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My last wee question is about economic inactivity. I have previously asked about the extent to which you disaggregate data by sex, because that often gives interesting patterns. It makes me wonder to what extent we might see emerging patterns when we do that. Obviously, there will always be a big proportion of economic inactivity related to childcare. Have you got any sense of what patterns there are? Do you disaggregate data in that way? Have you got any further plans to derive more key insights?

Sorry to interrupt, but the scale of the ONS data set for Scotland has been an issue in recent years, has it not? Has that moved on at all?

Good morning. I will start by following up on the point that Craig Hoy was asking about. It would be useful for me to understand a little more, Mr Kennedy, about the direct engagement that you have had with the Government to express your concerns about costs. You mentioned the Sheku Bayoh inquiry. That tent seems to be out there, given how long that inquiry has been running and the costs that have been incurred. You might not have been in place at that time but, at the start of that inquiry, did you express concerns about the potential implications of cost and the operational challenges that would result therein? It would be useful if you could walk us through how many meetings have been held and how frequently you have raised your concerns with the Government.

You mentioned the justice secretary. There was quite the media campaign by the lawyer representing the family of Sheku Bayoh to have the scope of the inquiry increased, and it was the Deputy First Minister who said, “No, we are not going to do that.” Have you have had any engagement with the Deputy First Minister?

I appreciate that you were not in post then, but it would be useful to understand from you, even anecdotally, where those conversations went. If concerns were being raised about the operational impact on your core duties, did anything arise from that, or were those concerns simply noted—or noted and put in a box somewhere not to be looked at again?

You said that you have written letters on that. Have you had responses to them?

Of course, but surely you would be pushing to protect yourself and your reputation. Surely your view—I am interested to hear whether this is, indeed, your view—would be that the inquiry must, ideally, be led by someone external to Scotland altogether, because of the potential conflict of interest given the Crown Office’s role in the Rangers case.

I am not necessarily focusing on that. It is about the decision-making processes—and not only the question whether an inquiry should be set up, but its nature in respect of good governance. That is why I am asking the question.

I do not have anything else to ask, convener.

Good morning. I will keep my questions brief. This session has been invaluable. It has been interesting for me to listen to it.

We have had a number of conversations about the so-called economic performance gap and you have clearly illustrated the reality and why it is more complex than simply seeking top lines. I am quite intrigued by the percentage of our conversation this morning about getting further clarity on the operation of the fiscal framework, with the different events that influence data and information coming in from the UK Government and the Scottish Government.

I also feel that, every time that we have these sessions, we are descending in terms of transparency, which has to underpin the point of why we are doing this. Things seem to become ever more opaque, ironically, as we get more data and information, and that is clearly driven by a system that seems to encourage short-termism and more complexity, becoming ever more inefficient. That is just my observation from sitting and listening to this session, but I am interested in hearing your views, because your work rate must also be increasing.

That is very helpful. I will pick up on a comment that you made earlier about HMRC. Have you got any indication from HMRC as to whether it might start to make more data available? You were talking about self-employed people, and, with the making tax digital programme coming during the next tax year, there will be much more data available, even if it is not collected—and it could be during future phases. There must also be more data available with people making interim, mid-year payments, which came in a few years ago. The whole point is to make data more readily available to mitigate the problem of the self-employed figures.

Mr McGowan, I have a question for you. In this inquiry, we have touched on the potential perception, real or otherwise, of a conflict of interest. Have you had any initial engagement on that? I note that at point 5 of your submission, with regard to what you refer to as the “Rangers case”, you say:

“The form and nature of this Inquiry has yet to be confirmed.”

Have you had discussions with Government as to the nature of that inquiry, given the significant potential for interest? For example, it could be led by somebody from the Scottish legal fraternity, which is relatively small, with many lawyers going to the Crown Office and vice versa. Have any such discussions taken place?