Seòmar agus comataidhean

No, I apologise.

Erica Judge, has that been your experience, too? I am not saying that you should not repeat what has been said, but can you say anything that might add to or reinforce the point?

I will throw a second question at you, too, if that is okay. We have heard in evidence that longer-term funding could have unintended consequences. That is no reason not to do it, but Glasgow City Council and the Corra Foundation have talked about the possibility—and the risk—of those who get such awards potentially being overly dependent on one funder. We have also heard that locking in a long-term approach for those who win the awards also locks out those who are not successful. Do you have any reflections on that?

That was helpful.

I have one final question, which I will open to either Professor Jung or Neil Ritch. We would be looking for the Scottish Government and its agencies to provide longer-term funding certainty for the third sector, but I am conscious that they do not always have full sight of what their own longer-term budgets will be. For example, there will be a UK budget on 30 October, which will give us an idea of the Scottish Government’s budget. Early next year, though, there will be a spending review, which might lead to revisions in-year, let alone what might happen in years 2, 3 or 4.

Mr Ritch, do you recognise that that might be a challenge for the Scottish Government and other public agencies? How could they circumvent that in order to give the longer-term funding that we would all like to see? That is a nice easy one for you to start with.

That was very helpful. I have no further questions, but perhaps Tobias Jung would like to add something before my colleagues come in.

Professor Jung, I have so many follow-up questions that I would love to ask, but I will ask none of them, as the convener will chastise me if I do.

Thank you, convener, and good morning to all our witnesses. Thank you for supporting our budget scrutiny.

Longer-term funding for the third sector has been a key ask for some time now. I note that both the Robertson Trust and Inspiring Scotland have said in their submissions to this committee that they are trying where possible to give longer-term security to organisations that are successful in getting grants from them. Karin Earl, can you put on record why you do that and what you feel the benefits are? Can you also give a specific example of the difference that the approach has made to some of the awardees?

Monica Lennon might like to come in and ask further questions around this but I will ask this question for consistency’s sake. As I was listening to the previous witnesses, I was conscious that people at a European level are grappling with all these issues, too. Certainly, the European Union is keen for corporate Europe, as it were, to report on scope 3 emissions. Of course, the Scottish public sector has a large supply chain stretching across Europe and beyond.

I asked COSLA’s representative this question, and she is away to think about it. What cognisance does the Scottish Government take of alignment with the European methodology around reporting on these issues? Is there a connectivity with how Scotland reports on them? Is there on-going work or an opportunity to start a bit of work around that?

The deputy convener has made a reasonable comment about the potential unintended consequences of not passing this secondary legislation. Clearly, we are at the very least going to correspond with people—we still have to establish what else we might or might not do—so I am keen to find out, perhaps from the Government, how easy it would be for the Scottish Government to listen to on-going concerns if the instrument were to be passed. After all, the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee will be doing a piece of work separate from what we do. I wonder whether, theoretically, the Government could lay a supplementary negative instrument at a later date, depending on whether it feels that there has been a weight—[Inaudible.]—more about the process in relation to that.

Cabinet secretary, I was not going to come in until you mentioned the target of 6,000 EV charge points in Scotland by 2026. In recent months, I have been contacted by a constituent who is a wheelchair user and requires a PAS 1899 standard charging bay. I know that this is quite technical, but having Matthew Eastwood here presents an opportunity to ask about that. I believe that Glasgow City Council has installed only four such bays, all of which are at the same location. From my correspondence with the council, I am aware that is keen to do much better than that.

A barrier is faced in ensuring that charge points are not just available but accessible. Cabinet secretary, I know that you are responsible for the policy, but, given that Mr Eastwood is here, I thought that that was a reasonable point to put on the record and to get additional information on.

I have a constituent who wishes to buy an electric car and requires the use of PAS 1899 standard charge points. The standard ensures that, for example, there is enough space in a bay to enable them to charge their car outwith the home. We are not doing very well on such provision at the moment. Is that under the Government’s radar? What is the target to improve things?

That is helpful. They will struggle with the same things that local authorities in Scotland struggle with. It is about making sure that there is communication. Thank you very much, convener.