Chamber and committees

So, the dog is fit for rehoming but not fit for racing.

Thanks, convener, and thanks to the witnesses for coming along this morning. It is good to hear about your high standards of kennelling, your love for the sport and your love for the dogs. I do not deny that, but do you accept that there are still inherent risks to greyhound racing that you put the dogs through? Perhaps I could use an example. Daniel Alcorn, one of the dogs that you owned and trained, Bluesy Watermill, which you passed on to another owner, has in recent years developed quite a chronic heart and lung condition.

The dog has been taken to a number of vets, including cardiovascular specialists, who believe that the reason why the dog is suffering from that condition is because of the racing. It was raced 67 times under your care, which is, I think, seen to be quite excessive.

I do not deny that your kennelling, which you have described this morning, appears to be exemplary, but do you acknowledge that racing the dogs causes an inherent risk and that dogs such as Bluesy can, in some cases, go on to develop quite debilitating conditions as a result of that?

I am just wondering whether there is any more detail or any more examples that you can give. Is there a potential for divergence in the way that that liability is treated across the UK? There is a point of principle here, which is that the Scottish Parliament needs to be able to decide on this, but I am just wondering whether there are any practical issues that may arise in relation to that liability regime.

I think that clarity is what is needed right now rather than a confusing introduction of a technology that apparently has a different set of rules from everything else.

Okay. Thanks.

Are those freight opportunities regional in nature or are they more about UK freight operations?

Thanks for sharing that picture.

Alex Hynes, the trial of off-peak fares being available all day will run until June. We are waiting for an evaluation of the trial, but what are the figures showing at this point? Is the trial bringing in significant numbers of new passengers, or it is just leading to savings for existing passengers? What has been the impact on both patronage and fare-box income?

What would be your measure of success for the trial of off-peak fares being available all day? To put it bluntly, will there come a point at which, with an increase in fare-box income as a result of more people returning to use the railways, the Scottish Government will not need to provide any subsidy or will need to provide only minimal subsidy? Would that be a measure of success, or is there something else?

Do you think that the policy should continue and become permanent?