Seòmar agus comataidhean

I have no relevant interests to declare, but I direct everyone to my official declaration of interests.

Convener, it is always bad to start with an apology, but I must apologise for trying to be helpful. That secondary legislation will probably come through later in the year and, because of the on-going process, I thought that it would be helpful to put it in front of you at this stage. In retrospect, I realise that it might be seen as my giving it to you just before this meeting. That was not my intention, and I am happy to come back at a later date to discuss it.

There has been improvement in that regard since I first started attending the committee as a minister. The committee has been raising fewer drafting mistakes. The Scottish Government continues to strive to ensure that the legislation that we introduce is robust and fit for purpose. A significant amount of in-house guidance and training is in place. My officials can talk about that if that would be helpful.

As always, we will try to be as flexible with the committee—or committees—as we can with regard to anything, and with the SSIs in particular. You say that they are complex from your point of view as a committee member and for the committee’s process, but it is equally as complex for us to make sure that we get them into a state where they are suitable to come to committee. We have to make sure that we do not have any drafting errors. It is about getting that balance so that we can get the information to you in a way that is acceptable.

I do not see that as being unhelpful. It would be helpful for us, because it would make the argument that we all have to work together to make this deliverable.

Ironically, on my annual visit to the Conveners Group—as you may remember, convener—two conveners believed that the explanatory notes were too detailed, and one convener believed that there was not enough detail. In many cases, it is in the eye of the beholder—in what people actually want. Again, my officials try to get a balance in order to make sure that we give you enough detail. That applies to all our publications that accompany bills, not just the explanatory notes.

We are happy to do that. As I said, the LCM landscape is quite difficult, but I try to dispassionately go through it all and make sure that we just do our jobs.

I am not telling Mr Choudhury to go down and chain himself to Downing Street or anything like that, but it is helpful when the committee makes a written appeal on our behalf. Although we work in a political environment, it is important that we are adults about trying to make things function and get the business done. It is always helpful when the committee makes any intervention in such matters, so I encourage you to continue doing so.

There is a standardised template. You will be glad to know that the ministers do not decide on what is in the accompanying documents.

I was going to answer your question, but Rachel Rayner is champing at the bit, so I will let her in.