Seòmar agus comataidhean

Our next agenda item is our final evidence session on the post-legislative scrutiny of the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017. Over the past two weeks, the committee has heard from witnesses about the impact of the act on local policy and delivery and from witnesses from national organisations, including those who called for the creation of the statutory targets.

Today, we will hear from the Scottish Government. I welcome Shirley-Anne Somerville, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, and her officials Ann McKenzie, who is head of the tackling child poverty policy unit, and Andrew Fraser, who is the child poverty briefing and strategy team leader. Thank you all for joining us. I believe that you want to make an opening statement, cabinet secretary.

Thank you for your opening statement, cabinet secretary. I will go straight to questions. How has the statutory framework affected the Government’s policy choices, and what would you have done differently under a non-statutory approach?

Cabinet secretary, I appreciate that you were getting hoarse and struggling there, so I thank you—and your officials—very much for joining us. We will report on our findings in the new year.

That concludes our public business for today, so we will move into private session to consider the remaining items on the agenda.

Paul O’Kane is joining us online.

I am content for you to come back and comment on that. You will be invited to the committee to discuss the budget in the new year, and the Scottish Fiscal Commission will also be invited to give evidence.

We have the Scottish Fiscal Commission before us on 19 December and will get the opportunity to look at its forecasting.

I am conscious that you are struggling, cabinet secretary, so you will be delighted to know that this will be the very last question, then we can let you go.

I invite Bob Doris to ask a supplementary question, and I remind him to be as concise as possible.

I invite Liz Smith to ask a supplementary question.

I invite Jeremy Balfour to ask a question.