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Another point that you have quite rightly made is that, in legislating on a permanent basis in areas such as human rights, we need to think of not just the current Government or the current composition of the Parliament; we need to think that anyone could be in power in the future. Does that not equally apply to the other organisations that we are talking about?

We discussed with the previous panel the fact that there was very good partnership working with universities, colleges, student accommodation providers and so on last time round. We cannot guarantee that the next time round, but we can guarantee that Governments will always be held accountable by the Parliament and, ultimately, the public. However, it is much harder to hold to account a private provider of student accommodation, particularly in an emergency situation. If it is about a balance of where the power lies, is it not better to have that power with a democratically accountable Government rather than a private accommodation provider, even when we do not know who the individuals will be and what their motivations might be?

On the back of her response to the convener’s initial questions, I would like Mirren Kelly to expand on a couple of points in COSLA’s written submission.

You have been critical of the lack of data on and drivers for the key priorities in the RSR. I presume that the data and drivers are the indicators in the NPF and the data that underpins them. Is your criticism about the lack of clarity over whether that is indeed the case or about the indicators and the data that underpins them in the NPF being insufficient to fulfil that role?

Again, you mention that the framework as a whole does not reflect the reality of the past 10 to 12 years and the pressures that the public sector has faced over that period. Were you looking for a framework that better reflected that? Is COSLA looking for more about the narrative and the rhetoric to acknowledge that reality or do you think that some specific points are missing that would have better reflected that? In other words, is it that you do not feel that the Government has acknowledged that reality, and are there specific changes that you would make to better acknowledge it in the review?

Absolutely.

In preparing options for the budget or questions about a draft as it stands, has a councillor ever directly referenced the national performance framework indicators? Have you ever been asked how something contributes towards a certain indicator or is the discussion at local level entirely based on the strategy for Fife that you have just mentioned? I am not criticising councillors or council officers, by the way—I am just trying to get an understanding of whether the NPF informs day-to-day discussion.

COSLA’s submission also makes some criticism of the NPF goals and the need to improve the mechanism for assessing whether we are reaching them, saying that that should be integral to the spending review instead of

“some high-level numbers which are limited in their usefulness”

being set out. Can you clarify which high-level numbers you are referring to? Again, is that a criticism of the NPF indicators?

Eileen, you have mentioned that, like every other local authority and, indeed, the Scottish Parliament itself, you have just gone through your budget-setting process. How much of a role does the NPF play at council officer level in that process? Are the NPF indicators part of your day-to-day discussions when you prepare options for councillors?

Thank you—I look forward to seeing that.

I would like to drill down into that. I understand your point entirely and I think that it is right that there are differences in methodology between the different nations to recognise different local contexts, but can you explain why the transport connectivity methodology is different, given the particularly acute transport connectivity issues that we have in some areas of Scotland?

Going back to the point of there being no detriment to Scotland overall in terms of funding, would you be willing to confirm now an extension of that principle to the Highlands and Islands specifically? Can you confirm that your intention is to ensure that the region is no worse off in terms of funding through these arrangements than it would have been if we were still in the European Union?

I apologise to the secretary of state, because I will probably have to leave the meeting slightly before it is formally closed.

I will stick with questions on the methodology. My first one is not specific to Scotland. Will you explain the rationale for using House of Commons constituencies as a unit of measurement to cap the number of bids that can be made? It strikes me that that leaves the whole process open to suspicion and accusations of it being used potentially as a system of patronage for MPs in marginal seats whom the Government of the day would like to keep on side for electoral reasons. Will you explain why, despite those concerns, which have been made about previous funding systems, you felt it appropriate to use constituencies as a way of capping the number of bids?