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I agree with Bill Kidd. The principle has broad agreement across Parliament and there is a desire to do something. It is a question of legality and the potential unintended consequences that might affect DWP qualification. It is a grey area that needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later. We need to firm up the devolution of social security and how interactions between DWP and Social Security Scotland perform. The petition presents an extremely opportune way of doing that.

With that in mind, it would be helpful to invite further submissions from, for example, the MS Society, Citizens Advice Scotland, the alliance

, the Neurological Alliance of Scotland and Parkinson’s UK. I highlight those groups as an indication of those who made submissions on the petition in the first instance or that indicated support for it.

We need to chip away to get the issue sorted out. Although it is a technical issue, given the severe harm that is potentially caused to people, getting the matter resolved sooner rather than later would be more helpful than deferring it. We should try to get the system designed and fixed quicker than would perhaps otherwise happen.

I am sympathetic, because it is an on-going and worthwhile discussion. In the 1990s, the Scottish Constitutional Convention established the additional member system as the preferred electoral system, but perhaps there is an on-going need to consider alternatives. Obviously, the single transferable vote for local government elections was introduced in the mid-2000s. There have been observations of concerning practices in the most recent Scottish Parliament elections; most notably, the Greens were perhaps stymied in some instances by a decoy green party, which was higher up the list and seduced votes away from the Greens. I certainly noticed that at the Glasgow count, so there are flaws with the current list structure of two ballots, which are worth further investigation.

Those are helpful points. Will you give us some reflections on the experience of Skyscanner as a Scottish unicorn tech company but one that is now under foreign ownership. Does that example show that we need to do more to build Scottish companies that remain under Scottish ownership, which could create the ecosystem that we are talking about?

Thank you, convener. I have no relevant interests to declare.

That is helpful. I have a question about the future skills action plan, which aims to increase the flexibility of the skills system. The focus is on a meta skills approach that will better equip individuals to navigate a labour market that is more fluid than ever—that is a lot of jargon. Are there clear examples of countries that are getting that right? Is there a benchmarking opportunity from which the Scottish Government and Scottish industry could learn?

Thanks very much.

This has been an interesting discussion. Digital and leadership skills have been highlighted as a gap in Scotland for several years. What have been the key barriers to reducing skills gaps in those areas? I would like Professor Logan to answer that question first.

That is helpful. Mr Hunter, would you like to come in?

The sentiments of the petition are well founded. In recent years, we have seen a number of alarming and distressing incidents of war memorials being desecrated in Scotland. It is certainly worth while reviewing the measures and protocols in the light of such incidents, so it might be appropriate to keep the petition open to allow for further submissions.

It might be appropriate to ask the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for its views on the protocols that are in place across the country for maintaining war memorials and ensuring that they are kept in good order. Consideration could be given to whether any improvements could be made, instead of introducing new legislation, given the Scottish Government’s position. A member might also want to consider introducing a member’s bill on the matter.

At this stage, it might be appropriate to keep the petition open to at least allow for further submissions.

The petition is another example of the injustice that council tax creates for many people. One of the big problems with council tax is that it is regressive. There are many debates that we could have—I am sure that there have been such debates in the Parliament over the past 20 years or so—about reform and replacement of the council tax, which lingers on.

I understand that there will be a debate in Parliament tomorrow on reform of social security in Scotland. That is a major part of how we deal with council tax, because the onus is on the individual to seek a reduction, but it is often the case that people are not aware of how to do that. Also, there are huge lags in efficiency in how that adjustment is made. That can result in financial distress, which is compounded by the litigious approach of councils. We should review how things are done.

Reforms could be made in light of the Scotland Act 2016, which devolved social security powers. We could respecify social security and design new interfaces so that, when someone claims any benefit, an automatic communication triggers a council tax reduction. It is not beyond the wit of man, or of our current infrastructure, to design such measures.

The issue is ripe for discussion and debate, and the petition is timely. I am keen that we gather submissions from COSLA and Social Security Scotland about how to design the system to interact with and improve the efficiency of council tax. Even though the tax is fundamentally flawed, we can at least help to make it a bit better.