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Seòmar agus comataidhean

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 20 December 2024
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Displaying 696 contributions

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Finance and Public Administration Committee

Public Administration in the Scottish Government

Meeting date: 21 May 2024

Jamie Halcro Johnston

Good morning. My question is on the same point, although I am conscious that we have already covered it extensively.

When we were looking at the financial memorandum for the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill, one of the things that I found most concerning was that, despite the fact that the police had made officials aware that the costings were going to change, it did not seem, certainly from what we were told, that a huge amount of effort was being put into establishing how much those cost increases were going to be. Does that concern you?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Public Administration in the Scottish Government

Meeting date: 21 May 2024

Jamie Halcro Johnston

Is there a required timescale for that?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Public Administration in the Scottish Government

Meeting date: 21 May 2024

Jamie Halcro Johnston

“In a timely manner” sounds a little bit like “in due course”.

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Public Administration in the Scottish Government

Meeting date: 21 May 2024

Jamie Halcro Johnston

Bearing in mind the importance of productivity to Scotland, can you measure it within the civil service at the moment?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Public Administration in the Scottish Government

Meeting date: 21 May 2024

Jamie Halcro Johnston

Mr Marks, I have two questions for you. Over the past few years, we have seen the minutes of Covid gold command meetings not being recorded; legal advice from the Salmond inquiry not published, and then published but not in full; and emails relating to decisions on Ferguson Marine lost or not found, then searched for and suddenly found. Minute taking and the recording of information have not been strong points of the Scottish Government. Are you confident that that has improved—

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Public Administration in the Scottish Government

Meeting date: 21 May 2024

Jamie Halcro Johnston

Ferguson Marine is a very good example. If there is a concern that the cost is going to go up, how quickly is that identified and reported to ministers?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Public Administration in the Scottish Government

Meeting date: 21 May 2024

Jamie Halcro Johnston

Thanks for that.

I want to touch quickly on a couple of other areas. The first question is perhaps for Lesley Fraser. How do you measure productivity in the civil service, and how has it improved or not over the last few years?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Public Administration in the Scottish Government

Meeting date: 21 May 2024

Jamie Halcro Johnston

And in certain areas, has it improved or stood still?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Public Administration in the Scottish Government

Meeting date: 21 May 2024

Jamie Halcro Johnston

Are there any cases where they might not be?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Scotland’s Commissioner Landscape

Meeting date: 14 May 2024

Jamie Halcro Johnston

I suppose that there is a question about outcomes, because the better known a commissioner is, the more work they might have to do and the higher their budgets might need to be. They could almost be victims of their own success, to quote a phrase. Audrey, could you give us some thoughts?