Chamber and committees

Would the committee consider closing the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders, as the SQA described the appeal process that operated in 2022 as an emergency response for a single year and based its approach for 2023 on the outcome of a full review of the 2022 approach? Also, the use of alternative evidence and appeals raised issues of equitable access, fairness for absent candidates and the volume of work that the service generated for the wider system. Responsibility for the appeals process rests with the SQA, which operates independently from ministers.

Perhaps the committee would consider closing the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders on the basis that the Scottish Government is setting up a working group on child welfare reports to inform any changes to current practice and longer-term policy on child welfare reporters. However—this is key—we will ask the working group to consider the petitioner’s ask in relation to the recording of interviews.

I wonder whether the committee would consider writing to the Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy to ask for an update on the work of relevant health boards in obtaining controlled drug licences and on implementing written policies on access to prescribed medication. We could also ask how the minister intends to monitor the progress of work by NHS Grampian, NHS Highland, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Orkney and NHS Shetland.

The committee should consider writing to the Scottish Government to ask whether it will work to create specialist autonomic clinics in Scotland and, if not, how it can be confident that the expertise in local and regional clinical services is sufficient to treat those with autonomic dysfunction.

Would the committee consider closing the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders as NICE guidelines state that, for women aged 40 to 45, HRT can be offered without the need for blood tests when other menopausal symptoms are present? There is now a specialist menopause service in every mainland NHS health board with a buddy system in place for islands health boards. Also, NHS Education for Scotland has been commissioned to create an online learning package on menopause and menstrual health, with resources expected to be available for free to GPs and medical practitioners by the end of March 2024.

Perhaps we could consider writing to the Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain to see what difficulties it has had, because it is probably the organisation that hires land from local authorities more than anybody else in Scotland.

May I quickly go back to the issue of silent prayer? I have a real problem with that. If a person or a group is standing there and they are asked what they are doing and they say, “Look, on religious beliefs, I am praying for my auntie Mary,” or whatever, how are you going to prove different? Would you ever get a conviction for that?

We probably all know the answer to the question that I am going to ask, but I will ask it in order to get the answer on the record. What impact will the introduction of access zones have on people accessing abortion services, people accessing other services at the facility, staff providing healthcare services and passers-by?

Good morning. Mr Brown, does the bill successfully balance competing rights under the European convention on human rights?

Are there any other issues relating to the bill that the committee has not covered but that you would like to bring up?