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The minister is right to acknowledge the uncertainty that communities across central Scotland that are on or near sites earmarked for fracking have been living with over recent years. It is very welcome that the Scottish Government has now confirmed its decision that fracking should not happen in Scotland.
I know that you have concerns about the volume and impact of the scrutiny. 09:45 We do not live in an ideal world in which, of course, we would have a full scrutiny process.
There is also an issue about how we ensure that, in the run-up to the register going live, there is significant publicity so that those small organisations that are perhaps not in tune with changes to the legislation are well aware that they need to comply and what they need to do to comply.
If that had been the reality of the first year of going live, we would have been up against the buffers of the reserve and the borrowing powers and that flexibility.
That would be an onerous challenge at the best of times, but when it comes to council budgets, we live in the worst of times. We have seen a £1.5 billion cut in council budgets since 2011.
How do we improve or add to the process? How do we make it a living, breathing function of the Parliament, so that whether it is at a Government level or through the institutions of this Parliament, the process is meaningful?