Chamber and committees

If there are no other comments, are members content to note the content of the letter?

Members indicated agreement.

Our next letter is from the Minister for Drugs Policy on the oversight of the national mission to tackle Scotland’s rate of drugs deaths. I can see that there are no comments on the letter. Therefore, are members happy to note the information provided?

Members indicated agreement.

We have a suggestion that we share the correspondence that we received from NHS Scotland with the Wise Group and others and ask them for any feedback that they wish to provide, bearing in mind that they will have the chance to pick up on the business case and the short-life working group. It would be helpful if they wish to write back to us.

In the meantime, we might want to write back to NHS Scotland on the specific points that members have raised—Jamie Greene’s point about digitisation and Collette Stevenson’s point about the short-life working group—as well as asking for more information on the business case.

Our next item of business is consideration of recent correspondence that has been received by the committee. I refer members to paper 1, in which the clerks have suggested ideas on how we might take forward the highlighted issues. However, I am happy for members to raise any points that they wish to make.

I will take each letter in turn, starting with the letter from the Minister for Community Safety on the commencement of various parts of the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022, which is on page 3 of paper 1. Do members have any queries or points to raise? If not, are members happy with the suggested follow-up action to note the developments that are outlined in the letter, including the confirmation that certain parts of the act will be implemented before bonfire night this year, and to note the timetables for the other parts of the act?

It is a good point. The issue of publicity and awareness was raised a number of times at committee, so I am happy for us to take that back to officials, if members are happy with that.

Does anyone else want to comment? Jamie, are you saying that you want to go back to the Government to ask about those further points?

I will bring in other members on that.

So—

I am asking whether you are content for the committee to send the correspondence to the Wise Group so that it can comment on it. We can pick it up from there.

Are members happy with that?

Members indicated agreement.