Seòmar agus comataidhean

Pam, do you have any further questions? Members and the Auditor General have helpfully discussed quite a few questions that were coming down the line, so I want to check whether you want to come back in.

Our second agenda item is another decision on taking business in private. Are we agreed to discuss our work programme in private at future meetings?

Members indicated agreement.

Agenda item 3 is our main item of business. On 15 September, we were due to hear from the Auditor General for Scotland about Audit Scotland’s report on the implementation of the social security programme and its annual audit report on Social Security Scotland. That session was postponed, and we have rescheduled the session.

I welcome Stephen Boyle, the Auditor General for Scotland, and Kirsty Ridd, the audit manager at Audit Scotland. We will be discussing themes around transparency and accountability, agile approaches, workforce, implementation costs, the remaining work and the key risks ahead of us.

Stephen and Kirsty, please wait a few seconds for broadcasting to turn on your microphones before answering questions. I ask members to direct their questions to Stephen, who will bring in Kirsty as needed.

Before I bring in Paul McLennan, who has another question, I will pick up on something that you said, Auditor General. I take you back to the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s comments on data gaps, which we have touched on. The issue is how we will understand whether policy implementation has realised the intended outcome. Our committee’s concern is about the missing pieces of data. How will we know whether the policy has achieved its objective if we do not have robust data, which is what we are being told? I am sorry to bring us back to that topic, but we are quite focused on it.

Thank you, Auditor General. I thank you both for attending quite early on a Monday morning and helping us to facilitate this rescheduled meeting. That was very helpful. If there is anything that you need to follow up in writing, please do so. You can leave the meeting by pressing the wee red telephone button up in the corner of the screen when you are ready to do so.

I will close the public part of the meeting. I invite committee members to move into private session. Members are invited to join the private meeting via the link provided.

Pam, did you want to come back in on this theme?

I thought that that would be the case.

We will move on to our next theme—workforce—which Jeremy Balfour will ask about.

I will go back to Jeremy Balfour, who has questions on remaining work and key risks. If any other members have questions to round us off, they should please say so in the chat bar. We have covered the questions as we have gone along.

Agenda item 4 is consideration of a negative instrument. The background information is outlined in paper 3. The instrument was laid under the negative procedure, which means that its provisions will come into force unless the Parliament agrees to a motion to annul it. No motion to annul has been lodged. Do members have any comments on the regulations?

Members: No.