Chamber and committees

That is helpful.

Do Danny Boyle and Farah Farzana want to add anything to that?

The plan is due this year.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I appreciate that, minister. We heard consistently from witnesses that it is not easy to follow the money all the way through, so that people can understand what is happening, whether a budget line is going up or down and how that impacts on equality and human rights. In some cases, witnesses, including Audit Scotland, said that there is a gap between the aspiration and the reality of what is being delivered. What conversations have you had with other Government departments and ministers with different portfolios about the impact of their budget lines on equality and human rights?

Are you confident that ministers with other portfolios have the information, data and engagement that they need to be able to recognise how their budget can have an impact on equalities?

Are you confident that local authorities have done that?

The social care and education budgets are really squeezed. We hear of disabled people struggling. We heard from People First that the people it works with are having to choose whether to pay a bill, get the shopping or have a bath or a shower. Such choices do not result in equality and human rights being realised.

Yesterday, I met organisations that work in autism and heard about some of the experiences that they are having in the education sector. It is really difficult to find support for people when they transition out of school, because the services do not exist or the money is not available for them.

What conversations have you had with the Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and COSLA about the implications of some of those settlements for local authorities and the impact on equality and human rights? Ultimately, the issue is about specifics in those areas, as opposed to the broader £48 million that is going into the structural inequality funding.

That is helpful. When will the Scottish Government start to engage with organisations on that report? Are you already doing that?