Speeches by Kane.

“This is obviously one where you do not need to wait for the legislation for the details of how you are going to do it. Can you give us a little bit more colour as to how this is actually going to work in practice? Also, how are you going to make sure that the developers pay it? It is all very well to have local authori…”

“But fundamentally, if they do not pay it, no one is moving into their buildings.”

“And you have assured yourself that this was a highly unusual, one-off situation, not something that is going on elsewhere?”

“I don’t think it is the scheme. What I heard was that, within the Department, one person managed to cause quite an issue with data. My worry is that there are more points of failure within the Department. The assurance I am looking for is that, based on what you have found out in this instance, you have done that work …”

“Yes. I was going to ask a couple of questions about the building safety levy in particular. You say that you are going to start collecting it in the autumn. What needs to be in place to start collecting the building safety levy in the autumn? Are you on track to do that?”

“I will try to be very circumspect about this. I am a bit troubled by the fact that a death can cause you that lack of information. It sounds like it would be useful for us to understand a bit more about that, perhaps in a letter. I am keen to understand whether it is a one-off—a highly unusual situation—or whether some…”

“I have worked in the creative industries all my working life, from helping my father to sell radios and televisions when I was a teenager, to presenting radio shows on stations across Scotland and supporting businesses by creating content for websites. Today, I want to address the disconnect between creativity and cost…”

“No, you cannot give us a cast-iron guarantee, and I do not think we would ask for a cast-iron guarantee. We are trying to get an assurance. Language is important for assurance, but I do take the point that you cannot give a cast-iron guarantee.”

“It is the word “hope” that causes the issue.”

“I remember my postgraduate business course at the University of Stirling, where we did an accountancy module. I always recall my lecturer saying, “I’ve got you for 10 weeks. I can’t teach you how to do accounts, but I can teach you how to ask your accountant questions.” That has always stuck with me, because this is an…”

“The Chair has just given you feedback, which leads me on to my next question. All MPs could probably give you feedback. You may want to write to us on this, rather than go into depth just now, but I am keen to understand how you are continuing to engage with MPs to get their feedback. Accountants tend to speak a very s…”

“This is a question for the permanent secretary. The disclaimer on the accounts puts a question mark over the value of them in the mind of non-accountants, so straightaway you have a perception problem with regard to the disclaimer. Could you give us your views on what this criticism does to the value of the Whole of Go…”

“Rosie or Will, what do you think has caused the local audit crisis?”

“Are you confident we are going to fix it?”

“Until you fix it, will it be that more moneys are required to help with the audit fees?”

“I remember that in my time in local government, in respect of the prudent approach, it was always politicians who tried to be the least prudent, and then it was officers and then the accountants. The accountants are always the ones who are most prudent. In terms of your financial forecasting as a Department for how lon…”

“So the forecasting of how long you will need this additional funding in your forward planning are the same as what you are telling us.”

“Okay. I think that in last year’s Committee appearance, permanent secretary, the Chair talked about the difference between hope and surety. Is your opinion that we are still hopeful that we are going to do this? Or do you have that assurance that you think we are now beyond that and we are better than hope—we actually …”

“Does the Minister agree that alongside the triple lock, the most important thing for women pensioners in Scotland is fixing our NHS, and that the SNP Government must act urgently to ensure that vulnerable Scots do not face what even the SNP Health Secretary has described as unacceptable waits for treatment?”

“I will ask a question about distribution and cold spots. I am reminded that, when I used to take family trips with my parents in the car, we always stopped at Killington Lake services coming down the M6. Stopping there almost became a habit because that is when the car would be running out of petrol. I am at Tebay, whi…”