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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 9 July 2025
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Displaying 2597 contributions

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Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2023/24 audit of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland”

Meeting date: 9 January 2025

Colin Beattie

Auditor General, WICS is a very small organisation—tiny, in fact—but for quite a number of years, it has adopted a culture in which the irregular is almost the norm. Buried within that is what I see as a level of extravagance not matched elsewhere in the Government sector. I know that action has been taken to put in place new limits on that, and new ways of controlling and managing expenditure through financial controls—all of those things—but underneath all that is still a culture that has been allowed to flourish, and which has been embedded for a great many years.

In reading your report, I detect—and this is my interpretation—an element of caution as to whether, in fact, that profound cultural change throughout the organisation as it is presently structured can actually be achieved. Am I reading too much into that?

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2023/24 audit of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland”

Meeting date: 9 January 2025

Colin Beattie

Other than an audit qualification, what does the refusal to grant retrospective approval actually mean? What does it do? What is the impact?

Public Audit Committee

“Alcohol and drug services”

Meeting date: 19 December 2024

Colin Beattie

I will carry on from where the convener left off. I am looking at the “Alcohol Framework 2018” and the obstacles that have been encountered in delivering the commitments in the framework. I would appreciate it if my question was addressed across the three principal areas that are laid out in the framework, which are to reduce consumption; to support positive attitudes and choices; and to support families and communities. What have the obstacles been? Have there been achievements that we do not know about?

Public Audit Committee

“Alcohol and drug services”

Meeting date: 19 December 2024

Colin Beattie

You talked about the ageing nature of those who are dependent on drugs and how many have been in their situation for 10 to 20 years. Is there evidence that consumption of alcohol among younger people is dropping? Are crude consumption levels an adequate indicator of the harm that is being done? Is the situation similar, with a fall-off in consumption among younger people, but those who have been dependent on alcohol for many years still coming through the system and getting older? Does alcohol consumption track drug taking?

Public Audit Committee

“Alcohol and drug services”

Meeting date: 19 December 2024

Colin Beattie

That takes us neatly to data collection, which is always a problem for the public sector. The Auditor General comments on the lack of good data. How can we target our resources against the problem if we do not have the data to inform us how to do that? How limited is the data? Is it capable of being used to properly inform local service planning? I am thinking of the rural areas that are described as being hard to get to. You have already highlighted changing patterns in drug use and the fact that there is not one particular drug of choice. How do you make effective use of the limited data that you have, and how accurate is that data in informing how you deliver services?

Public Audit Committee

“Alcohol and drug services”

Meeting date: 19 December 2024

Colin Beattie

I am sorry to interrupt but, to be clear, do you disagree with the Auditor General’s statement that there is a lack of good data?

Public Audit Committee

“Alcohol and drug services”

Meeting date: 19 December 2024

Colin Beattie

You indicated that comparisons with other countries are difficult, certainly from a data point of view, but there must be lessons that we can learn from other countries. They must have had successes that we could, to be frank, steal. We should not be too proud; if someone has found a way to do something better, we should latch on to that and see if it will work here. How good are we at learning those lessons?

Public Audit Committee

“Alcohol and drug services”

Meeting date: 19 December 2024

Colin Beattie

Thank you for the background on the data. I will come back to what I asked about before. How good is that data for the purpose of informing local service planning? I am thinking in particular about the rural side, which is more difficult to reach .

Public Audit Committee

“Alcohol and drug services”

Meeting date: 19 December 2024

Colin Beattie

A lot of money is going into this, there is a huge focus on it and I think that everybody in Parliament has a high expectation that DAISy will produce results. My concern is about whether the data is incomplete or will not give enough of a steer at a local level with regard to patterns of drug use and therefore the provision of the service to meet actual local need, which must differ between urban and rural areas and between different parts of the country. Are we getting enough information to be sure that we are targeting the right places with the right resources?

Public Audit Committee

“Alcohol and drug services”

Meeting date: 19 December 2024

Colin Beattie

My final question relates to early intervention, which, in almost anything, is a good thing. What progress has been made on early intervention and preventative measures by way of education in schools? How is the Scottish Government working with Education Scotland to take that forward?

09:45