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 1088 contributions
Public Audit Committee
Meeting date: 19 January 2023
Sharon Dowey
That brings me to my last question. Is there sufficient transparency in the Scottish Government’s investment in private companies, including the rationale for investment and the reasons behind failed or rejected bids for subsequent sales of investments? How could transparency in that area be improved?
Public Audit Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 15 December 2022
Sharon Dowey
Thank you. Paragraph 15 on page 6 of the report states:
“As the census programme progresses through its later stages, it is important that NRS has knowledge transfer plans in place to build on the skills that it has in-house.”
Do you know what action NRS is taking to ensure that that happens?
Public Audit Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 15 December 2022
Sharon Dowey
Good morning. Paragraph 12 of your report explains that programme costs are estimated to increase by £6 million in 2022-23. The report goes on to state that
“the actual figure will not be known until the end of 2022/23 and will need to be carefully managed.”
What are the risks if the costs are not carefully managed? Do you have any concerns about that?
Meeting of the Commission
Meeting date: 14 December 2022
Sharon Dowey
Audit Scotland is required to directly charge certain audited bodies but relies on the Parliament to fund audit work for those bodies that it cannot bill directly. In paragraph 70, Audit Scotland states that it requires to increase fees by 19.4 per cent to break even. Could you explain the difference between the increase in fees to be billed for chargeable audits versus the resource sought from the Parliament that is used to meet the costs of non-chargeable audits, which is only a 4.8 per cent increase? That is quite a significant difference.
Meeting of the Commission
Meeting date: 14 December 2022
Sharon Dowey
Further analysis of the increase in fees is provided in appendix 3 on page 23. Audit fees to be charged to further education colleges are expected to increase by 57.5 per cent from 2022-23 to 2023-24. Can you explain why there will be such a significant increase in the fees to be paid by that sector in particular?
Meeting of the Commission
Meeting date: 14 December 2022
Sharon Dowey
Is there any risk that non-chargeable audited bodies are being cross-subsidised by the bodies that are billed for their audit work?
Meeting of the Commission
Meeting date: 14 December 2022
Sharon Dowey
In paragraph 16 on page 3, Audit Scotland states:
“The expectation of continuing low interest rates in the next few years will lead to large accounting adjustments in 2023/24 and beyond. In such circumstances further requests for budget revisions to meet additional pension charge adjustments will be required in the future.”
Given recent interest rate increases, what impact do you anticipate on future pension charge adjustments?
Public Audit Committee
Meeting date: 8 December 2022
Sharon Dowey
Do you know what the uptake has been from people who are eligible?
Public Audit Committee
Meeting date: 8 December 2022
Sharon Dowey
You touched on data collection in responding to Colin Beattie’s questions. Obviously, there is a cost of living crisis, and we continually hear about people not claiming benefits that they are entitled to. Where are we with data collection for the new social security system to make sure that people who are entitled to benefits can get them automatically rather than having to click on links or SMS messages on the day that the new benefits go live?
Public Audit Committee
Meeting date: 8 December 2022
Sharon Dowey
On the reverse side, you mentioned fraud, for example. Is there something in place in the new system to make sure that benefits stop when people are not eligible to receive them—if, for example, they go into full-time employment or their children reach a certain age?