Chamber and committees

I will just follow that up. Obviously, Edinburgh is the best place to live—[Laughter.]—and Edinburgh buses probably provide the best service of anywhere in Scotland. The service is owned by the three local authorities, but it makes major profit. If Edinburgh can do it, why can other cities not do it?

Do the other two witnesses have anything to add?

That is really helpful.

At the beginning of the year, the committee visited Uist. It was really interesting to see the distances that have to be travelled to get care for older people or younger people. Rachel Hunter said that HIE is working with the Scottish Government.

Good morning, panel, and thank you very much for the evidence that you have given so far.

The committee is a wee bit central-Scotland based and, from previous sessions, we are aware that people who live in rural Scotland may have extra issues compared with us city slickers. For low-income working parents in particular, what can businesses and employers do to address issues such as transport, childcare and affordable housing, particularly in rural areas? I will start with Helen Herd.

Can the Scottish Government do more to help rural island communities in particular with flexibility? The model of everything happening in school, rather than people having to move around during the day, is very interesting. Are there models out there? Can the Scottish Government do more to support that?

Ultimately, you are saying that, unless there is an increase in the uplifts, this will cause more and more problems. Ultimately, there is a financial choice that has to be made.

Good morning to the panel. I wonder whether I can start with Lynn Houmdi or Marek Zemanik on this one. I am interested to know about public sector jobs, whether in a hospital or a school, where people have to go in and it is often weekend work, when no childcare is available. If you are a cleaner or someone who works in the national health service, you have to work on Saturdays and Sundays. How do we deal with that type of situation, where people have to start at 7 o’clock, say, because that is when the staff on a ward changes? Is it just not possible to provide childcare for those types of jobs? Have you thought of any solutions for those types of jobs?

There is so much there to unpack. Somebody comes in every morning to give me a hand to get dressed. In your experience, how involved in the policy are such independent home care providers? How much do they know about it if they are just businesses that are doing their day-to-day work? Is there proper communication to local companies in Perth, Edinburgh, Glasgow or wherever they are?

Karen, I will start with you. How has the Scottish Government’s social care policy affected pay and conditions in the independent social care sector?

Good morning, and thank you all for coming along. I have a couple of questions. Will the strengthened fair work requirements in public sector contracts and grants result in better pay and conditions? Who wants to start?