Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you very much.

When Stephen Boyle was before the committee, we talked with him about the potential impact of a further delay in the census. The decisions of the past 48 hours, and the Covid data that has emerged, probably mean that that is less likely to happen. Nevertheless, could you give me a flavour of the options that NRS has considered for the census if lockdown restrictions return? In addition, have any resources or money been committed to contingency planning in that regard?

Good morning, Stephen. I do not want to put you on the spot, and I am not sure how good your live tracking presently is in relation to the new round of business support, but about £375 million of support for business was announced in December. The general impression that I am getting through my postbag and from talking to people in hospitality businesses and suchlike is that the money is slower in going out the door than it was before.

On Tuesday, the First Minister said:

“we are working with local authorities and other agencies to get the money out the door and into the bank accounts of those who need it as quickly as possible. However, there are checks and processes that have to be applied to guard against fraud.”—[Official Report, 18 January 2022; c 22.]

Do you have any impression of whether it is taking longer to process this current round? Is that because lessons have been learned and further checks and balances have been put into the process? Could there be other reasons for the delay in this round of disbursements?

Good morning, Mr Whitfield, and a happy new year to you and committee members.

On 7 December 2021, the cross-party group on beer and pubs held its inaugural meeting, in order to prepare for this meeting. That was in recognition of the fact that there are now more than 4,600 pubs and 120 breweries in Scotland. The industry is an emerging sector, and there is presently no committee or cross-party group looking after its interests within the Parliament. We also know that, as well as being an emerging sector, it is a sector that is presently at risk as a result of the Covid pandemic and the restrictions that were imposed on the hospitality sector.

The purpose of the CPG is to celebrate, recognise and enhance the contribution of the brewing and pub-related hospitality industry in Scotland. We hope that the CPG will operate through semi-regular meetings, occasional visits and an annual event at which the best of Scotland’s beer and pub sector can be showcased.

The CPG will aim to develop constituency-level awareness of the contribution of the beer and pub sector as well as an awards programme to encourage recognition of local pubs and breweries. I believe that the convener recognises that contribution due to the fact that, while serving as a member of Parliament, he nominated my local pub in East Lothian, the Tyneside Tavern—one of many excellent pubs in East Lothian and across the south of Scotland—for a local pub award.

The CPG will also provide a forum in which to discuss the policies that will impact on the beer and pub sector and affect beer drinkers and pub goers across Scotland. We will also look closely at the important issues of responsible drinking, the social impact of alcohol and the public health implications.

We understand that beer and pubs play a huge part in every region that we represent, socially and economically, and that they are job and wealth creators. That will also be a core focus of the group.

With the committee’s permission, I would be the convener of the group and Paul Sweeney would be the vice-convener. We also have a wide range of prospective members from across all parties. The secretariat would be provided and supported by the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group, the Campaign for Real Ale—CAMRA—and the Society of Independent Brewers, which is known as SIBA. We would also be supported by the Scottish Beer and Pub Association. With that, I will hand back to the convener.

To put it simply, it would be CAMRA and SIBA. However, Paul Hegarty from the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group attended as a guest and would be supportive in helping us establish some of the programmes that have been very successful at Westminster—such as the awards programme—as well as in relation to the possibility of getting a guest ale or beer into the parliamentary estate at Holyrood.

Thank you very much for your time.

That is reassuring. I wanted to get reassurance that the organisation was not looking inwards and was engaging externally—I take reassurance from your answer.

The 2018-19 section 22 report highlighted leadership issues and identified that they

“led to a lack of confidence and a culture of mistrust throughout the organisation.”

As we know from other recent inquiries, organisational culture does not change overnight. That change requires hard work and a lot of effort. What work has the board undertaken to build back trust and regain the confidence of its staff?

On recruitment challenges, the first bullet point in the report highlights that

“The Bòrd has amended its policy regarding the recruitment of Gaelic speakers. A post will be advertised twice before the essential skill of Gaelic is reviewed.”

However, the board still includes a requirement for any new staff joining the organisation to commit to learning Gaelic if they are not already Gaelic speakers. That sounds to me to be a very reasonable approach. Do you know whether that has led to any tangible improvements in the board’s recruitment process?

Thank you.

You have almost read my mind in respect of the next question, but I will seek confirmation from you. You referred to the fact that the Scottish Government provided additional funding of £8.8 million, which was what would have been anticipated through brokerage. Will you confirm that and tell us why the Scottish Government provided the £8.8 million as additional funding, and not brokerage?

Bòrd na Gàidhlig is the principal public body for promoting Gaelic development. We note that the leadership team role of head of communications and promotions, which was previously vacant, has not been incorporated into the new leadership team structure. That is an important function, so who is now responsible for that work at a senior level? Are you comfortable with that decision, Auditor General?