Chamber and committees

That is great, Jill. Thank you.

Thinking about Willie Rennie’s comments, I wonder whether council licensing could be an approach to the issue.

I know that we have covered the issue of drugs testing at venues to a degree, but does Martha Williams or Ellen MacRae have anything to say about that? I imagine that, for young people, a lot of the underreporting of these incidents and many of the associated issues and trauma arise from the confusion, fear and uncertainty that they feel, the ambiguity of not knowing what happened and a sense of helplessness about the situation. Drugs testing might improve reporting rates and help people to deal with the trauma. I realise, though, that it would be quite complex and that there are practical and financial aspects to take into account.

I do not disagree with what has been said about doing something for victims now, but my question is about what the next steps are. We have had the ministerial round table, which involved the police, NHS 24, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, Victim Support Scotland, the Night Time Industries Association, Rape Crisis Scotland, and other public organisations. However, I do not see anything in our papers about next steps, particularly in relation to what Mike Grieve said about evidence-based reporting protocols, possibly at a national level, by which nightclubs can be provided with some information that is easy to follow, from people who are doing similar things.

Is a forum or a group already in place? We have the equally safe in colleges and universities core leadership group, but is there an overarching group that takes into account all the different organisations that are looking at doing such work, and that looks at what those protocols might be and at what protocols there might be for bystanders or young people themselves?

But is there no overarching, national, multi-agency approach? Is that missing? I am sorry if I was not making myself clear.

Okay. When I have asked my question, I will go offline and come back in. I hope that that will improve things.

Good morning, panel. It is good to have you here. It has already been mentioned that physical wellbeing has a vital role in mental health and wellbeing. How well have universal interventions such as targets for PE, free school meals and access to school counsellors supported health and wellbeing outcomes for our young people?

Yes, I am. Is there a wee problem with my camera?

Is there a need for more qualitative data? Are you looking for anything specific in that regard?

Earlier, Irene Beautyman mentioned the work done by the Improvement Service and Public Health Scotland on spatial planning health and wellbeing outcomes. How can the proposed outcomes be embedded in the framework so that they are used consistently?

That is helpful, thank you. I should say that I am a councillor at South Lanarkshire Council. I am no longer on the planning committee, but I was previously. Deputy convener, is it okay if I follow up with another short question?

There were some comprehensive answers there—those were interesting and worthwhile interventions. I suppose that they lead me on to my next question, which is about how health and wellbeing outcomes are being measured. How can we as policy makers evaluate the impact of the preventative approaches and the early interventions that you are talking about?