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Thank you for that response. I remind everybody that we have about 10 minutes left of the session, although we have some flexibility to go over a little bit. I invite everyone—both my colleagues and our witnesses—to try to keep questions and responses as tight as possible, because we are not even halfway through our questions. Quite a few of the things that we want to ask may have already come out in previous questions, but there is some detail that we want to get to.

I want to pick up on absence rates. The Accounts Commission highlighted that recruitment challenges and high sickness absence levels are a considerable source of pressure for councils. In 2021-22, the overall absence level for non-teaching staff was the highest on record, at an average of 12.2 days per employee. What do you think are the key drivers of that increase and what can local authorities do to support staff to reduce levels of absence?

It is really helpful to unpack that more and get that detail.

Thanks, Willie. Before I bring in Pam Gosal, I have a very direct question on an issue that Linda Somerville and Johanna Baxter touched on. Johanna, is the gender pay gap improving?

Thank you for that. We will move on.

We discussed absence rates with the previous panel, and Sean Baillie told us about the “snowball” effect. Johanna Baxter spoke about the fact that local government records absentees in different ways and called for more consistent reporting. What do you think are the key drivers of the increase in absence rates? What could local authorities do to support staff to reduce rates of absence?

Thanks for those additional points. We move to questions from Willie Coffey.

Thanks very much for going into that detail. Sean or Linda, do you want to add anything on the new deal?

Thank you. It is helpful to get that level of detail, because it gives us a better picture. Does anyone else want to come in on that?

Thank you for qualifying that. Does anybody else want to add to that?

For our final panel this morning, we are joined in the room by Mo Baines, who is the chief executive of the Association for Public Service Excellence; Councillor Lynne Short, who is the chair of APSE; Gerry Cornes, who is the portfolio holder for workforce issues at the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers; and Fiona Whittaker, who is the chief officer of people resources at North Lanarkshire Council.

Before we go to questions, I invite Councillor Lynne Short to give a declaration of employment.

Yes.