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Thanks for that response.

Sorry for jumping in. I see that Willie Coffey and Carol Calder want to come in.

It has been a very rich discussion. I have a couple of questions on the local government and Scottish Government partnership. My questions are related to the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018, because I am a Highlands and Islands MSP. In the 2018 act there is a mechanism for the three all-island local authorities to request additional powers. However, such a request has never been made, despite the act being in force for several years. Have you looked at that and do you think that the mechanism in the 2018 act is fit for purpose? I am not sure who might want to pick that up.

Thanks for that, Carol. Having been through the new member experience a year ago, I am grateful to hear that there is that level of support for colleagues working at council level.

We are now going to move on to questions from Annie Wells about skills shortages and workforce planning.

We move to questions from Willie Coffey on the theme of inequalities and community engagement.

Bill, what you said was slightly clipped. Who do you want to lead off?

Those responses are heartening. The committee has previously had discussions about local authorities facilitating and enabling communities, so it is great to hear that that appears to be developing.

We move on to the theme of Covid support, planned savings and usable reserves, on which Mark Griffin has questions.

That is a nice note on which to end your questions, Paul.

I will now bring in Mark Griffin, who is going to ask about the recent spending review document.

Thanks very much for raising that point. That might be a very good issue to do a bit more work on.

Willie Coffey wants to come in.

Sorry, Miles. Have you finished?

Yes, Bill.