Chamber and committees

Following Maggie Chapman’s contribution, I am interested in what outcomes we would like to see. If we think about the particular challenges with other aspects of policy, there are concerns that non-residential care charges will not end by the end of the parliamentary session. We know that not everyone with a learning disability is receiving annual health checks, and that the human rights bill that would have helped to address some of those things is not going to progress during this session. What outcomes will we achieve, and what is your view on that? I appreciate that it is a big question.

Does anyone else want to add anything further?

I will follow on from many of those themes. The committee is trying to drill down beyond the data that has been collected and to look at targets

The 2017 act contains a number of national targets, and we are keen to understand their relevance in local areas—we have heard some points on that already. We are also keen to assess the extent to which local authorities feel that they can contribute to the national targets and whether it is the witnesses’ view that we are on track to meet some of them.

Can Martin Booth start on that? I am interested in what he said about the data that Glasgow City Council collects. What are your reflections on the targets?

Would anyone else like to comment?

Peter Kelly, what is your view on the interplay between national targets and local contexts? As I referenced in my opening question, there are concerns about missing the interim target and then missing the longer-term target. Might it be helpful for the Poverty Alliance to have a national role in that?

Good morning, cabinet secretary and officials.

I will broaden out from where we started the conversation. What is the Government doing to ensure that all those who are transferring will be properly supported and communicated with?

In addition, we know that there have, in the past, been issues affecting processing times, which we have debated and discussed. I appreciate that such issues can be challenging, but I am keen to know what preparation the cabinet secretary is making for some of those known challenges.

Thank you.

You have helpfully lined me up for the next issue that I want to explore, which is the voluntary nature of guidance. Wales is going to issue voluntary guidance ahead of the 2026 election. I presume that the witnesses’ view is that the Scottish Government should, at a minimum, do that, but, from what Talat Yaqoob said, other things need to be done, too.

Does anyone else want to reflect on those two points?

There is Short money at Westminster, which is payable to parties that have a certain level of representation, and there are leaders’ allowances and so on in the Scottish Parliament. Should we explore whether such money should be dependent on action in this area, as is the case in Ireland?

I will try to pull together what we have talked about this morning, because I appreciate that we have covered quite a lot of ground. If you could give one piece of advice to political parties, what would it be? Political parties can be agents of change, although there are varying levels of examples of that.