinking of a suite of measures based on a Scottish Government principle that allowed local authorities to raise their own taxes or gave them fundraising opportunities. If you support that, how would you like it to proceed? The council leaders touched on this, but, to me, the local context is key, because what might work in the Scottish Borders might not work in the Highlands or in Moray. That would give councils the opportunity to look at fundraising opportunities on top of their current budget. Has COSLA looked at that, and if it supports it in principle, do you have ideas about how you would like it to proceed?

Cleland, an example in one of the countries that we looked at was the ability of local authorities there to raise a local sales tax. That is not what I am proposing—it is an example. As a chief executive, what are your thoughts on the question that I put to Shona? Considering her response, would SOLACE like local authorities to be able to look at different fundraising opportunities?