Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you for your comments.

The questions that I was going to ask have been covered in the opening statement, so I will hand back to the convener.

Thanks for that.

Why has the commitment to deliver “face-to-face services” changed to a commitment to delivery “in person if necessary”? Is that just because the reality—the experience—is that not everyone needs that? Will all clients be given the choice to have local support provided in person?

SCOSS advises that a significant number of full-time student carers are expected to be eligible for the carers support payment in the final phase of the roll-out. As that is likely to put additional pressure on Social Security Scotland, are you confident that training and other support and resources will be in place to assist staff to deal with the volume of those applications?

I await the MIG report with interest.

That is helpful. Stephen Sinclair, you touched on that earlier, so I do not think that you will want to come back in. Ruth Boyle, in your submission, and just a moment ago, you suggested that the Scottish child payment could be a building block of the minimum income guarantee. In what ways could the minimum income guarantee have a greater impact on child poverty than the Scottish child payment?

Good morning, and thanks for your time. I will cover the issue of extending eligibility, which has been touched on briefly. Which changes to eligibility would have the greatest impact on reducing poverty?

Some of my questions have been touched on, so I will just move on. Over the past few weeks, we have spoken with witnesses who have raised the issue of suicides being higher in rural areas due to limited access to services and people not wanting to access services in such small locations. Minister, what actions have you taken to support people at risk of suicide in those areas?

We also heard—apologies, go ahead, Morag.