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I was going to say that that is what it is, and it would stay the same, because that is the role of a local councillor. I have been a councillor, and half of me thinks, “Why would somebody actually want to be a councillor?” I am sure that you will agree with me on that, Collette. It is a hard job for anyone, and you are literally on the front line of politics.

The important part of the bill is the enabling part for people who want to represent their community. In some cases, the communities involved are small hubs throughout the country. The bill will give people that opportunity. That does not take away from the fact that, as you and I and others here know, it is a difficult job. You are on the front line of politics. You are literally just down the street from many of the individuals you represent.

No problem. That would be a case of what I said to the deputy convener. Regardless of who the individual is or which nation pulls out, this Parliament will follow suit.

I used to have a colleague called Jim Mitchell, who was a Scottish National Party councillor in Renfrewshire for 35 years, and he used to say that something like 3 per cent of the population actually become involved in politics and then we spend the rest of the time falling out and shouting at each other. He used to ask, “Why?”

Thank you, and good morning. I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss the bill. It seeks to ensure compliance with treaties that the United Kingdom Government has agreed to in relation to voting and candidacy rights in local government elections. Treaties have been agreed with Portugal, Luxembourg, Spain and Poland.

At present, all foreign nationals with any form of leave to remain in the United Kingdom can vote in Scottish local government elections, but candidacy rights are limited to people with indefinite leave to remain or pre-settled status. We anticipate that most European Union nationals who are currently resident in Scotland already have candidacy rights.

The bill is tightly focused on the treaties that I mentioned. Although our law on voting rights already complies with the treaties, the bill is needed to ensure compliance in relation to candidacy rights. It will do that by extending candidacy rights to any nationals of Portugal, Luxembourg, Spain and Poland who have a limited form of leave to remain in the United Kingdom.

Last autumn, the Government’s shared policy programme undertook to develop legislation on electoral reform to enable more people to stand as candidates in Scottish Parliament and local government elections. I have previously outlined to the committee my intention to consult later this year on a number of electoral reform proposals. I expect that consultation to consider issues surrounding a wider expansion of candidacy rights—for example, to all foreign nationals with limited leave to remain or to 16 and 17-year-olds.

I look forward to discussing the bill with the committee, and I am completely happy to answer any questions that members may have.

I might have misunderstood your question. I was saying that I will send you a copy of the letter, and I will do that timeously. Are you asking me about the issue that the deputy convener brought up?

Again, it is a question of balance. As we should remember with everything related to the bill, a limited number of people are involved. Iain Hockenhull can answer your question on the data.

As I will probably say in many of my answers, that would be a problem and situation for the UK Government to deal with. There are always concerns that there might be a situation in which someone does not have the right to put themselves forward as a candidate, but the important thing to remember is that, if the UK Government changes the treaty, the bill will give us the ability to use a statutory instrument to ensure that we can follow suit. There might be a chance of some people having difficulty in being a candidate in the future, but it will be only a small percentage. If we look at the number of people who put their names forward for elected office as a percentage of the general population and then at the number of people whom the bill will affect, we see that it is a small minority. I am not saying that it would not happen, but it is unlikely. It would be an extreme case.

It is concerning but, again, that is down to the UK Government and what an individual’s rights are and their place in the country at that stage. It is outwith my scope and is more to do with colleagues in the UK Government.

For example, someone might come into the country via Glasgow and then get a job in Aberdeen, say, or go to university elsewhere. Getting the data is kind of difficult, because we are talking about what happens in normal life.

No matter how keen I or other ministers might be for that to remain the case, it would be difficult for us to do that in the bill. After all, it is up to the UK Government to sign the treaties. It would be impossible for us to extend those rights to a country that the UK Government had decided not to have a treaty with any more.