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Seòmar agus comataidhean

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 25 November 2024
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Displaying 1319 contributions

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Finance and Public Administration Committee

Effective Scottish Government Decision Making

Meeting date: 28 March 2023

Douglas Lumsden

My final question, which is for Mark Taylor, is on record keeping and transparency. Your submission highlights examples where those things are being done well, but there is also, I guess, the example of new vessels 801 and 802, where it is not clear what discussions were had or who gave the approvals. Why does that happen?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Effective Scottish Government Decision Making

Meeting date: 28 March 2023

Douglas Lumsden

Your submission contains some good examples in that respect—you have mentioned the Forth crossing, and another example is Social Security Scotland—but what has been on my mind recently is the proposal for the national care service, in which we are being asked to approve the allocation of quite a lot of money without there seeming to be a business case. Have you in Audit Scotland seen a business case for the national care service, or is that something that has been lacking?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Effective Scottish Government Decision Making

Meeting date: 28 March 2023

Douglas Lumsden

You talk in your submission about evaluation being carried out post hoc—I think that that was the term that was used.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Scottish Fiscal Commission (Fiscal Sustainability Report)

Meeting date: 28 March 2023

Douglas Lumsden

So, reducing our waiting lists and getting more people to participate will boost the economy in both ways.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Scottish Fiscal Commission (Fiscal Sustainability Report)

Meeting date: 28 March 2023

Douglas Lumsden

I guess that that would not be explained by people retiring early—unless we were retiring really early.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Effective Scottish Government Decision Making

Meeting date: 28 March 2023

Douglas Lumsden

I want to pick up on a point that Daniel Johnson made earlier about business cases. In your submission, you say:

“Business cases were performed to the minimum standard or missing entirely.”

That links to what Liz Smith said about evaluation. If there is no business case at the start, how can we do an evaluation or a post-implementation review? Why would business cases be missing?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Effective Scottish Government Decision Making

Meeting date: 28 March 2023

Douglas Lumsden

It would make it better for the committee and for the Government to justify the decisions that it has made.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Effective Scottish Government Decision Making

Meeting date: 14 March 2023

Douglas Lumsden

That normally happens when it goes wrong.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Effective Scottish Government Decision Making

Meeting date: 14 March 2023

Douglas Lumsden

Processes have to be followed on procurement, for example, but I guess that the process is not clear for other areas.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Effective Scottish Government Decision Making

Meeting date: 14 March 2023

Douglas Lumsden

One of the areas that the committee will be looking at is recording and reviewing decision making. The impression that I got when we had our group exercise was that there were sometimes tools in place for that, but that maybe they are not often used or followed.

Daniel Johnson touched on the issue of ferries. My question is not really about ferries; it is more about recording who made the decision and then being able to review that later. Do you think that the Scottish Government is doing anything better or worse than other Governments on that, or is it doing about the same?