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Does Suzanne Munday have anything to add on that?

Alison White, can I bring you in from the social work point of view?

Is there another stage before you move on to the co-design? I am trying to dig deeper on that, because you are saying that there is an interdependency between a lot of issues. Do you want a pause before you get into that, or do you want the consultation process to be a little bit longer?

Good morning to the panel. I am coming to this having had 15 years of experience as a councillor and a council leader. The Deputy First Minister asserted that there are significant variations in performance among local authorities. How do witnesses account for that disparity in performance, and how do they suggest that the Scottish Government and COSLA address that?

I want to move on. I will come to Eddie Fraser first. You mentioned that IJBs were brought in. My question is about the impact on local democracy and democratic accountability through the IJBs. As you know, not every councillor sits on an IJB; a limited number sit on them. Do councillors who do not sit on them have influence? How has democratic accountability worked over the five or six years since IJBs have been brought in, and what is their role? You touched on that in your answer to the first question.

Does anyone else want to come in on that one?

We touched before on the understanding that children’s services will be transferred to the new care service. I have two questions at once. The previous panel also mentioned the reluctance of councils to invest in new and existing assets if that were to happen, which would not only affect children’s services but have a broader impact. My first question is on children’s services, my second on the impact on councils’ ability or appetite to invest. Eddie Fraser, you touched on that in the previous panel.

Does anyone else want to come in?

I will follow on from that point. To what extent does the bill adequately reflect the role of housing and homelessness services in improving the quality and consistency of social services, thereby leading to improved outcomes? You have touched on that. I do not know whether you want to say anything else, but your point led really well into the question that I wanted to ask.

Does anyone else want to come in on that? I will try to move on to IJBs.