Minutes: 17 March 2026

1. Decision on taking business in private:

The Committee agreed to take agenda items 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 in private.

2. The 2024/25 audit of the Scottish Public Pensions Agency:

The Committee took evidence from—

Dr Stephen Pathirana, Chief Executive Officer, Christopher Nairns, Chief Operating Officer and Frances Graham, Chief Transformation Officer, Scottish Public Pensions Agency;

Lesley Fraser, Director-General Corporate, Scottish Government.

3. The 2024/25 audit of the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (In Private):

The Committee considered the evidence heard at agenda item 2 and took further evidence from—

Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland;

Michael Oliphant, Audit Director and Stuart Nugent, Senior Audit Manager, Audit Scotland.

4. The 2024/25 audit of the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (In Private):

The Committee considered the evidence heard at agenda items 2 and 3 and agreed to include its work in its legacy report.

5. Legacy report (In Private):

The Committee considered and agreed a draft legacy report with changes.

6. Annual report (In Private):

The Committee considered and agreed a draft annual report for the parliamentary year from 13 May 2025 to 8 April 2026.

7. Work programme (In Private):

The Committee considered its work programme and noted correspondence from HM Revenue and Customs in relation to the Administration of Scottish income tax 2024/25.

The Committee considered correspondence from the Scottish Government in relation to NHS in Scotland: Finance and performance and agreed to close its scrutiny of the report.

The Committee considered correspondence from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) in relation to Delayed discharges: A symptom of the challenges facing health and social care and agreed to close its scrutiny of the report and in doing so, include its work in its legacy report.