Seòmar agus comataidhean

Yes. I was just going to hand back to you.

That is very helpful. Thanks very much.

That leads on to the discussions that are taking place at the minute between local government and the Scottish Government around the new fiscal framework. What is the Accounts Commission’s view on how that could work and how local flexibility could be built in, of which the committee keeps hearing councils want more? I would like to hear your views on the fiscal framework.

That is helpful. One of the key messages in the Scottish Government’s spending review document is about strengthening that partnership. As we have heard from you, the success of local government lies in unlocking community action. The key question that I would like to ask you is: what needs to be strengthened within that partnership? Is it just to do with budget lines or is it to do with shared decision making in some of those areas?

To go back to my first question, local authorities now think that everything they do is ring fenced. As MSPs, we hear regularly from councils that the flexibility to decide local priorities has been taken away from them. Does the commission have any views about strengthening that partnership?

Thanks, convener.

I want to ask a few questions about council finances, with ring fencing particularly in mind. Given the commission’s familiarity with councils’ and finance departments’ annual accounts, what is your current view of the Scottish Government ring fencing funding, and what percentage of total government resources is currently being ring fenced?

Thank you—

It might be useful to include a question about the appeal process in any letter to the Government.

Thank you—that is a good point. We have seen allotments with communal composting areas, for example, which helps to prevent replication from everyone having a composting space on their allotment.

With regard to using other parts of the 2015 act, do you have any examples of where common good land is now being facilitated—touching on what you said earlier—to provide smaller starter plots with raised beds? People can see if they really want to have an allotment first, and they can then transition to having half a plot or a full plot. Has the 2015 act helped to develop that approach in any way?

That is helpful. Does anyone else want to come in on that point?

Good morning to the panel. Thank you for joining us.

The witnesses have touched on a lot of the questions that I wanted to ask. However, I want to get more details about the auditing of current plots. Ian Welsh mentioned splitting plots. To what extent has the legislation meant that councils have done such work and have looked at how the current maximum capacity is utilised? Has that been done, or have we basically just developed waiting lists?

I will follow on some of those questions. Donald Rumsfeld’s phrase about “known knowns” and “known unknowns” springs to mind, and we are probably going round in circles.

Previous forecasts have looked at the costs of administering Social Security Scotland. Have you looked at those and at where potential additional costs might be, given the amount of benefits that it will be administering?