Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you. I would like to move on to Allan Faulds.

We have a bit of an echo. Allan, would you try again and slow down just a little bit to see whether that makes a difference?

The Scottish Government has said that the committee scrutiny process is key to providing accountability in the budget process. With that in mind, will the panellists comment on whether this is the most effective approach to ensure that the Scottish Government’s human rights obligations are met?

Allan, I am sorry to interrupt you there. We are getting a bit of feedback at our end. Our technicians are working to see whether we can hear your voice a little bit more clearly.

Thank you, Heather, and thank you to all our witnesses this morning at the 18th meeting in 2023 in session 6 of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee. Those of you with eagle eyes might have noticed that I was remiss in not saying that at the top of the meeting, but it is now on the record.

We move on to questions, and Maggie Chapman, the deputy convener, will kick us off.

There is a lot in there—thank you. I think that we have had a good shot at that issue, although Heather Williams wants to come in briefly to finish off on Maggie Chapman’s line of questioning.

That is interesting.

Some of the points that the panellists have mentioned lead very well on to my colleague Annie Wells’s line of questioning.

Thank you. We will try Heather Williams again. She will switch her camera off to see whether we can hear her better. We will have a go.

We can. Thank you.

Agenda item 3 is an evidence session as part of our pre-budget scrutiny of the 2024-25 budget. From the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, I welcome Alexis Camble, who is a policy manager, and Mirren Kelly, who is the chief executive for local government finance. They are with us in the room. I also welcome Allan Faulds, who is a senior policy officer for the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland—the ALLIANCE—and Heather Williams, who is the training lead for the Scottish Women’s Budget Group. They both join us remotely. I should note that Danny Boyle, who is the senior parliamentary and policy officer at BEMIS, was due to attend but is now unable to do so. He has, however, indicated that he will look to provide evidence in writing.

I refer members to papers 2 and 3 and invite each of our witnesses to make a brief opening statement, starting with Alexis Camble.