Chamber and committees

If someone is based in Northern Ireland, can they bill from Northern Ireland in a way that a Scottish company or individual cannot, because they are based in Northern Ireland, or will we have to get an answer to that from elsewhere?

Thank you. We will certainly be looking for some clarity on that issue.

Professor Collins, do you want to respond?

That is very helpful.

Professor Collins, Dr Anderson and Dr Marks, thank you very much for attending the committee this morning.

Thank you very much, Mr Kerr.

Thank you for those opening remarks. Transparency was mentioned. One theme in our trade inquiry was an ask for more Government advice and support to the profession. Would you welcome that? Is it needed, or do you think that it will grow naturally within the profession as you negotiate in the TCA?

Thank you. That was helpful. I call Mr Brown.

Are there any other sources of data or information that the committee could look at to gauge the scale of the change?

I have a quick supplementary. Everyone has mentioned the overheads and business costs that are associated with working their way through the regulations. Indeed, we saw the same thing in our trade of goods inquiry, in which it was clear that bigger organisations, such as Scottish Salmon, were more able to absorb such costs. However, some of our smaller manufacturers have had to stop trading with the EU because they cannot absorb the costs. I understand that you do not have a lot of data on the actual numbers and the volume of legal work that was happening, but have you had any indication from your members that smaller firms have been affected in a way that some of the bigger firms in Edinburgh have not?

I will wind up with a final question, which is for Dr Marks and Dr Anderson in particular. Thank you for mentioning the previous work of the committee, Dr Marks, and the fact that you are now on the domestic advisory group. Why was that such an important step for you, and how do you see your role on that group going forward?