Chamber and committees

Professor Meier, you spoke about the Scottish experience being significantly different and very encouraging. You also talked about seeing momentum in the right direction, and that there is too much of a focus on mitigation rather than on root causes. In Scotland, what can we do with the limited powers that are available to us to tackle those root causes? At times, it feels as though we are limited to mitigating policy that comes from the UK Government.

I want to go back to something that Dr Cawston said earlier, which I think goes to the heart of the issues that we are looking at. Dr Cawston, you talked about the fact that those most in need are often the people who are making fewer demands and about learned helplessness. Clearly, we really need to be able to reach into those communities and touch the lives of these people if we want them to be healthy in their 50s and 60s. I am really interested in any comments on that, but, mainly, what key recommendations would you like to see the health committee make in its report to address that?

I have a wee supplementary question, which goes back to what we were talking about in the first place. It seems that wraparound support for wellbeing is a key priority for students—that seems to be what they are looking for. Going back to the point about the parity of students’ views, do students have the power to insist that boards and principals make that a priority for their colleges?

I will turn first to Amy Monks. We heard in previous evidence that students need that support to make sure they are getting involved in the key decision making and that, when they come to boards or the college student association, they are not just reporting back on what it is that they have done. I am interested in any examples of how students have influenced some of the key decisions that have been made there.

Yes, convener. As a follow-up question, perhaps for Al Wilson, how important are the officer roles in supporting students and making sure that they are part of making these key decisions?

I apologise, convener. When I said Amy Monks, I actually meant Heather Innes, who made the comment.

That is great. Does anyone else have anything to add?

I have a small question on Amy Monks’s comment about local variation. Is there anything that we could put in place or roll out to make sure that these things happen across the board?

You talked about local variation and said that, in some areas, things are working really well and, in others, not so well. What might help to ensure that students right across the board get the impact of that support and the encouragement that they need?

I have a different question that is a bit wider. How do we put wellbeing at the centre of approaches to all the issues that we are hearing about around the table? Is there a place for wellbeing plans for individuals that they have power and control over, so that they are looking at their needs, prioritising them and using that as their access to different services across the board?