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Can I clarify something? On the idea of councils coming forward with ideas for new revenue-raising powers, I think that you said that an individual council could come forward with ideas, so there is a nuanced approach. If Orkney Islands Council, for instance, had a proposal that was unique and nuanced to Orkney, could it come forward with that?

Thank you very much.

For this morning’s session, we are joined by the Minister for Local Government Empowerment and Planning in the Scottish Government, Joe FitzPatrick, and Scottish Government officials. Hannah Keates is unit head of the local government policy and relationships unit, and Ian Storrie is head of local government finance. We are also joined by Councillor Katie Hagmann, who is the resources spokesperson for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, and Simon Cameron, who is chief officer in workforce and corporate policy at COSLA. I welcome our witnesses to the meeting.

I invite Mr FitzPatrick and Councillor Hagmann to make short opening statements.

I thank both of you very much for those opening statements.

I will open with a general question. What is the main challenge that the local government workforce faces? I address that question initially to Councillor Hagmann.

You do not need to do that. I am sorry—I should have told you that. We will do it all for you. There is no need to worry about technical stuff.

Thank you very much. We appreciate your highlighting the issue with planners, because we are certainly aware of that.

That was really on my mind. You have made a critical point about members’ bills and amendments to Scottish Government bills that come in at stage 3. Has there been enough consultation with local government on that? It will be interesting to see what protocol needs to be put in place to make sure that that happens appropriately.

I am going to move on. Last week, we heard that the creation of a general power of competence for local authorities, as there is in England and Wales, would provide greater opportunities and powers to address challenges. Is that being considered? I ask the minister to start.

I have a follow-up question. You have said that there is never enough cash and that there is an opportunity for revenue raising. However, earlier, both of you pointed to the need for certainty. We have one-year budgets. Are you discussing a way in which to create some kind of certainty, even within the annual budget settlement, so that councils can plan? Has that come into the fiscal framework discussions yet?

Thank you. Do you want to add anything, Mr FitzPatrick?

I want to pick up on another thing that is, in a way, related to workforce planning. I think that it was Simon Cameron who said earlier that it is not what we do but how we do it. One thing that I have become really aware of on this committee is the number of plans that a council has to come forward with because of—to go back to what we were talking about earlier in our conversation—the number of bills, including members’ bills, and associated amendments that are introduced. A bill often contains a requirement for there to be a plan, and it has come up in committee before that there is a level of onerousness in those plans. I am also beginning to wonder whether there is coherence in the plans across various bits of legislation. It is early days, but is that being discussed under the agreement, in particular in your agreed shared programme of activity? Are you looking at creating that coherence?

Thank you for that. Does anybody else have any comments to make about that?