The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
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Displaying 2095 contributions
Public Audit Committee
Meeting date: 2 November 2023
Willie Coffey
Do you get the sense that the remaining projects are, in fact, deliverable, or are there some really difficult decisions ahead of us?
Public Audit Committee
Meeting date: 2 November 2023
Willie Coffey
Auditor General, you mention the prison estate on page 19 of your report. One of your items is HMP Kilmarnock, which is affectionately known as Bowhouse to my constituents. The contract is up next year; I think that the 25 years will be up next year. I have a wee correction—it is not returning to the public sector; it is going to the public sector.
Are the comments in your report about the transition from the private sector to the public sector, or are you concerned about future capital investment? I have not seen any mention of the capital element, which the report is really all about.
Public Audit Committee
Meeting date: 2 November 2023
Willie Coffey
I want to round off the conversation about the backlog maintenance picture. Is that picture clear enough? Is the backlog maintenance subject to being pushed out to longer timescales? Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete has entered the debate. Are we clear enough about the extent of public buildings that may or may not contain RAAC that is in a condition of concern?
Public Audit Committee
Meeting date: 2 November 2023
Willie Coffey
Thanks for that.
With regard to the challenges that we face, is extending and pushing out the timescale for delivery actually assisting in helping deliver projects? Is using the same money over a longer term helpful or is it something that we should be concerned about?
Public Audit Committee
Meeting date: 2 November 2023
Willie Coffey
Finally, you mentioned three other important factors driving up construction costs, which have already resulted in increased costs for eight out of the 45 projects that you have mentioned, a significant number of delays and so on. For the record, can you explain to the committee what those three factors are?
09:30Public Audit Committee
Meeting date: 2 November 2023
Willie Coffey
The risks that you have mentioned surely do not apply to Kilmarnock in the same way that they would apply to Barlinnie.
Public Audit Committee
Meeting date: 2 November 2023
Willie Coffey
Okay. We will have to come back to that issue, because it is really important that we understand what that means in terms of hard cash for all the projects that members and the public will be interested in.
The briefing paper also says that the Government has been unable to budget for financial transactions after 2024-25. What is the reason behind that? Is it just because of the uncertainty of the allocation?
Public Audit Committee
Meeting date: 2 November 2023
Willie Coffey
So there are no quantifiable figures for what the 11 per cent and the 16 per cent will look like in terms of pound notes or hard cash.
Public Audit Committee
Meeting date: 2 November 2023
Willie Coffey
I do not think that the Scottish Government has, either.
Just to clarify, is it your view that, if a building has RAAC, it has to be replaced? That is not the expert opinion that we heard at the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee, where we heard that the material is safe but has to be monitored regularly for any signs of movement and so on. Can you clarify that for the record? Are you saying that all RAAC must be replaced?
Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Meeting date: 31 October 2023
Willie Coffey
We have not touched on the cross-local-authority national parks and so on. Have any of your authorities had a chance to think about that issue and how we make sure that we manage that situation?