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I seek the committee's agreement to take another item in private next week. I suggest that we hear the evidence from Audit Scotland on the financial performance of councils in private, because the material will not be publicly available until two days after we discuss it.
I am not happy about that. That is the kind of issue that we should discuss in public. If the information is going to be published anyway two days later, Audit Scotland should publish it on the day of our meeting or earlier. I do not see why we should have to go into private session to suit Audit Scotland's publication timetable.
Can we not wait a week and discuss the report after it is published, rather than get Audit Scotland to change its whole schedule to suit the committee?
Unfortunately, the timetable is so tight that we cannot do that. Please do not say that, once again when I have taken the chair, we will have to have another vote. Are there any other comments, or do members agree with Kenny Gibson's view?
I do not understand why Audit Scotland's report cannot be published earlier. What is its reason for not publishing it earlier?
I assume that the timetable is set. We are trying to fit into the timetable.
Does the report legally have to be published on a certain date, or will it simply not be back from the printers?
I think that it is just that there is a publication timetable, which we were not involved with and which could not fit into what we are doing. If we had known how busy we would be the following week, we could have followed Michael McMahon's suggestion.
May I ask a silly question? What is the material difference if we look at the evidence?
If we consider it next week in public, it will be in the public domain before the councils have seen it.
It is unfortunate that this has happened. We do enough of our work in private and, although much of that is essential, we should not send out the wrong signal on this issue. I propose that we take the evidence in public; it will be up to Audit Scotland to decide whether to publish it.
We would be sending out the wrong signal. If Audit Scotland is geared to a publication date, local authorities will be looking to that date. If they discover that the publication date has been altered because this committee does not want to fit in with the timetable of Audit Scotland, we would be sending out the wrong signal to local authorities; we will be saying that we should supersede their right to have the information before we do.
May I ask a question? I assume that, if we refuse to hold the session in private, Audit Scotland's representatives will refuse to come.
That is the danger.
Most likely, that would be the outcome.
In that case, I would prefer to see the evidence two days before the councils do.
Do you wish to proceed, Kenny?
The evidence should be taken in public.
The question is, that we hold next week's evidence session from Audit Scotland, on the financial performance of councils, in public. Are we agreed?
No.
There will be a division.
For
The result of the division is : For 2, Against 4, Abstentions 0.
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Local Government Finance Inquiry