Chamber and committees

Yes.

It is up to the Scottish Government to look at that in the round.

I acknowledge that point, but I say again that the Scottish Government is listening and will be looking at the situation for carers. I note again that, in the evidence that the committee has heard, carers acknowledged and welcomed what the Scottish Government is trying to do.

Independent advocacy is absolutely to be welcomed, but I am interested in the outcomes of the service and what it will achieve for people. How are you going to report on those?

The bill absolutely shows that the Scottish Government values carers. In previous evidence sessions, the committee heard that carers really appreciate what the Government is trying to do. Obviously, the Scottish Government wants to do more, but we have to make these changes in a planned fashion. There is an enabling power in the bill to increase carers allowance supplement, but that must be done in a proper, planned fashion.

I thank everyone for their contributions so far. I am interested in funding, and in particular in what Fiona Collie just said about the scale of change and what we are actually trying to achieve with a new national care service. In addition, I am interested in issues on data and so on, which were raised earlier.

In the redesign of the national care service, and if we are to excel in preventative care, with all the new measures that we want to bring in to make it a great service for people, can we ensure that costs can be contained in the long term, or is it your view that costs will always increase?

Perhaps Fiona Collie can go first.

I am interested in some of the early comments that the panel made. How do we give managers the headroom to deal with future and preventative care and to provide an exceptional service, rather than having to deal only with the present conditions and backlog?

I am really pleased to hear that there is cross-party input and that we are all working together to see a good conclusion to the work. Will we be able to implement something by the end of session 6?

I am very interested in a minimum income guarantee, as I think the public are, too. How challenging will it be to put that in place?