Seòmar agus comataidhean

I call Adam Boey, to be followed by Sarah Latto.

I see that you have suggested in your consultation response that there should be

“Hierarchical ownership and accountability for each national outcome”

and

“A single theory of change delivery model for each national outcome”.

Can you talk about that a wee bit before I let in Sarah Latto?

One area that I think is important, which Carmen Martinez highlighted, is how outcomes should drive spending and decision making. Will you expand on that a wee bit? I will then see what others have to say on that.

That is very helpful. It would be fair to say that, over the next two years, you are looking for a £780 million uplift. That is great.

David Robertson, you also talked about the need for adequate funding, but you said that

“the level of taxation which is collected, set, and spent locally is lower in Scotland than in international comparator nations.”

You make the argument, which Katie Hagmann has just made, that there should be more levers, but I am not really sure what you mean by that. Do you mean that a higher proportion of local government spend should be raised directly by local government? I think that you are saying that. However, you also seem to say that the amount of revenue that is collected should also increase substantially. Therefore, you are basically saying that, as well as having more powers, you should be able to impose greater taxes on the public, which I am sure would not necessarily be very popular with people. For example, we hear a lot about council tax revaluation, and there is some sympathy with that in the committee, but not if it is seen as a way of just grabbing more money from local people rather than as a rebalancing process. Where do you stand on that?

Are you saying that local people in the Scottish Borders should pay more in taxes, or are you saying that the money should go to the council instead of to Holyrood or Westminster?

Malcolm Burr, the Western Isles—if I can use its English name—is not necessarily a prosperous area. How would people there feel about additional taxes being raised locally to pay for services?

Teachers can also be used peripatetically.

Colleagues are keen to come in, so I will move on to my final question, which is about capital spend. Katie Hagmann, you have talked about the challenges to housing supply and the delivery of homelessness services. Paragraph 63 of the joint submission states in bold:

“To mitigate against the development of poverty and improve health outcomes Local Government need sustainable investment in affordable housing.”

What does that mean in cash terms? How can the Scottish Government do that when it faces a 20 per cent reduction in capital over five years?

That is okay.

I think that we have covered this subject quite comprehensively, but there are always areas that we could have focused on more. I will therefore give each of our guests an opportunity to make some final comments about the national performance framework and where we go from here.

The last person that I will ask to speak will be Shoba John, as she spoke first, so she will have the final word. Which of our remaining four guests wants to go first?

Last but not least, I will bring in Shoba John.

Thank you. I will open up the session. The first colleague to ask questions is Michael Marra.