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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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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 July 2025
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Displaying 1221 contributions

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Finance and Public Administration Committee

Financial Memorandum for the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill (Post-legislative Scrutiny)

Meeting date: 21 June 2022

Liz Smith

Could you evidence that?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Financial Memorandum for the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill (Post-legislative Scrutiny)

Meeting date: 21 June 2022

Liz Smith

Thank you all very much for your evidence, both oral and written. Some of your comments are quite concerning, and they tie in exactly with some of the anecdotal evidence I am receiving in my constituency region of Mid Scotland and Fife.

I am interested in what Ms Brumpton and Mr McAlister said about some local authorities understanding the problems that you have cited and working better with your sectors. Why do you think that those local authorities are better able to understand the issues that you are raising? Perhaps conversely, what is it about other local authorities that means they are not engaging so well and do not feel able to give you the benefit of being able to sort the policy?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Financial Memorandum for the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill (Post-legislative Scrutiny)

Meeting date: 21 June 2022

Liz Smith

That would be very helpful, convener. We want to know what is working well and, if there are examples where it is not working well, that evidence would help us in our general scrutiny.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Financial Memorandum for the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill (Post-legislative Scrutiny)

Meeting date: 21 June 2022

Liz Smith

You are saying that, in theory, it should all work well and that COSLA has statements and commitments that everybody should be abiding by. If it is not working well, are there some local authorities that are not adhering to those basic principles? Is that the problem?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Financial Memorandum for the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill (Post-legislative Scrutiny)

Meeting date: 21 June 2022

Liz Smith

I am very interested in that point, because I would have thought that the guidance from the inspectorate would flag up to the other local authorities that are not doing so well that that is a key point. In your opinion, are some local authorities not taking on board that advice from the inspectorate?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Financial Memorandum for the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill (Post-legislative Scrutiny)

Meeting date: 21 June 2022

Liz Smith

I am making a general point because the legislation covers different age groups. However, in relation to the offer to two-year-olds in particular, there is there is more of a problem. Our difficulty as a committee—it was obviously Audit Scotland’s problem in 2020, too—is that there is not sufficient good-quality data to assess exactly what is going on here and why there may be a downturn in particular age groups, or why in some cases parents are not taking up the offer to which they are entitled.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Financial Memorandum for the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill (Post-legislative Scrutiny)

Meeting date: 21 June 2022

Liz Smith

In an earlier answer, you made it clear that you thought that each local authority should be able to provide a lot of data on exactly where its information is being drawn from and how well it is achieving its policy. Is it COSLA’s understanding that that data will come from 32 different local authorities and that it will be collected and then properly analysed, or are you saying that it is the job of COSLA and some other institutions to collect that data? That is the key point.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Economic and Fiscal Forecasts, Resource Spending Review and Medium-term Financial Strategy

Meeting date: 7 June 2022

Liz Smith

If extra money that you are not currently expecting became available to you, would universities benefit from it?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Economic and Fiscal Forecasts, Resource Spending Review and Medium-term Financial Strategy

Meeting date: 7 June 2022

Liz Smith

I understand that. I am asking you to tell us—because it is important, as you have acknowledged—if, as you rightly point out, those changes have all taken place, what figure are you using for the black hole in the public finances?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Economic and Fiscal Forecasts, Resource Spending Review and Medium-term Financial Strategy

Meeting date: 7 June 2022

Liz Smith

It is not a budget, cabinet secretary—you said that originally. It is not a budget that you are producing.