Chamber and committees

I will summarise what you have said. There should be increased frequency of your appearances in front of the corporate body and, possibly, in front of committees, although we all understand that there are capacity issues in relation to the Criminal Justice Committee, which is why, in the previous parliamentary session, there was the Justice Sub-committee on Policing, which provided extra capacity.

I want to pick up your point about the reports that you produce. Do you feel that you are not receiving any sort of scrutiny on a number of your reports?

Different forms of accountability and scrutiny are interacting. We have the corporate body, the SPPA Committee and Audit Scotland. How do you think they are working together? Is there anything that could be done to improve that?

Your organisation publishes a lot of data sets on performance, including key performance indicators against the functions that are set out in the enabling legislation. Not all the supported bodies are required to do that. Should all the supported bodies publish the same sets of information?

The programme for government prioritises eradicating child poverty, but the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reports that 26 per cent of children in Scotland still live in relative poverty. Although the Scottish child payment is crucial, we cannot merely react to poverty outcomes: we must change outcomes by breaking the cycle that traps so many families in poverty by going upstream to stop people falling into debt.

Education is critical in tackling the scourge of financial exploitation by empowering Scotland’s children with financial literacy from primary school age, so will the Government commit to supporting game-changing financial literacy initiatives, such as those that RedSTART Educate runs in my constituency, to break at its roots the cycle of generational child poverty?

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the social justice secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding how it can improve financial literacy levels among children, in light of reports that it is a key driver of inequality, which affects attainment and perpetuates the cycle of generational poverty. (S6O-04341)

Almost one in three working women in Scotland are employed in the public sector—many in health and social care. The Government has a duty to ensure that all policies of publicly funded bodies uphold legal and regulatory protections. Will the Government make a clear statement that the provision of same-sex spaces for women is a legal obligation and that gender self-identification is not the law in Scotland?

The oversight board’s third report confirms that there have been systemic failures in child safeguarding, but I am afraid that I am not picking up a sense that there is any recognition of that or of the accountability that is needed from the Government in driving change forward.

In the light of the calls in petition PE1979 for an independent inquiry into the mishandling of child protection and the establishment of a national whistleblowing officer for education and children’s services, will the Government commit to ensuring that whistleblowers are properly protected and that public bodies are held accountable for safeguarding failures and not left to mark their own homework?

I have listened to Labour members’ speeches all afternoon. Are they labouring under the apprehension, as Margaret Thatcher was, that the economy of a country is the same as a household budget? Perhaps I should send them an economics textbook so that they can brush up on economics.

The UK Government’s decision to raise employer national insurance contributions will have devastating consequences for Scotland’s businesses, charities and public services. The not-for-profit Thistle Foundation, which does critical work in my constituency to support thousands of people with disabilities and long-term health conditions, has called the ENICs hike a “catastrophic blow”, with the impact on it leaving an unfunded financial gap of £292,000.

High-volume, low-profit employers are appalled that Scotland’s block grant is being used to offset short-sighted policy making from London. Women dominate Scotland’s workforce in sectors that are being hit hardest by the increased costs—health, social care, retail, hospitality and the third sector—and many of those industries are already struggling with financial pressures. They now face higher costs, possible job losses and service closures. If employers are forced to cut jobs or reduce hours, women, who are more likely to be working part time or in low-paid roles, might well suffer first. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, the STUC and 50 other organisations have warned the UK Government that the decision risks Scotland’s vital services.

The Parliament has already debated the ENIC hike and there is largely consensus, even from some in Labour, who might now be pondering the benefit of independence from their Westminster Government’s chaotic decisions. The UK Government is acting in an economically illiterate manner. This tax on jobs is anti-growth and it should be dropped.

We could be discussing other important issues of strong public interest in the chamber today, such as Government-funded bodies acting beyond the law and NHS board accountability. I hope that the Parliament and the Scottish Government are listening to that point.

Good morning. I want to cover issues around accountability and scrutiny mechanisms. In your submission to the committee, you set out the various different interactions between those scrutiny mechanisms. Can you explain those a little bit for us and say how they work together and whether they are effective and robust?