I have two more questions, convener.
In answer to Colin Beattie’s question on staffing and staff morale, Mr Gray said that he thought that things had been improving, based on his meetings with staff and with the minister. As a councillor, I know that when someone is at the top of an organisation and deals with politicians or ministers, it is sometimes very easy for them to operate in a bubble.
At our evidence session in Dundee, stakeholders such as Bob McGlashan told us that staff morale is getting lower and lower, that staff do not feel valued and that there is
“a big stress for the nursing family.”—[Official Report, Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee, 15 December 2016; c 3.]
Raymond Marshall said that administrative staff had been an “easy target”, that staff feel frustrated and constrained, and that the relationship between managers and staff is not good and has got worse. He also said that there is no trust.
If we are going to deliver cultural change, there must be confidence and trust between staff and management. What role will you play in ensuring that there is engagement with staff? How will you command the confidence of staff and take them with you in implementing what is a very challenging agenda that includes cultural change and the need to make savings?