Seòmar agus comataidhean

As there are no further questions, I thank Fergus Ewing for attending. The committee will consider whether to approve the application for recognition under agenda item 4, and the clerks will inform you of that decision thereafter. Thank you for your presentation and for answering the wide-ranging and varied questions.

Agenda item 4 is for the committee to consider whether to accord recognition to the proposed cross-party group on the wood panel industry. Are there any comments or questions?

I see no indication of comments or questions. Does the committee agree to accord recognition to the proposed cross-party group on the wood panel industry?

Members indicated agreement.

That is helpful.

To follow up on that, point 5.3 in the Deloitte audit report refers to the

“wider governance issues identified”

and recommends that

“the SPCB, in consultation with the Commissioner and other Officeholders, review whether the governance structure in place remains sufficient and appropriate.”

Your response said that you were

“happy to contribute to any consultation.”

As an independent commissioner, and with regard to stakeholder engagement, your role lies in contributing to that discussion rather than in seeking it out or enforcing it.

You talked about getting the investigation manual, which is in draft form, to the point at which it will be shared. In the Deloitte report and the other audit report, there is much discussion of the need for an external investigator or overseer—an external second opinion. It appears that, on the back of the handbook, you would like the opportunity to have an internal review of previous decisions before moving to external advice. Is that right?

So, until other matters are resolved, you are unable to deal with that, simply because of the situation. You are acting commissioner, and someone is acting up to your previous position, which leaves a vacancy that is incredibly difficult to fill as no one would know how long they would be in post.

You will perhaps be glad to know, Ian, that we are coming to the end, but I wanted to pick up on a final question, or rather statement, in your report. I will quote from the final paragraph:

“I end by expressing my gratitude to the members of the Senior Management Team and to every staff member in the office. They have shown remarkable resilience and commitment to our work during an exceptionally challenging period. I am immensely proud to belong to such a dedicated team of people and grateful for both their positive attitude and their efforts.”

We have certainly heard today and seen from your report that there were challenging times in the past.

Ian, thank you for coming today and for your full and frank answers to our questions. I wish you—and, possibly more importantly, your team—all the very best going forward.

I now close the public part of the meeting.

Thank you—I am grateful for that confirmation.

It might help to note that the position became apparent because of questions that were being asked by our equivalents in relation to councillor cases that came to them. Our predecessor committee, in the previous session of Parliament—as far as you are aware, Mr Bruce—never raised questions with the commissioner in relation to MSP complaints.

That is very helpful.

One of the criticisms, which was quite strong, was that the services of the audit advisory board were dispensed with. What is the situation now with regard to the audit advisory board. Is an arrangement with it in place, or coming into place? Where are we at the moment?

I am sorry, but I am not sure whether we are talking about the directions from the commission or the proposals in Deloitte’s audit report.