Chamber and committees

You mentioned private prescriptions coming from abroad that have been purchased over the internet. My understanding is that any medication that a person has started on prior to the ban coming in will be continued. Is there clear guidance on the extent of community pharmacists’ responsibilities when they are asked to continue to dispense privately prescribed puberty blockers?

I wish to ask witnesses a number of questions about the ban on private prescribing. I am new to the committee and I should also mention, before I forget to do so, that my wife is an NHS nurse.

I am aware that the legislation on regulation of medicines is reserved to Westminster, and that the previous UK Government introduced emergency legislation to ban prescribing of puberty blockers. What is the panel’s view on the UK Government’s ban on private prescriptions for puberty blockers?

Okay. The new health secretary, Wes Streeting, has committed to taking forward plans for establishing a clinical study to gather the necessary evidence to inform future care and treatment. Has there been any consultation with the Scottish Government about that?

I have another question about Ferguson Marine. The Scottish Government also owns CalMac Ferries, which is the biggest ferry company in the UK but does not have a repair yard, and Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd, which owns the ferries. The vessels are repaired predominantly at Cammell Laird on Merseyside. There is surely an argument that, if we want a long and sustainable future for the Ferguson Marine yard, we should amalgamate all three companies, to give economies of scale, remove the duplication of overheads and give the yard the future that it requires. The vessels were part of CalMac Ferries before 2006. The yard could be guaranteed a future if the biggest ferry company in the UK had its own repair yard.

Thanks very much.

The other area that I wanted to look at was the green industrial strategy and the Government’s commitment to modernise compulsory purchase legislation. Will you say a wee bit about what is happening on that?

Good morning, cabinet secretary. I have questions on a couple of areas, and the first is Ferguson Marine. Recently, the committee visited Ferguson’s and saw that the yard faces a lot of challenges in its prospects for new orders and so on. I want to ask about the £14 million funding that the Government announced. What specific outcomes do you want that investment to deliver?

Okay. I will leave it at that.

The committee has had an interest in that. When we carried out our town centre and retail inquiry in November 2022, one of the issues that we looked at was compulsory purchase legislation. The feedback that we got from local authorities was that they could not use the legislation, because of a lack of funding. One of the aspects that was considered at the time was compulsory sale orders, on which, I know, the Government did a bit of work through the Scottish Land Commission in 2018. Where are we with compulsory sales orders?

I am trying to understand the scope for the Scottish Government to improve zero-hours contracts, the gender pay gap, labour market policies and collective bargaining, when employment law is reserved.

You are right. This is an area in which the Scottish Government can act to an extent, but it would be an awful lot easier if it had the powers to legislate on employment law to address the issues.