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Seòmar agus comataidhean

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 6 April 2025
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Displaying 754 contributions

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Economy and Fair Work Committee [Draft]

New Deal for Business

Meeting date: 19 February 2025

Lorna Slater

It seems that there are two themes developing. One is around how we mainstream those businesses. That probably means getting Business Gateway, the enterprise agencies and so on to make sure that they are included. I would be interested to hear from witnesses whether they have ideas on how mainstreaming could be better achieved. Please feel free to write to us later, in relation to that.

The other theme is innovation, so there is the point about mainstreaming of existing practice, and a point about opening up the space for innovation in other business models, as well. Does that seem to capture it?

SPCB Supported Bodies Landscape Review Committee [Draft]

SPCB Supported Bodies Landscape Review

Meeting date: 6 February 2025

Lorna Slater

I am very interested in what you are saying. It is really useful, and thank you for being so candid with us.

You mentioned in your opening remarks that some of your work is similar to the casework that MSPs undertake when supporting our constituents. In that sense, I suppose that we can imagine that you are facing in the same direction as Parliament, which is holding Government and public services to account and supporting people with their interactions with them. You also report to Parliament. Do you see yourself as an extension of the capabilities of Parliament? Where do you think that you fit into the wider landscape and in the structure of public trust?

SPCB Supported Bodies Landscape Review Committee [Draft]

SPCB Supported Bodies Landscape Review

Meeting date: 6 February 2025

Lorna Slater

That is very helpful. I have one last question. If we look at this from the perspective of someone who wants to make a complaint and from a the customer experience perspective, the landscape is quite complicated as to who to go to if someone wants to whistleblow, to complain about a parliamentarian and so on. We have discussed with previous witnesses the idea of having a one-stop shop for complaints as a hypothetical umbrella office of public trust. It does not matter what has gone wrong, people would have one place to go to. That organisation would combine all the supported bodies and the whistleblowing functions. All those things would be in one place. What is your view of a hypothetical one-stop shop as an office of public trust that combines some of those functions?

SPCB Supported Bodies Landscape Review Committee [Draft]

SPCB Supported Bodies Landscape Review

Meeting date: 6 February 2025

Lorna Slater

Thank you very much.

SPCB Supported Bodies Landscape Review Committee [Draft]

SPCB Supported Bodies Landscape Review

Meeting date: 6 February 2025

Lorna Slater

We are auditing audits.

SPCB Supported Bodies Landscape Review Committee [Draft]

SPCB Supported Bodies Landscape Review

Meeting date: 6 February 2025

Lorna Slater

You said that you do not get a lot of complaints about Parliament. We have taken evidence from the Ethical Standards Commissioner and the Standards Commission for Scotland, and they told us that they get quite a lot of them. That interesting point is a large part of what we are discussing—that is, there are different places to go depending on who someone wants to complain about, but clearly there is overlap if someone can bring a complaint to more than one of those bodies.

SPCB Supported Bodies Landscape Review Committee [Draft]

SPCB Supported Bodies Landscape Review

Meeting date: 6 February 2025

Lorna Slater

It leads me on to my next question, which is exactly on that point. This inquiry has been prompted by a concern about proliferation of commissioners, in which there are overlaps and gaps. We need to understand the current landscape so that we can identify overlaps, gaps and inefficiencies—not to get rid of them just for the sake of efficiency but for the sake of effectiveness.

You have already made a suggestion as to how a gap in patient safety could have been filled. Are you aware of other overlaps and gaps that maybe we are not?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

City Region and Regional Growth Deals

Meeting date: 5 February 2025

Lorna Slater

I would love things to get moving with Sheriffhall roundabout in whatever direction. I might write to you on that point and to ask whether facilitation could be undertaken to improve that collaboration.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 5 February 2025

Lorna Slater

It would be interesting to know whether you would be willing to come back in 18 months to 2 years, to give us an interim update.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

City Region and Regional Growth Deals

Meeting date: 5 February 2025

Lorna Slater

We have heard a lot of positive evidence about the benefits of all three levels of government working together on long-term, multiyear projects. To my mind, the city region deal projects sit broadly in two categories: infrastructure or community and innovation. Both types of projects have quite different business models, impacts and delivery processes, and it might make sense to manage them in different ways, instead of lumping them together under the same scheme with the same governance. What are your thoughts are on what city region deals are for, particularly if another tranche of those deals were to be on the table? Are they best suited for infrastructure or for innovation?