Chamber and committees

We have had the pandemic and Brexit, and we have the war in Ukraine. Is it down to those factors, or is it something more structural? You talked about capacity in the NHS. Is it something more mundane like that?

Our next item of business is our second evidence session considering the general principles of the Bankruptcy and Diligence (Scotland) Bill. Today we will hear from money advice and debtor representatives. I welcome Sarah-Jayne Dunn, policy manager for financial health with Citizens Advice Scotland, and we are joined online by Becca Stacey, senior research officer with the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute. As always, if members and witnesses can keep their questions and answers as concise as possible, that would be helpful.

I will come first to Becca Stacey. Just to set some of the context for the bill, does your organisation identify that people are facing more problems with finances and with debt? You will know that there was a recent Parliament report called, “Robbing Peter to pay Paul: Low income and the debt trap”, which looked at some of the issues. Could you give us an idea of what the current situation is?

Thank you.

Sarah-Jayne Dunn, will you reflect on the previous committee’s report, “Robbing Peter to pay Paul”, and give us an idea and impression of where we are at the moment in terms of people experiencing financial problems in Scotland?

You have talked a lot about the mental health moratorium, which is the key policy area in the bill. However, other campaigners are suggesting that the bill should be more robust at this stage and that more should be happening in the debt area. Mike Dailly has talked about that this week and I think that Alan McIntosh has done research on wage arrestments. We saw an increase in savings bank arrestments—the threshold was increased—and they are arguing that there should be an increase of that threshold for wages. Other campaigners are arguing for more measures to be taken recognising the cost of living crisis that you have spoken about. Do you think that that is a fair assessment of the bill? Although the bill has largely been welcomed, do we need to see more happening at this stage, or are you content with the Government’s proposal, which is that that will be in the next part of the review?

Are you looking for clarity from the minister on whether the approach will be adopted?

I thank our two witnesses. Your evidence has been really helpful to our consideration of the bill.

I suspend the meeting to allow for a changeover of witnesses.

We will move on to other areas that have been highlighted. Brian Whittle has a question on clinical trials.

You have outlined some issues around clinical trials and pricing. Are there barriers to growth in the sector, particularly in Scotland? You have indicated that the sector has potential for greater growth in Scotland, so why are we not seeing that?

There has been quite a dramatic drop in the number of trials: a fall of 41 per cent, I think, since 2017-18.

Do you have any other questions, Mr Whittle, before we move on?