Chamber and committees

How would that compare with the resources in England? Do you have a view on the size of team that you think would actually be required in reality in Scotland?

It would be great if you could come back to us with that information.

Heather Kelman referred to influencing. When suppliers and big organisations pay to promote their products and pay for where those products sit on the shelves, realistically, how much influence can you have on that practice to improve uptake of healthy foods? Are there any recommendations that the committee could make to the Scottish Government that could increase your level of influence?

What implications does the delay to the development and approval of the action plan have for the overall timetable for addressing the recommendations of the independent review?

Yes, that is fine—that is a bit clearer.

I have a question for Forbes Dunlop. How likely is it that Cricket Scotland will need to remain in special measures beyond October 2023?

That is helpful.

I want to follow up on the vitamin part of it as well. First, on the point that Sandesh Gulhane raised about personal responsibility, there are families that have to put every single bit of their time and energy into making it through the day and putting food in their children’s belly to stop them feeling hungry. That is the priority, and it is not about nutrition. I ran a health food store for several years, and I used to tell my children that protein gives you big muscles. I would get them to show me their muscles after they had eaten stuff. I told them that carbohydrates give you energy, and I would get them to show me all their energy once they had eaten something up.

There is certainly education stuff that we can do, but when you are struggling for money and feeding your kids spaghetti hoops out of a tin with some toast for three days in a row, that really does not help you. It is quite a pressure knowing that the nutritional value of that food is really quite low. We have certain vitamin and mineral supplements for pregnant women, as you mentioned, and for young children, but I wonder whether having a top-up dose that helps prevent deficiency diseases has been considered at a wider level. Earlier, the convener mentioned that we have seen some of those things coming back to a certain degree. I just wonder where that is now. I am also interested in whether anything is happening on breastfeeding, because that has an obvious long-term impact.

I appreciate that, but that is not the position that we are in just now. Might that be considered?

I have a couple of questions. We have already spoken about obesity, complexities around it and links to poverty, energy prices and so on. I am conscious of the time, so a short answer would be quite good, if possible. To what extent do you expect the bill to address obesity levels and protect public health?

The focus of the bill is clearly on influencing individuals’ behaviour or restricting access, but there is a need to address things at a wider level, as well. For example, one of my local councils looked at community access to school kitchens in the evenings, which would provide cooking skills and hot nutritious food, as well as help with isolation. That is just an example. I know that there are complexities around it, but that does not mean that we should not attempt to do such things. In the very broadest terms, what other legislation or policy initiatives might be helpful for improving people’s food choices and protecting public health? I am not sure who wants to answer that.