Speeches by Kane.

“I am interested that you are talking about the need to look at having more structured forums. That is quite exciting. In terms of recruiting planning officers—in Stirling, it was planning officers and bridge engineers; we could never get bridge engineers, and there were not enough planning officers—there is definitely …”

“Given where you are in the creation of NISTA, what is the confidence that you are expressing based on?”

“I want to talk about resources. How are you going to ensure that NISTA has the necessary resources and capacity to deliver its scope?”

“You have talked about bringing everything together, but what new powers and authority will NISTA have to drive improvements? How will you ensure that you are not just moving things into a central pot but you are getting the additional powers that you need to do things?”

“I want to turn to ask you about the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, or NISTA, as we have been referring to it. I know we have referred to it earlier on, but, just to give a very clear statement here, how is NISTA going to improve the delivery of Government’s major projects?”

“We talk about mayoralties and the way that we are interacting with those, but we do not have those in Scotland, where I am from. Can I get an assurance that the changes in the Green Book are not predicated on the way that we deal with things in England? You have differences in devolution. I am the one on this Committee…”

“Chair, I hope you will forgive me for carrying on a little bit on smaller projects. I know we are talking about big projects. One of the reasons that councils tend not to have that as an internal resource is that they do not need it all the time. They buy it in. There is an economic reason that they buy it in. When it …”

“My experience of the Green Book is from being a council leader in Stirling before being elected. An observation that I and the senior officers had was that the Green Book approaches to a £20 million project and a £2 billion project seem very similar. It does not seem to be weighted. It is harder for smaller organisatio…”

“Can I ask you about the Green Book, please? It is Nick or possibly David I want to talk to. The spending review says you are going to introduce place-based business cases to bring together the projects needed to achieve the objectives of a particular place. How are the changes to the Green Book going to ensure that pro…”

“AI will reduce the need for certain resources, but there is a need for a resource to evaluate and use the AI, to check that it is interacting with the Departments properly. Do you have the resource to do that? At the stage you are at with NISTA, it is an exciting time to be looking at AI and also evaluating it. You are…”

“Jon, can I just pick up and develop your point on AI for a minute? AI is obviously very exciting and is a major project in itself for Government going forward, but where we are in the development of AI needs a degree of enthusiasm, balanced with a degree of cynicism, just to make sure that it is developing the way it s…”

“For too many people, the belief that intelligence, hard work and perseverance will be rewarded no longer holds true. The ladder of opportunity that once allowed previous generations to climb to a better future is now harder to reach and sometimes even harder to ascend. This is not just a personal frustration; it is a s…”

“T5. United Auctions in my constituency has recently become the UK’s first employee-owned livestock auctioneer. Will the Secretary of State commit to doing more to encourage employee ownership models as a great option for rural businesses that want to thrive, attract new talent and remain rooted in the communities that …”

“The programme launch for this year’s Bloody Scotland—the country’s leading crime writing festival—took place at the Golden Lion hotel in Stirling. It is the 13th annual festival and this year includes events programmed by Scotland’s king of crime writing, Sir Ian Rankin, and takes place on the weekend of 12 to 14 Septe…”

“Q12. In Scotland, over 10,000 children are stuck in temporary accommodation, including many in my constituency. Too many families face soaring rents, long waiting lists and dwindling options. It is just one of so many policy failings—we are all losing count and losing patience—as public confidence in the SNP’s ability …”

“The SNP has cut mental health services across Scotland, while failing to recruit the necessary workforce in rural communities such as those in Stirling and Strathallan. What assessment has the Department made of how devolved mismanagement of mental health services is affecting outcomes for patients in rural Scotland?”

“Do you have an idea of what change you need to see once we move forward with this?”

“Okay. Could you talk about that in the context of the reserves and the cadets? Are you seeing the same problems and issues with both, or do they work differently?”

“Right, so there is no difference between the cadets and the reserves? Thank you. Those are fairly concise answers to my question.”

“I am going to push this ever so slightly, because as a Scottish MP—a devolved MP—I think your answer would give my colleagues from England great confidence that these conversations are going on between the right people and the right Departments, but from my perspective there is another level in that, which is the Scott…”