Chamber and committees

Thank you for sharing that. I wonder whether other panel members have any comments on the human rights aspect and the balancing of rights. As I have said, we might have had the opportunity to work some of that out through earlier questioning, but I just want to open it up.

I thank the witnesses for being with us. Do you or your organisations think that there might be wider implications for other places or types of protest?

I am sorry to interrupt but I want to be clear. Do you gather equality statistics on who is applying, whether it is a parent, carer or child, or whether they are looked after?

What gives you confidence that the tribunal is accessible?

I think that the child-centred work is to be commended. When thinking about my casework as an MSP, I remain curious about the families that are missing out and may not know how to achieve their rights or do not know that there are routes that they are able to follow. I would want the tribunal to be equally curious about who was not using the service.

Good morning, May; thank you for being with us. How does the tribunal monitor who is accessing it, in terms of socioeconomic or other characteristics? Conversely, I am keen to know who might be missing out, and what the tribunal is doing to ensure that everyone has that opportunity.

Would you be curious to understand what protected groups are applying?

Thank you.

Simon Brown alluded to this in his previous response, but the previous panel suggested that the fine element could be paid by what are sometimes quite well-funded anti-abortion groups, which means that it is not going to act as a deterrent. Do any of the panel members have a view on that? I will come to you first, Simon, as you mentioned it.

If no one has anything to add, I have a final question. In its response, Police Scotland notes that the fine-only approach has implications for the power of arrest. Can you explain for the record what those implications might be, and how they might influence decisions on enforcing these laws?