Chamber and committees

It is clear that there is quite a contrast, and you will be aware of new analysis that shows that independent European countries that are comparable to Scotland, often with a similar population, are both wealthier and fairer than the UK. Poverty rates are lower in those countries, with fewer children living in poverty and pensioner poverty rates being lower. What are the opportunities if we had the additional powers at our disposal that those other countries have?

Good morning to both witnesses. First, I pick up on the expectation that was laid out to the Finance and Public Administration Committee that short-term social security spend that addresses child poverty will mean that, in the longer term, fewer people will require that support. Will you explain a bit more about how the long-term finances are expected to be improved in order to deliver that?

I will move on to other issues that were raised by witnesses. In May, Kirsty McKechnie, from the Child Poverty Action Group, told us that she believes there is a

“direct correlation between food bank use and the two-child limit.”—[Official Report, Social Justice and Social Security Committee, 19 May 2022; c 4.]

The Govan Law Centre told us that the removal of the £20 universal credit uplift made the difference between people having to use food banks and not, and Inclusion Scotland told us that the five-week wait for universal credit sets folk up to fail. What analysis has the Scottish Government done of the overall impact of those and other UK Government welfare policies?

It is interesting that you used the word “prescriptive”, because the previous panel talked about whether there is a standard of proof—either gender dysphoria or something that takes the place of that—that trans people could meet, which would prove that they are trans before they get a GRC. Is there, in your view, anything that might apply to everyone who is trans in order for them to get a GRC?

How much does a lack of awareness of the different experiences that trans people have at gender identity clinics and of the different choices that they can legitimately make about their journey have an impact on the public view of what the process for a GRC should be?

I have no relevant interests.

I will move on to ask specifically about services. As a representative for the Highlands and Islands, I am very aware that all the current clinics are based in cities. Do you deal with many people who come from rural and island locations? Do people come up against real or perceived barriers when they access your services?

Absolutely—thank you. Those are all my questions.

A lot of my questions have been gone through in great detail, so I will try to avoid retreading.

My question is for Naomi Cunningham. We have heard comments about self-ID and concerns that that could mean expanding the group of people who would be able to obtain a GRC. I am aware that previous witnesses at the committee have described the current process as discriminatory. If there are barriers for people who do not have a lot of money or who live somewhere without easy access to gender identity services, is it not incumbent on us to do exactly that—to expand the group of people who are able to obtain a GRC?

I will move on to that. There have been quite a few comments on the need for a standard to be met or for proof to be standardised. However, the experience of trans people is as diverse as that of cisgender people. Is it possible, while also respecting trans people’s right to privacy and dignity, to prescribe an experience that they must go through or prove that they have experienced in order to have their identity recognised by the state?