The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
Displaying 680 contributions
Finance and Public Administration Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 19 November 2024
Craig Hoy
In relation to the internal audit narrative, one of the things that the directorate for internal audit and assurance looked at was the approach to hybrid working. What was the rationale for including that issue in the internal audit function?
Finance and Public Administration Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 19 November 2024
Craig Hoy
I have a couple of relatively granular questions about state schools’ use of minibuses. What is your impression of the number of schools in Scotland that own and operate their own minibus fleet? Is not one of the issues the capital pressures that schools are under? With the introduction of ultra-low-emission zones and so on, could we be leaning in on a bus network that will not exist, which could lead to higher costs if third sector providers are brought in?
Finance and Public Administration Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 19 November 2024
Craig Hoy
Okay. I am just interested in whether there has been any behavioural shift in the jurisdictions.
Finance and Public Administration Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 19 November 2024
Craig Hoy
Was there any shift in pension contributions during that period, or are those set centrally for the organisation?
Finance and Public Administration Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 19 November 2024
Craig Hoy
Good morning. You said that the administrative cost of tax collection has risen from 0.71 per cent to 0.78 per cent, in anticipation of other taxes coming in that you will administer. Do you expect that figure to fall in future years as you get efficiency and economies of scale in place?
Finance and Public Administration Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 19 November 2024
Craig Hoy
The table that you present for the year 1, 2 and 3 costs is quite neat, in that the high estimate in year 1 and the high estimate in year 3 are identical. If the operation of the scheme comes in at the high end of the estimates and the uptake is significant over the three years—this is a good risk—is it the case that the high estimate in year 3 would, logically, be higher than the high estimate in year 1?
Finance and Public Administration Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 19 November 2024
Craig Hoy
You referred to Wales. In its submission, COSLA says that the equivalent legislation in Wales did not progress due to a lack of funds being available. What is the status of that similar legislation in Wales? Is it likely to come back again? Can any lessons be learned for this bill from the Welsh experience?
Finance and Public Administration Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 19 November 2024
Craig Hoy
You have brought me to my final question, which is on children’s mental health. We are aware that there is a real issue with that at the moment. Is it at all possible to quantify what savings you think might be made elsewhere if this kind of programme is embedded at the heart of our school system?
Finance and Public Administration Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 19 November 2024
Craig Hoy
With regard to the success that you have had in relation to compliance and recovery—obviously, the recovery of taxes that were not paid, rather than those that you did not hand back, as it were—is the model that the more effective you are with compliance, the less likely people are to just chance their arm and not pay? Do you expect that position to improve over time?
Finance and Public Administration Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 19 November 2024
Craig Hoy
Is there an assumption that digitisation will drive costs down over time?