Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you. I will leave it there, convener.

Good morning again, minister. As you look forward, what are the next steps for the collaborative?

Some stakeholders have suggested that the kinship care collaborative could have a role in gathering information about roll-out of the Scottish recommended allowance, as we discussed previously. What consideration have you given to that? As you reflect on that, is there still a role that the collaborative could play?

Thank you.

That is helpful. Having read all your reports since SCOSS was set up, I know that one of the issues has been the timing, in the sense of how much time you have had to scrutinise regulations, and the resources. It is difficult to put a figure on it, but how much more resource would you require in order to take on yet another piece of work?

Thank you. Dr Rushton, regardless of whether the bill passes, you will continue to publish your reports, which contain advice to UK ministers. To what extent do you consider a wider audience when publishing your reports? They are perhaps not for the average person on the street, but how widely are they read? Do you monitor who reads them?

I will join in with everybody else. I was a councillor in City of Edinburgh Council, from 2005 to 2017.

Good morning to you, minister, and to your civil servants. I will follow up on the last point that you made. As a committee, we are clearly keen for what you have outlined to happen across all 32 local authorities. My understanding is that COSLA does not keep that information either. Is it your intention to write to local authorities at the end of this financial year to make sure that they have done that? If you do so, would it be possible to share the information that you receive with the committee?

I am still not quite sure why primary legislation cannot be used.

Good morning. On the general point of giving the power to the Lord President, there is concern from the Law Society and the Faculty of Advocates about the role of the Lord President. From your conversations with stakeholders, is there a concern in the judiciary that we are giving powers to the Lord President that could be seen as making him or her take political decisions, which is clearly not what the Lord President is there to do? Have concerns been raised that it is inappropriate for the Lord President to do that type of work?