Chamber and committees

Are you aware of when that was last done?

Did you mention a timescale for when you expect that discussion to start?

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. My question relates to the points that you made on covering the cost of living. Are you aware of any plans to assess the real cost of living and the additional costs faced by disabled people in Scotland?

That would be helpful. The question was asked to get an understanding of whether, in the review of adult and child disability payments, you thought that payments, as they stand, are adequate to cover those costs.

We have touched on this already. Has the commission considered any way in which we, in Scotland, can maintain the value of benefits without changing from the consumer prices index? I note that your paper says that keeping that link is appropriate for now but that it may need to be looked at differently in the future. What mechanisms are open to the Government for doing that?

My original question has been answered, but I have a brief follow-up on what Danny Boyle just said. Are you aware of the panel process having already started, or is that something that you have not been involved in?

Thank you for that. I am probably going to go back a bit, if that is okay. I probably did not put my hand up in enough time to ask the question at the right moment.

We have just heard from Pervin Ahmad about the importance of a relational approach. I worry about race relations, which kind of takes me back to when we started discussing the Equality Act 2010. It feels like quite an old statement to make, but I am worried that race relations could be getting worse. I noted Pinar Aksu’s comments on people being placed in hotels rather than in ordinary community situations, and I have a couple questions about that.

I have been worried about what that means, particularly in Glasgow, but I am also worried about where the people who are on MS Ambition will go when it closes at the end of March. Have you noticed any impact on race relations in the city and across Scotland as a result not only of the more hostile environment but of the way that we have been putting people into unusual accommodation circumstances, as we might call them?

I thank the witnesses very much for the evidence that they have given us this morning and for the work that they have been doing. The point has just been made that the reality for organisations working in this field is really difficult right now. This committee and other committees have heard how hard it is for the third sector. I hope that something can be done about that and that the Government is cognisant of that, particularly when it comes to budgets.

A couple of my questions have been answered, particularly on the employment gap growing, especially for women.

In relation to the race equality, employment and skills framework, the then Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills said:

“We need to ensure that leaders of public authorities have a strong understanding of what”

racism

“is and how that understanding can be applied to dismantle the barriers that create race inequality in the workplace.”

Do we have that understanding? Do you think that institutional racism is recognised and named in Scotland’s public authorities?

Do you think that institutional racism is recognised and named in public authorities?

Am I right in saying that, if we are seeking to progress that work, we should look at what actions are being taken and follow where money has gone to try to see whether there has been a differential impact?