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Thanks. I will move on. The report states that £100 Christmas gift vouchers were given to staff in 2021-22. Can you clarify when the board became aware of those payments?

Was any explanation given by the chief operating officer for why they thought that it was acceptable to spend that amount of money without getting authorisation from anybody?

To what extent was the board aware that the chief operating officer was attending the advanced management training course, of the extent of the costs attached to it and that Scottish Government approval was required but had not been sought?

I still do not understand. Why was the issue not picked up in previous audits? Why would it have been missed?

Did you say October 2022?

What was highlighted in January 2023, and by whom? The commission’s statement mentioned that issues were highlighted—there was an issue in January 2023, but was it not highlighted then?

I have a final question. The chair of the board is accountable to Scottish ministers. When the issues were highlighted, do you know who in the Scottish Government was informed and whether any action was taken? If somebody in the private sector was totally ignoring all policies and procedures and spending that amount of money without authorisation, they would probably lose their job. There would be a disciplinary process. Who in the Scottish Government was told about the matter, and what did they do? Are you aware of any communication between the commission and the Government?

Thank you. We note that part of the management response to the annual audit report refers to the spending of more than £77,000 for one person to attend a training course abroad, which was mentioned earlier, as “an oversight”. The governance framework between the commission and the Scottish Government appears to make it quite clear that the commission was required to obtain approval for that spend, as set out in its delegated financial authorities. Do you know why that situation occurred?

It was a very expensive oversight. At the time that it was highlighted, did the commission carry out any internal investigation into its processes and procedures? Did it investigate why that happened in the first place and why it had spent £77,000 on a course for one person?

I take it that you would have expected the Scottish Government sponsorship team to be aware that the chief operating officer of a relatively small organisation was attending a training course abroad. Does the Scottish Government sponsorship team monitor the activities and engagements of key personnel in the organisations that it sponsors?