Chamber and committees

No—that is fine. Thank you.

Good morning. We are all keen to see effective intergovernmental activity and effective scrutiny of that activity. We have discussed a range of different things that could be done to improve that, most of which will involve some cost in terms of time, expertise or resources. What additional resources—cost as well as time—would any changes that can be made involve for the Government and the Parliament? To what extent is it worth spending that resource? I am sure that lots of measures could be taken. Could resources be found within existing budgets, or does extra money need to be spent on it?

I will start with Mireia Grau Creus. Given the formalised structure in Spain, can we also assume that more resources are spent on IGR there?

On that very point, a clear outcome of any referendum that establishes the settled will of the people of Scotland is what is desired, regardless of whether there is a requirement for a supermajority.

This also takes us back to the point that Professor Tomkins made earlier. In the 2014 referendum, it was not just the Scottish Government that was arguing at the time that there was a democratic mandate for a referendum through the Scottish Parliament elections; there was a sense that not just the Scottish Government and the UK Government, but both sides of the debate in Scotland—yes and no—had decided that it was time for those questions to be put. If you want that sort of clear and concise outcome in any future referendum, there will have to be consent, not just at a UK Government versus Scottish Government level, but within Scotland and on both sides of the debate—or as close to both sides as possible, because you are never going to get unanimity on this matter—that such a referendum should take place.

You mentioned HES bringing in an independent HR team. We have talked about the need for a cultural review of the organisation and have heard about individual processes that need to be followed before that takes place. For clarity, would a cultural review of the organisation be an independent review?

You mention learning lessons about how this has come to pass. Do you think that it is just a HES problem? Are there similar issues in other parts of the culture sector or the public sector? Maybe not to the same extent, but—

I was asking because we have had a lot of discussion today about problems at the top, but the staff on the ground and throughout the organisation are obviously working hard in difficult circumstances. A meeting may be something to consider.

We have talked a lot about the culture in the organisation. I want to ask about financial planning and financial management. You said that the organisation is “commercially successful”. I have raised concerns previously with HES about financial planning in relation to financial strategies and pay awards, and whether the organisation was budgeting sufficiently for pay awards that were in line with public sector pay policy. Concerns have also been raised previously about changes to pay grades. To what extent are you reassured about HES when it comes to financial planning and financial management? It has, I think, a £73 million budget from Scottish Government.

Good morning. Just on that last point, it has been reported that a group of staff is now considering legal action against HES and the Scottish Government for failures under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Equality Act 2010. How concerned are you that the Scottish Government could be facing legal action?

Thank you. I have two final questions. There have been a lot of discussions about what meetings you have held, cabinet secretary, and with whom. Have you met, or are you planning to meet, the HES trade union representatives?

Thank you.

I will go back to the earlier questions about meetings that you have had with HES. I understand what you said about not having meetings with the board of HES previously. I think that you said that you would accept the invitation to attend a board meeting in future, but you have not requested an invitation so far. If one is not forthcoming, will you request an invitation to attend a HES board meeting? Notwithstanding the fact that you have not attended previously and that, obviously, your officials have been working on the issue, will you request an invitation to attend future board meetings that are coming up, given everything that is going on, so that you can see that for yourself and meet the board yourself?

We have talked a lot about the balance between accessibility and cash, and the impact on young people. We obviously want to showcase the game—the men’s game, the women’s game—to the next generation to inspire them to get involved in football. Equally, it is not just about that, because we want to provide them with the youth coaching opportunities to enable them to be the footballers of the future. There is a difficult balance to be struck: we all want matches to be free to air and we all want to ensure that there are proper resources for Scottish football.

At the moment, we have free-to-air qualifiers on the BBC, and we have the resource that follows from that. I think that George Adam described that as the best of both worlds. Is that the optimum situation?